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 | |
| Country | Latvia (67%), Lithuania (33%) |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | near Užventis, Lithuania |
| Mouth | |
• location | Baltic Sea at Ventspils, Latvia. |
| Length | 346 km (215 mi) (178 km or 111 mi in Latvia) |
| Basin size | 11,800 km2 (4,600 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 44 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.
See also
References
- "LIETUVOS RESPUBLIKOS UPIŲ IR TVENKINIŲ KLASIFIKATORIUS (Republic of Lithuania- River and Pond Classifications)" (PDF) (in Lithuanian). Ministry of Environment (Lithuania). Retrieved 2011-11-03.
