Most countries passed by a river: world record set by The Danube River

Jun 23, 2021

Danube Delta, Romania--The Danube River, which originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, flows southeast for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or bordering 10 countries in Europe (Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine), before draining into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine, sets the world record for the Most countries passed by a river, according to the WORLD RECORD ACADEMY.

Photo above: The Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station (Romanian: Porțile de Fier I) is the largest dam on the Danube river and one of the largest hydro power plants in Europe. It is located on the Iron Gate gorge, between Romania and Serbia. At the time of completion in 1972, it was 10th largest hydroelectric power stations in the world with twelve Kaplan turbines generating 2,052 MW, divided equally between the two countries at 1,026 MW each.

The Danube is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. The Danube basin was the site of some of the earliest human cultures. Along its course, the Danube is a source of drinking water for about 20 million people.

The largest cities on the river are Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade and Bratislava, all of which are the capitals of their respective countries. Six more capital cities lie in the Danube's basin: Bucharest, Sofia, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Sarajevo and Pristina.

The Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today is the river running through the largest number of countries in the world (10; the Nile is second with 9).

Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or bordering Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine before draining into the Black Sea. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries.

The Danube river basin is home to fish species such as pike, zander, huchen, Wels catfish, burbot and tench.

It is also home to a large diversity of carp and sturgeon, as well as salmon and trout. A few species of euryhaline fish, such as European seabass, mullet, and eel, inhabit the Danube Delta and the lower portion of the river.

The river is also an important source of hydropower and drinking water.

The Danube is navigable by ocean ships from the Black Sea to Brăila in Romania (the maritime river sector), and further on by river ships to Kelheim, Bavaria, Germany; smaller craft can navigate further upstream to Ulm, Württemberg, Germany. About 60 of its tributaries are also navigable.

Since the completion of the German Rhine–Main–Danube Canal in 1992, the river has been part of a trans-European waterway from Rotterdam on the North Sea to Sulina on the Black Sea, a distance of 3,500 km (2,200 mi).

The waterway is designed for large-scale inland vessels (110 × 11.45 m) but it can carry much larger vessels on most of its course. The Danube has been partly canalized in Germany (5 locks) and Austria (10 locks).

The Danube connects with the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal at Kelheim, with the Donaukanal in Vienna, and with the Danube–Black Sea Canal at Cernavodă.

There are three artificial waterways built on the Danube: the Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal (DTD) in the Banat and Bačka regions (Vojvodina, northern province of Serbia); the 64 km (40 mi) Danube-Black Sea Canal, between Cernavodă and Constanța (Romania) finished in 1984, shortens the distance to the Black Sea by 400 km (250 mi); the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal is about 171 km (106 mi), finished in 1992, linking the North Sea to the Black Sea.