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Word of the Day – Wednesday, November 30th |
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ODER (OH-duhr) A
river of Central Europe beginning in the Czech Republic and
emptying into the Baltic Sea
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.
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. 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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