The Danube River

June 22, 2012 | In: Geography Facts

The Danube is the second longest river in Europe, after the Volga River, in Russia. It springs from the Black Forest Mountains in Germany, and flows for almost 1800 miles, until it reaches its Delta, in Romania.

Throughout these 1800 miles, the Danube River passes through nine countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, 47 cities, and 4 capital cities of Europe: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade.

The river flows into the Black Sea in Romania.

Ok, after these geographical facts, let’s get to the more interesting ones:

For instance, the Danube is a very important river throughout the history of Europe; some roman emperors built bridges over it, in order to get to Dacia and Thracya. It was the best way to get from one place to another, for some 400 years, and it still has the capacity to hold ocean liners as they pass through Romania. But this is not all good news. For example: navigation infrastructure projects pose a serious threat to the Danube. A new report identifies navigation as one of the primary causes of environmental degradation on the Danube, stemming from activities that deepen, dam, or straighten the river. The most important navigation threat to the Danube currently is the European Union’s plan to develop the Trans-European Networks for Transport.

Along with these changes, the Danube Delta, one of the last remaining natural wonders of the world, will suffer a lot. It holds hundreds of unique and endangered species that will almost certain have a lot on their heads if their environment will change drastically.