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River

Biebrza

155 km from source to mouth · Poland.

PolandPolandFlows into Narew

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

155km

Average flow

76m³/s

Basin

7,057km²

Drop

32m

from 126 m to 94 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

155 km of river and 6 stops on the way: 3 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

144 m94 m
Sourceat 126 m0 km
Lipsk2,463 people24 km
Nettatributary72 km
Brzozówkatributary75 km
Goniądz1,954 people97 km
Ełktributary117 km
Narewat 94 m155 km
050100155 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 126 m
  2. 24 kmLipsk2,463 people
  3. 72 kmNettatributary
  4. 75 kmBrzozówkatributary
  5. 97 kmGoniądz1,954 people
  6. 117 kmEłktributary
  7. 153 kmWizna1,300 people
  8. 155 kmNarewat 94 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Poland, tributary of the Narew

At the mouth it carries 76 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 33 seconds. It drops from 126 m to 94 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 7,057 km², about the size of PS. 902,000 people live in it. Highest water: from April to May; lowest: from January to February. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • LipskLargest city on its banks · 2,463 people
  • Kaunas International Airport (KUN)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 144 km from the cityCar hire at KUN airport (Kaunas)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Biebrza, month by month

Highest water: from April to May

Lowest water: from January to February. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from January to February. Best months to visit: from May to September.

66
-6°32 mmJan
47
-4°26 mmFeb
90
0°30 mmMar
140
8°36 mmApr
140
13°53 mmMay
130
16°70 mmJun
110
18°76 mmJul
110
17°66 mmAug
110
13°54 mmSep
100
8°46 mmOct
110
2°46 mmNov
86
-2°40 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 47 m³/s in the lowest month to 140 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Biebrza: the basin in numbers

14,353 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 902,000people live in the basin
  • 64/km²people per km²
  • 147maverage altitude of the basin
  • 586mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 6.7°Caverage air temperature
  • 24%protected areas
  • 1.2%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 26% Forest
  • 36% Cropland
  • 21% Pasture
  • 2% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Biebrza: what you find on the way

  • 4Weirs
  • 2LocksŚluza Dębowo
  • 6Ferry piers
  • 1Boat rentals
  • 2River beachesPlaża miejska w Goniądzu

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Biebrza in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 1mountain at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (1)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Hrodzyenskaye Uzvyshsha6.0 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Biebrza: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Biebrza: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth16 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Biebrza in pictures

Biebrza National Park (by Pudelek) 08 - boat in Jagłowo (Jaglovas)
Pudelek (Marcin Szala) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Biebrza - Rail bridge
Yarl · CC BY-SA 3.0
Biebrza River 04(js), Poland
Jerzy Strzelecki · CC BY-SA 4.0
Biebrza River at Ruś 01(js), Poland
Jerzy Strzelecki · CC BY-SA 3.0

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q857160) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit