List of rivers of Hungary facts for kids

Hungary is a country in Central Europe, and it's famous for its many rivers. These rivers are super important for the country! They help with travel, provide water for farms, and are home to lots of amazing plants and animals. Let's explore some of Hungary's most important rivers!

Map of lakes and rivers in the Carpathian Basin

Hungary's Longest Rivers: A Quick Look

Here are some of the longest rivers that flow through Hungary. The numbers show how long each river is inside Hungary's borders.

• Tisza - 597 km (This is about 62% of its total length!)
• Danube (called Duna in Hungary) - 417 km (About 14% of its total length)
• Körös - 217.5 km
  • The Körös river system has different parts, like the Triple Körös (91.3 km) and Double Körös (37.3 km).
• Rába - 188 km (About 66% of its total length)
• Zagyva - 179 km (All of it is in Hungary!)
• Hortobágy-Berettyó - 167.3 km (All of it is in Hungary!)
• Drava (Dráva) - 166.8 km (About 22% of its total length)
• Ipeľ (Ipoly) - 143 km (About 61% of its total length)
• Zala - 126 km (All of it is in Hungary!)
• Sajó - 125.1 km (About 56% of its total length)
• Répce and Rábca together - 123.7 km
• Hornád (Hernád) - 118 km (About 41% of its total length)
• Kapos - 112.7 km (All of it is in Hungary!)
• Tarna - 105 km (All of it is in Hungary!)
• Marcal - 100.4 km (All of it is in Hungary!)

River Basins: Where Water Collects

A river's drainage area or basin is all the land where rain and snow melt flow into that river. It's like a giant funnel! Here are some of the largest river basins in Hungary.

Basin of the River Danube

• Danube (Duna) - 93,030 km² (About 11.7% of its total basin)
  • Rába
    • Marcal - 3,033 km² (All of its basin is in Hungary!)
  • Ipeľ (Ipoly) - 1,518 km² (About 29.7% of its total basin)
  • Sió - 14,953 km² (All of its basin is in Hungary!)
    • Kapos - 3,170 km² (All of its basin is in Hungary!)
  • Drava (Dráva) - 8,215.22 km² (About 19% of its total basin)
• Tisza - 46,000 km² (About 29.27% of its total basin)
  • Sajó - 5,545 km² (About 43.63% of its total basin)
    • Hornád (Hernád) - 1,136 km² (About 20.90% of its total basin)
  • Zagyva - 5,677 km² (All of its basin is in Hungary!)
    • Tarna - 2,116 km² (All of its basin is in Hungary!)
  • Körös - 12,942.39 km² (About 47% of its total basin)
• Lake Balaton (fed by the Zala river and others) – 5,181 km²

River Flow: How Much Water Moves?

Discharge is the amount of water flowing through a river at a certain point, usually measured in cubic meters per second (m³/s). It tells us how "big" or "powerful" a river is. This list includes rivers that flow through Hungary, but their discharge might be measured outside Hungary too.

The Danube river in Budapest

• Danube (Duna) - 6855 m³/s (In Budapest, it's about 2350 m³/s)
• Tisza - 820 m³/s
• Drava (Dráva) - 670 m³/s
• Mureș (Maros) - 184 m³/s
• Mur (Mura) - 166 m³/s
• Bodrog - 115 m³/s
• Someș (Szamos) - 114 m³/s
• Körös (Hármas-Körös) - 100 m³/s
• Sajó - 60 m³/s
• Sió - 39 m³/s
• Hornád (Hernád) - 30.9 m³/s
• Crișul Repede (Sebes-Körös) - 25.4 m³/s
• Rába - 18 m³/s

How Rivers Connect: Tributaries

Rivers often have smaller rivers or streams flowing into them. These are called tributaries. Here's a look at how some of Hungary's rivers connect, starting from the biggest rivers and moving to their smaller branches.

Rivers Flowing to the Black Sea

Most of Hungary's rivers eventually flow into the Black Sea.

• Danube/Duna (The main river that flows all the way to the Black Sea in Romania)
  • Rába (joins the Danube in Győr)
    • Marcal (joins the Rába near Gyirmót)
  • Ipeľ/Ipoly (joins the Danube near Szob)
  • Sió (joins the Danube in Gemenc Forest)
    • Kapos (joins the Sió near Tolnanémeti)
  • Drava/Dráva (joins the Danube near Osijek, Croatia)
    • Mur/Mura (joins the Drava near Legrad, Croatia)
• Tisza (joins the Danube near Titel, Serbia)
  • Someș/Szamos (joins the Tisza near Vásárosnamény)
  • Bodrog (joins the Tisza in Tokaj)
  • Sajó (joins the Tisza near Tiszaújváros)
    • Hornád/Hernád (joins the Sajó near Sajóhídvég)
  • Zagyva (joins the Tisza in Szolnok)
  • Hármas-Körös (joins the Tisza in Csongrád)
    • Hortobágy-Berettyó (joins the Hármas-Körös near Mezőtúr)
    • Crișul Repede/Sebes-Körös (joins the Hármas-Körös near Körösladány)
    • Crișul Negru/Fekete-Körös (joins the Kettős-Körös near Gyula)
    • Crișul Alb/Fehér-Körös (joins the Kettős-Körös near Gyula)
  • Mureș/Maros (joins the Tisza near Szeged)

Rivers Flowing to Lake Balaton

Some rivers in Hungary flow into Lake Balaton, which is the largest lake in Central Europe.

• Zala (flows into Lake Balaton near Balatonszentgyörgy)

Alphabetical List of Rivers

Here is an alphabetical list of many rivers found in Hungary:

Berettyó, Bodrog, Bodva, Dráva/Drava, Hernád, Fehér-Körös, Fekete-Körös, Ipoly, Kígyós/Plazović, Körös, Körös-ér, Kraszna, Lajta/Leitha, Maros, Mura/Mur, Pinka, Rába/Raab, Sajó, Sebes-Körös, Séd, Sió, Sugovica, Szamos, Szinva, Tisza, Zagyva, Zala, Válicka

See also

• Geography of Hungary
• List of lakes of Hungary