Vistula : Ask Biography

Confluence of the Narew and the Vistula at Modlin

River information

Name

Vistula River

Origin

Barania Góra, Silesian Beskids

Mouth

Gdańsk Bay, Baltic Sea

Basin countries

Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia

Length

1,047 km (651 mi)

Elevation

1,106 m (3,629 ft)

Discharge

1,080 m³/s (at mouth)

Basin area

194,424 km2; (75,067 mi2)

Home | River | Vistula

The Vistula ( ; -plˈviswa) is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km (651 miles) in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is 194,424 km2 (75,067 square miles), of which 168,699 km2 (65,135 sq. miles) lies within Poland (splitting the country in half).

The Vistula has its source at Barania Góra in the south of Poland, 1220 meters above sea level in the Silesian Beskids (western part of Carpathian Mountains) where it begins with the White Little Vistula (Biała Wisełka) and the Black Little Vistula (Czarna Wisełka). It then continues to flow over the vast Polish plains, passing several large Polish cities along its way, including Kraków, Sandomierz, Warsaw, Płock, Włocławek, Toruń, Bydgoszcz, Świecie, Grudziądz, Tczew and Gdańsk. It empties into the Vistula Lagoon or directly into the Gdańsk Bay of the Baltic Sea with a delta and several branches (Leniwka, Przekop, Śmiała Wisła, Martwa Wisła, Nogat and Szkarpawa).