Orava (river)

The Orava (Hungarian: Árva) is a river in north-western Slovakia passing through a picturesque country, in the Orava county. Its source is nowadays the Orava water reservoir whose waters flooded the confluence of Biela (White) Orava and Čierna (Black) Orava in 1953. It flows into the river Váh near the village of Kraľovany. It is 62.0 km (38.5 mi) long and its basin size is 1,192 km² (460 sq mi).^[1]

Orava Hungarian: Árva, German: Arwa, Polish: Orawa
Orava at Dolný Kubín, showing houses of Záskalie neighbourhood
Location
Country	Slovakia
Physical characteristics
Source	Orava reservoir, taking water from White Orava in Slovakia and from Black Orava in Poland
• location	Orava, Slovakia
• coordinates	49°23′N 19°33′E
• elevation	601 m (1,972 ft)
Mouth	Váh river
• location	Kraľovany
• coordinates	49°09′N 19°09′E
• elevation	430.7 m (1,413 ft)
Length	62.0 km (38.5 mi)
Basin size	1,991.8 km2 (769.0 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	mouth
• average	34.5 m3/s (1,220 cu ft/s)
• minimum	2.3 m3/s (81 cu ft/s)
• maximum	1,120 m3/s (40,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Váh→ Danube→ Black Sea

Etymology

The name "Orava" may be of Pre-Slavic or Slavic origin. Pre-Slavic *er-/*or-: fast, swift (swift river).^[2][3] Proto-Slavic *or-, *orati: to scream, to roar. Slovak rivers Revúca and Hučava have the same etymology (a roaring river). The similar names from other Slavic countries are e.g. the Croatian river Orljava (1234 Orauua), the Ukrainian river and the village Oriava or Orzawiec (in the river system of Dnieper).^[4] The suffix -ava could be derived from Germanic -ahwa (water), but it is typical also for older Slovak hydronyms.^[5]

The earliest records are fl. Arua (1287) and Oravia (1314).^[2]