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River

Sava

945 km from source to mouth · 4 countries.

SerbiaSloveniaCroatiaBosnia and HerzegovinaSerbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and HerzegovinaFlows into Danube2nd longest in Serbia

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

945km

Average flow

1,700m³/s

Basin

95,719km²

Drop

352m

from 419 m to 67 m

Countries

4

The journey

From source to mouth

945 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 28 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

419 m67 m
Sourceat 419 m0 km
Ljubljanicatributary65 km
Jarun Lake0.8 km²206 km
Zagreb767,131 people210 km
Lonjatributary332 km
Bardača Lake2.6 km²447 km
Orljavatributary468 km
Bosnatributary568 km
Tinjatributary642 km
Drinatributary699 km
Belgrade1,197,714 people881 km
Danubeat 67 m945 km
0200400600800945 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 419 m
  2. 8 kmSava Dolinkatributary
  3. 12 kmSava Bohinjkatributary
  4. 30 kmKranj37,605 people
  5. 33 kmKokratributary
  6. 38 kmLake Trboje0.5 km²
  7. 43 kmLake Zbilje0.4 km²
  8. 44 kmSoratributary
  9. 57 kmLjubljana284,293 people
  10. 65 kmLjubljanicatributary
  11. 110 kmTrbovlje15,163 people
  12. 122 kmSavinjatributary
  13. 122 kmZidani Most railway station
  14. 138 kmMirnatributary
  15. 169 kmZasava
  16. 173 kmKrkatributary
  17. 182 kmSutlatributary
  18. 184 kmSamobor37,435 people
  19. 192 kmZaprešić18,768 people
  20. 195 kmPodsused – Vrapče45,759 people
  21. 198 kmKrapinatributary
  22. 199 kmStenjevec - jug7,898 people
  23. 202 kmLučko2,987 people
  24. 205 kmJarun12,149 people
  25. 206 kmJarun Lake0.8 km²
  26. 208 kmKnežija10,484 people
  27. 208 kmKajzerica4,387 people
  28. 210 kmZagreb767,131 people
  29. 210 kmCentar37,000 people
  30. 212 kmTrnjanska Savica8,449 people
  31. 212 kmZapruđe6,184 people
  32. 215 kmSavica Lakes
  33. 245 kmOrle1,765 people
  34. 289 kmSisak27,859 people
  35. 300 kmKupatributary
  36. 315 kmLonjsko Polje Nature park
  37. 332 kmLonjatributary
  38. 340 kmSunjatributary
  39. 373 kmUnatributary
  40. 410 kmGradiška13,346 people
  41. 446 kmBardača
  42. 447 kmBardača Lake2.6 km²
  43. 450 kmVrbastributary
  44. 468 kmOrljavatributary
  45. 502 kmUkrinatributary
  46. 506 kmBrod9,249 people
  47. 509 kmSlavonski Brod45,005 people
  48. 542 kmGajna
  49. 568 kmBosnatributary
  50. 602 kmŠtitar1,552 people
  51. 606 kmŽupanja9,153 people
  52. 642 kmTinjatributary
  53. 649 kmBrčko38,968 people
  54. 699 kmDrinatributary
  55. 711 kmBosuttributary
  56. 735 kmSremska Mitrovica39,084 people
  57. 748 kmJarčinatributary
  58. 768 kmJereztributary
  59. 771 kmŠabac Fortress
  60. 772 kmŠabac55,114 people
  61. 832 kmZivača1.1 km²
  62. 840 kmObrenovac16,821 people
  63. 854 kmKolubaratributary
  64. 878 kmAda Bridge
  65. 878 kmNovi Beograd209,763 people
  66. 879 kmNew Railroad Bridge
  67. 880 kmGazela Bridge
  68. 881 kmBranko's Bridge
  69. 881 kmBelgrade1,197,714 people
  70. 945 kmDanubeat 67 m

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

River in Southeast Europe

At the mouth it carries 1,722 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.5 seconds. It drops from 419 m to 67 m, 0.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 95,719 km², about the size of KR. 8.7 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to January. Its dams hold back little of its water (4.7% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • BelgradeLargest city on its banks · 1,197,714 people
  • Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport (BEG)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 12 km from the cityCar hire at BEG airport (Belgrade)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water68 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe17 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Sava, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Best months to visit: from May to September.

2,700
0°56 mmJan
1,900
2°55 mmFeb
950
6°52 mmMar
870
11°68 mmApr
1,000
16°83 mmMay
1,600
19°99 mmJun
1,400
21°81 mmJul
960
20°75 mmAug
610
17°71 mmSep
1,000
12°72 mmOct
2,200
6°84 mmNov
3,000
2°75 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 610 m³/s in the lowest month to 3,000 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

Car hire at BEG airport (Belgrade)Discover CarsSee 

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

Sava: the basin in numbers

87,197 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 4.7% of a year's flow.
  • 8.7millionpeople live in the basin
  • 100/km²people per km²
  • 505maverage altitude of the basin
  • 977mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 9.5°Caverage air temperature
  • 8%protected areas
  • 0.2%covered by lakes
  • 2.2km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 43% Forest
  • 24% Cropland
  • 18% Pasture
  • 4% 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

Sava: what you find on the way

  • 26DamsHE Moste, Cajhnov jez, HE Mavčiče and 23 more
  • 56WeirsUstava Trebež and 55 more
  • 9WaterfallsSlap Hudič babo pere, Šum, Peračica waterfall and 6 more
  • 17Rapids
  • 13Boat ramps
  • 26Ferry piersMedsave I, Medsave II, Skela Dubrovčak and 23 more
  • 24MarinasAcademic Sailing Club Belgrade, Daska Veslo, 4. juli and 21 more
  • 5Boat rentalsCastle Boat Rental, Yachting Club Kej and 3 more
  • 16River beachesKamp Perun Lipce - plaža, Kopališče Sora, Jože's terraces and 13 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Sava 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.

  • 5lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 38mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (5)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Lake Trbojekm 360.5km²
  2. Lake Zbiljekm 410.4km²
  3. Jarun Lakekm 1930.8km²
  4. Bardača Lakekm 4182.6km²
  5. Zivačakm 7801.1km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (38)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Stol / Hochstuhl10 km away · prominence 1,021 m2,237m
  2. Vrtača11 km away2,180m
  3. Begunjščica10 km away · prominence 518 m2,060m
  4. Kosiak12 km away2,024m
  5. Weinasch11 km away2,104m
  6. Palec / Selenitza12 km away2,026m
  7. Klagenfurter Spitze10 km away2,116m
  8. Veliki vrh10 km away2,060m

30 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Sava: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Sava: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth40 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

Sava in pictures

Sava River at Brod - Slavonski Brod (Republika Srpska - Croatia border)
Petar Milošević · CC BY-SA 4.0
Sava Drina Confluence
Julian Nyča · CC BY 3.0
Beograd (Београд), Serbia 2022 - Belgrade Fortress and Sava River where it meets the Danube, Belgrade
Sharon Hahn Darlin · CC BY 2.0
Novy Beograd and Sava IMG 0783
Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

DanubeRomaniaRomania2,850 km5,400 m³/s

Tributaries (40)

DrinaSerbiaSerbia346 km120 m³/sjoins at km 655KupaCroatiaCroatia297 km280 m³/sjoins at km 281BosnaBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina282 km140 m³/sjoins at km 532VrbasBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina240 km33 m³/sjoins at km 421UnaCroatiaCroatia207 km200 m³/sjoins at km 350BosutSerbiaSerbia186 km17 m³/sjoins at km 666SavinjaSloveniaSlovenia102 km29 m³/sjoins at km 114KrkaSloveniaSlovenia93 km170 m³/sjoins at km 162SutlaCroatiaCroatia90 km170 m³/sjoins at km 171LjubljanicaSloveniaSlovenia85 km25 m³/sjoins at km 61

Also: Sava Bohinjka, Kolubara, Sava Dolinka, Pivka, Orljava, Kamnik Bistrica, Krapina, Lonja, Kokra, Sunja, Sora, Tržič Bistrica, Ukrina, Ilomska, Mirna, Topčiderka, Jerez, Jarčina, Mokroluški potok, Kashka, Kustovlyanka, Glogovica, Vrelo, Tinja

In the same basin

TiszaSerbiaSerbia966 km800 m³/sDravaCroatiaCroatia720 km620 m³/sInnGermanyGermany517 km740 m³/sPrutMoldovaMoldova953 km120 m³/sIsarGermanyGermany292 km170 m³/sMoravaAustriaAustria388 km110 m³/sSiret RiverRomaniaRomania740 km230 m³/sOlt RiverRomaniaRomania615 km170 m³/sMureș RiverHungaryHungary803 km160 m³/sMurCroatiaCroatia434 km170 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

TiszaSerbiaSerbia966 km800 m³/s36 km awayTimiș RiverSerbiaSerbia359 km47 m³/s14 km awayGreat MoravaSerbiaSerbia185 km230 m³/s48 km awayBega RiverRomaniaRomania256 km13 m³/s40 km awayDrinaSerbiaSerbia346 km120 m³/s89 km awayDravaCroatiaCroatia720 km620 m³/s144 km awayBosutSerbiaSerbia186 km17 m³/s86 km awayIbarSerbiaSerbia276 km110 m³/s126 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q14383) · 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 atlasesLakeyas, Peakyas — 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