Czech language distinguishes between large (river; in Czech řeka) and small (stream, creek, brook; in Czech potok) watercourses. River names are mostly self-standing one-word nouns. Stream names often consist of two words because they contain an adjective (usually stemming from physical properties (e.g. Černý potok – "black stream"), usage (e.g. Mlýnský potok – "mill stream") or derived from the location through which it flows (e.g. Rakovnický potok – "Rakovník stream"). These two-word names form an inseparable whole.
Main rivers
While the Elbe is the longest Czech-related river when measured through its overall length (i.e. including its lower course in Germany), its tributary the Vltava surpasses it as the longest river within the territory of the Czech Republic itself. (In fact the Vltava also carries more water than the Elbe at their confluence.)
This is a hierarchical list that includes all rivers and other streams whose length within the territory of the Czech Republic is at least 20 kilometres.[1]
Explanatory notes
The municipality in whose territory the confluence occurs is indicated in brackets.
Rivers over 100 km long or having average discharge greater than 10 m³/s are emphasized in bold.
Watercourses not located themselves within the Czech Republic but possessing tributaries originating in the Czech Republic territory are shown in strikethrough italics.
This is an alphabetical list that includes all rivers whose total length is at least 50 kilometres and have at least a small part in the Czech Republic. The Czech name is given in brackets in italics for rivers, the greater part of which is outside the territory of the country.
As the main European watershed passes through the Czech Republic, there are three directions and principal areas of drainage (very roughly overlapping with historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia):
Almost 2/3 of the country is drained in NW direction through the Elbe into the North Sea. The Morava flowing towards SE collects water from eastern regions of the Czech Republic and discharges into Danube which flows to the Black Sea. The northeast and some northern portions of the territory is drained by the Oder and its tributaries like the Lusatian Neisse into the Baltic Sea. The corresponding watershed tripoint with a marker for symbolic "roof of Europe" (50°9'27"N 16°47'27"E) is located at Czech-Polish border on Mt. Klepáč near Dolní Morava in Králický Sněžník Mountains.
The catchment area of the Elbe down to Czech-German border in Hřensko/Schöna covers 51,394 square kilometres (19,843 sq mi). This figure includes upper courses of some tributaries starting in neighbouring countries. The area solely within Czech borders is slightly smaller and this is the figure given in the following table, which shows Czech territory divided after drainage basins.