ODER
(OH-duhr)
A
river of Central Europe beginning in the Czech Republic and
emptying into the Baltic Sea Common clues: Breslau's river;
____-Neisse line; Central European river; Polish border river;
River through Opole; Frankfurt's river; German river Crossword
puzzle frequency:
2 times a year Frequency
in English language:
65115 / 86800 Video: River
Oder, 1945
The
Oder
River
is a river in Central Europe. It begins in the Czech Republic and
flows through western Poland, later forming the northern 187 km
of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse
line. The river ultimately flows into the Szczecin Lagoon north
of Szczecin and then with three branches (Dziwna, Swina and
Peene) that empty into the Baltic Sea.
Oder
river. View from Ziegenwerder Island in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany
across Oder River to Slubice, Poland. By [de:Benutzer:Sebastian
Wallroth] June 2003. Public Domain
Geography
The
Oder River is 854 km long: 112 in the Czech Republic, 742 in
Poland (including 187 on the border between Germany and Poland)
and second longest river in Poland (after the Vistula). It drains
118,861 square kilometers of watershed, 106,056 of which are in
Poland (89%), 7,217 in the Czech Republic (6%), and 5,587 in
Germany (5%). Channels connect it to Havel, Spree, Vistula system
and Kłodnica. It flows through Silesian, Opole, Lower
Silesian, Lubusz and West Pomeranian voivodships of Poland and
Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania provinces of
Germany.
The
main branch empties into the Szczecin Lagoon. The Szczecin Lagoon
is bordered on the north by islands of Usedom (west) and Wolin
(east). Between these two islands, there is only a narrow channel
(Swina) going to the Bay of Pomerania, which forms a part of the
Baltic Sea.
The
greatest city on the Oder River is Wrocław.
History
The
river was known to the ancient Romans as Viadrus,
Viadua,
as it was a branch of the Amber Road from the Baltic Sea to the
Roman Empire. However in the Middle Ages it was called in Latin
documents as Odera,
Oddera
and first mentioned in Dagome Iudex document (ca. 990),
describing the boundary of early Poland under duke Mieszko I.
The
Oder river must have been an important trade route and human
settlement axis as early as 9th or 10th century as the documents
mention many tribes living along the river: the Bavarian
Geographer (ca. 845) specifies the following peoples: Silesians,
Dadoshanie, Opolans, Lupiglaa and Golenshitse in Silesia and also
Wolinians and Pyrzycans in Western Pomerania. Document of Prague
bishopric (1086) mentions Zlasane, Trebovyane, Poborane and
Dedositze in Silesia.
In
the 13th century, the first dams were built to protect
agricultural lands.
After
World War II, the Oder and the Neisse formed the Oder-Neisse
line, which was designated as the new border between Germany and
Poland.
This
article is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Oder River".
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