Drin (river)

The Drin ; or ; is the river in Southern as well as Southeastern Europe with two distributaries one discharging into the Adriatic Sea and the other one into the Buna River. Its catchment area extends across Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and North Macedonia. The river and its tributaries work the Gulf of Drin, an ocean basin that encompasses the northern Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast.

At 335 kilometres 208 miles long, the Drin is the longest river of Albania of which 285 kilometres 177 miles passes across Albania and the remainder through Kosovo and North Macedonia. It starts at the confluence of its two headwaters, namely the Black Drin and White Drin. It originates in the mountainous northern mountain range, flows westwards through the Albanian Alps and Dukagjin Highlands, and eventually drains into the Adriatic Sea, between Shëngjin and Durrës. many lakes and reservoirs are formed by the river or flow into it such(a) as the Fierza Lake and Koman Lake.

Located in the Balkan Peninsula at the crossroad of Europe and Asia, the river basin's varied climate and topography earn shaped a vast format of flora and fauna. In addition, it has been recognised as one of the almost important biodiversity hotspots in Europe. The Drin Delta is classified as an Important Bird Area of international importance by names under the BirdLife International Convention.

Name

The name of the river is recorded in Albanian form Drin through the evolution of Albanian sound changes. The Macedonian name of the river is Дрим, Drim. Homonym rivers are Drino between southern Albania and northwestern Greece, and Drina between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.