Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

VISTULA (Ger. Weichsel, Polish Wisla)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 146 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

VISTULA (Ger. Weichsel, See also:Polish Wisla) , one of the See also:chief See also:rivers of See also:Europe, rising in See also:Austria and flowing first through See also:Russian and then through Prussian territory. Its source is in See also:Austrian See also:Silesia on the See also:northern slopes of the See also:West Beskiden range of the Carpathian mountains. The stream runs through a See also:mountain valley, in a N.N.W. direction to Schwarzwasser, where it leaves the mountains, turns E. and N.E., and forms See also:part of the Austro-See also:German frontier. Returning within Austrian territory (See also:Galicia), it passes See also:Cracow, and thereafter forms a See also:long stretch of the frontier with See also:Russia (See also:Poland), bending gradually towards the See also:north, until at Zawichost it runs due N. and enters Poland. Here it at first bisects the high-lying See also:plateau of See also:southern Poland, but leaves this near Jozefow, and flows as far as the junction with the Pilica in a broad valley between wooded bluffs. See also:Crossing the See also:plain of central and northern Poland, it passes See also:Warsaw, and at the junction of the See also:Bug sweeps W. and N.W. to pass See also:Plock and Wloclawek (see further POLAND for its course within this territory). It enters See also:Prussia 10 m. above See also:Thorn, turns N.E. on receiving the See also:Brahe, passes See also:Graudenz and turns towards the north. From this point it throws off numerous branches and sweeps from See also:side to side of a broad valley, having steep See also:banks on the side upon which it impinges, and on the other being bordered by extensive See also:flat lands. Nearing the Baltic See also:Sea it forms a See also:delta, dividing into two See also:main arms, the See also:left or western of which bears the name of Vistula, and flows directly to See also:Danzig See also:Bay, while the right is called the Nogat, and flows into the Frisches Haff. The enclosed deltaic See also:tract is very fertile. Parts of it are known as Wender (cf. the See also:English "islands" or " helms " in the See also:Fens and other See also:low-lying tracts of the See also:east).

In the See also:

lower part of the delta the Haff See also:Canal leads from the main See also:river to the Frisches Haff; there are also various natural channels in that direction, but the main river passes on towards the N.W.; having a tendency to run parallel to the See also:coast, and reaching Danzig Bay with a See also:direct course only through an artificial cut constructed in 1888-96. The river See also:broke a new channel into the bay, at a point between this cut and the old mouth at Neufahrwasser, on the See also:night of the 1st-2nd of See also:February 184o. The important seaport of Danzig, however, is on the old channel, and this channel is used by See also:shipping, which enters it by a canal at Neufahrwasser. The Nogat, formerly inconsiderable, had become so much deepened and broadened by natural means in the See also:early part of the 19th See also:century that it carried more See also:water than the Vistula itself (i.e. the other main deltaic See also:branch). In 1845-57 the outflow of the Nogat was stopped and an artificialchannel was formed for it, so as to restore the proper See also:head of water to the Vistula. Shifting banks See also:form a serious impediment to See also:navigation, and these and floods (principally in See also:spring and midsummer) necessitate careful See also:works of regulation. The river is See also:ice-See also:bound at Warsaw, on an See also:average, from about the loth of See also:December to the loth of See also:March. The navigation of the Vistula is considerable up to Cracow, and the river forms a very important See also:highway of See also:commerce in Poland (q.v.) and Prussia. For small See also:craft it is navigable above Cracow up to the Austro-German frontier, where the Przemsa enters it. This river and the Pilica, Bzura, Brahe, Schwarzwasser and See also:Verse are the chief left-See also:bank tributaries; on the right the Vistula receives the Skawa, Raba, Dunajec, Wisloka and See also:San before reaching Poland, the Wieprz and Bug in Poland, and the See also:Drewenz in Prussia. The Brahe and the See also:Bromberg Canal give See also:access from the Vistula to the See also:Netze and so to the See also:Oder. The river is See also:rich in See also:fish.

Its See also:

total length is about 65o m., and its drainage. See also:area approaches 74,000 sq. M. See H. See also:Keller, See also:Memel-, Pregel- and Weichselstrom, ihre Stromgebiete, &c., vols. iii. and iv. (See also:Berlin, 1900).

End of Article: VISTULA (Ger. Weichsel, Polish Wisla)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
VISOR (also spelled viser, vizor, vizard or visard)... 		[next]
VITALIANUS

Site © 2006 - Net Industries