The
Elbe (
Czech:
Labe (help·info);
German:
Elbe;
Low German:
Ilv) is one of the major
rivers of
Central Europe. It rises in the
Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern
Czech Republic before traversing much of
Bohemia (
Czech Republic), then
Germany and flowing into the
North Sea at
Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of
Hamburg. Its total length is 1,094 kilometres (680 mi).
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The Elbe's major tributaries include the
Vltava,
Saale,
Havel,
Mulde,
Schwarze Elster, and
Ohre rivers.
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The Elbe River basin, comprising the Elbe and its tributaries, has a catchment area of 148,268 square kilometres (57,247 sq mi), the fourth largest in Europe. The basin spans four countries, with its largest parts in Germany (65.5%) and the Czech Republic (33.7%). Much smaller parts lie in
Austria (0.6%) and
Poland (0.2%). The basin is inhabited by 24.5 million people.
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