The Morava () is a river in Central Europe, a left tributary of the Danube. It is the main river of Moravia historical region in the Czech Republic, which derives its name from the river. The Morava originates on the Králický Sněžník mountain in the north-eastern corner of Pardubice Region, near the border between the Czech Republic and Poland and has a vaguely southward trajectory. The lower part of the river's course forms the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia and then between Austria and Slovakia.
Etymology
The root of the river's name, mor-, is derived from the Proto-Indo-European word for 'water', 'marsh', from which the Latin word mare arose. The suffix -ava is a Slavic form of the Proto-Germanic word ahwa, meaning 'water', 'river'. The name of the river was first documented as Maraha in an 892 deed. The river gave its name to the entire historical land of Moravia, yet the oldest surviving record of the land (from 822) is older than the record of the river. The German name of the Morava, March, was derived from the Slavic name.
History
thumb|The [[1997 Central European flood|1997 flood in Uherské Hradiště]]
The banks of the Morava have been inhabited for a very long time. The village of , on the Austrian part of the river, was already the location of a human settlement 30,000 years ago. Agriculture began to be practiced in the Morava valley approximately 7,000 years ago, and fortified settlements began to appear during the New Stone Age.
The lower part of the river, downstream of the confluence with the Thaya at Hohenau an der March, which today marks the Austro-Slovakian border, is one of the oldest national boundaries still extant in continental Europe. It was the eastern boundary of the Carolingian Empire with the Avar Khaganate around 800, and from the 10th century onward marked the border of the Imperial marcha orientalis, later Duchy of Austria, with the Kingdom of Hungary (within the Habsburg monarchy during 1526–1918 because of imperial expansion). During the Cold War, this section of the river was part of the Iron Curtain, forming the frontier between Austria and Czechoslovakia.
In July 1997, the Morava basin (especially its northern and eastern part) was affected by heavy stratiform rain, which lasted several days and caused catastrophic floods.
Course
thumb|Source of the Morava on [[Králický Sněžník]]
thumb|Confluence of the Morava and the Danube
thumb|The Morava in Olomouc
thumb|Confluence of the Morava and Thaya on the [[tripoint of the Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia]]
The Morava originates in the territory of Dolní Morava in the Králický Sněžník Mountains, on the slope of the Králický Sněžník mountain at an elevation of , not far from the border with Poland. The lowlands formed by the river are the Upper Morava Valley and then the Lower Morava Valley in Moravia, the Morava Field or Marchfeld in Lower Austria, and the Záhorie Lowland in Slovakia. The latter three are actually continuous parts of one large basin, forming a major part of the Vienna Basin.
In the Czech Republic, several larger cities and towns lie on the Morava, particularly Olomouc, Kroměříž, Otrokovice, Uherské Hradiště, Veselí nad Moravou and Hodonín. Brno, the second largest city of the Czech Republic, lies within the river basin. As of 2009, the catchment area of the river had a population of million people.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Tributary !! Length (km) !! River km !! Side
|-
| Thaya || 311.0 || 69.0 || right
|-
| Bečva || 121.0 || 210.6 || left
|-
| Myjava || 79.0 || 71.1 || left
|-
| Zaya || 58.0 || 60.6 || right
|-
| Haná || 57.0 || 197.5 || right
|-
| Bystřice || 56.1 || 234.4 || left
|-
| Moravská Sázava || 53.9 || 292.3 || right
|-
| Oskava || 50.3 || 239.4 || left
|-
| Romže || 49.6 || 204.8 || right
|-
| Třebůvka || 48.2 || 272.9 || right
|-
| Malina || 48.2 || 10.9 || left
|-
| Rudava || 47.3 || 51.7 || left
|-
| Moštěnka || 45.6 || 194.9 || left
|-
| Blata || 45.3 || 207.7 || right
|-
| Olšava || 44.9 || 154.8 || left
|-
| Desná || 43.4 || 301.0 || left
|-
| Dřevnice || 41.6 || 178.0 || left
|-
| Velička || 40.2 || 128.7 || left
|}
Ecology
thumb|One of many [[oxbow lakes of the Morava]]
The Morava River forms an important link between the Danube Valley and the plains of northern Europe, for animals as well as, at least historically, for humans. Its weak slope across flat plains furthermore means that the river is prone to meander and flood, creating vast floodplains. Because of these reasons, the floodplains of the Morava River are among the most biologically diverse ecosystems in Europe.