Venta (river)

The Venta (Latvian pronunciation [ˈvænta], Lithuanian [venˈta] , German: Windau, Polish: Windawa, Livonian Vǟnta joug) is a river in north-western Lithuania and western Latvia. Its source is near Kuršėnai in the Lithuanian Šiauliai County. It flows into the Baltic Sea at Ventspils in Latvia.

Venta
The Venta river in Kuldīga
Location
CountryLatvia (67%), Lithuania (33%)
Physical characteristics
Source 
  locationnear Užventis, Lithuania
Mouth 
  location
Baltic Sea at Ventspils, Latvia.
Length346 km (215 mi) (178 km or 111 mi in Latvia)
Basin size11,800 km2 (4,600 sq mi)
Discharge 
  average44 m3/s (1,600 cu ft/s)

On the territory of Lithuania along the Venta are cities Užventis, Kuršėnai, Venta, Viekšniai and Mažeikiai. In Latvia, the cities of Kuldīga, Piltene and Ventspils are located on the Venta river.

Venta has the widest waterfall in Europe — Venta Rapid.

Basin system

The river has only one tributary longer than 100 km, the Abava. Other major tributaries include the Virvyčia (99.7 km) and the Varduva (96 km), which flows into the Venta at the Latvia–Lithuania border.

Smaller tributaries include the Avižlys, which runs for 20 kilometers and flows into the Venta River[1] and the 30 kilometre Uogys which joins the Venta less than 1 km upstream of the Avižlys at Akmenė district municipality, Šiauliai County, northern Lithuania.

Map of the river

See also

References

57°23′44″N 21°32′40″E


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