The Danube (/ˈdæn.

juːb/ DAN-yoob), known by various names in other languages, is Europe's second

longest river, after the Volga. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10
countries, more than any other river in the world. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast
for 2,850 km (1,770 mi), passing through or touching the border of Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia,
Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine before emptying 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.

Names and etymology

Old European river name derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the same
root include the Dunaj, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr, Dysna, Tana and Tuoni. In
Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means "fluid, drop", in Avestan, the same word means "river". In the Rigveda,
Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra, "a dragon blocking the course of the rivers." The Finnish
word for Danube is Tonava, which is most likely derived from the word for the river in Swedish and
German, Donau. Its Sámi name Deatnu means "Great River". It is possible that dānu in Scythian as in
Avestan was a generic word for "river": Dnieper and Dniestr, from Danapris and Danastius, are
presumed to continue Scythian *dānu apara "far river" and *dānu nazdya- "near river", respectively.[2]

The river was known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros (Ἴστρος) a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian
name meaning "strong, swift" (akin to Sanskrit iṣiras "swift").[3] In Latin, the Danube was variously
known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper
Danube and Istros for the lower Danube.[3] The Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas,[4] "the bringer of
luck".[5]

The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, except Slovenian, (the name of the Rhine is
also masculine in Latin, most of the Slavic languages, as well as in German). The German Donau
(Early Modern German Donaw, Tonaw,[6] Middle High German Tuonowe[7]) is feminine, as it has
been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe "wetland".

The modern languages spoken in the Danube basin all use names related to Dānuvius: German: Donau
([ˈdoːnaʊʊ]; (Austro-Bavarian: Doana); Silesian: Důnaj; Upper Sorbian: Dunaj; Slovak: Dunaj ([ˈdunaj];
Hungarian: Duna ([ˈdunɒ]); Serbo-Croatian: Dunav / Дунав ([dǔnaʋ] or [dǔnaːʋ] Romanian: Dunărea
([ˈdunəreʊ a]); Bulgarian: Дунав, Dunav ([ˈdunɐf]); Ukrainian: Дунай, Dunai ([duˈnɑj]); Czech: Dunaj
(Czech pronunciation: [ˈdʊnaj]); Polish: Dunaj (Polish pronunciation: [ˈdũnaj]); Slovene: Donava
([ˈdóːnaʋa]); Portuguese: Danúbio ([dɐ'nubju]); French: Danube [da'nyb]); Italian: Danubio
([da'nuːbjo]); Spanish: Danubio ([da'nuβjo]); Romansh: Danubi.
Geography
The Danube basin

Classified as an international waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black

Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach and Breg. The Danube then flows southeast
for about 2,730 km (1,700 mi), passing through four capital cities (Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and
Belgrade) before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine.
Once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, the river passes through or touches the borders of
10 countries: Romania (29.0% of basin area), Hungary (11.6%), Serbia (10.2%), Austria (10.0%),
Germany (7.0%), Bulgaria (5.9%), Slovakia (5.9%), Croatia (4.4%), Ukraine (3.8%), and Moldova
(1.6%).[8] Its drainage basin extends into nine more (ten if Kosovo is included).
Drainage basin
The Danube discharges into the Black Sea (the upper body of water in the image).
Where the Danube Meets the Black Sea (NASA Goddard image).

In addition to the bordering countries (see above), the drainage basin includes parts of nine more
countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina (4.6%), the Czech Republic (2.9%), Slovenia (2.0%), Montenegro
(0.9%), Switzerland (0.2%), Italy (<0.1%), Poland (<0.1%), the Republic of Macedonia (<0.1%) and
Albania (<0.1%).[8] Its total drainage basin is 801,463 km2 (309,447 sq mi).[9][10] The highest point
of the drainage basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border, at 4,049 metres
(13,284 ft).[11]