Drin (river)

Drin
Drin delta flowing through Shkodër
Location
Countries	Albania Kosovo North Macedonia
Region	Southern Europe
Cities	Prizren Shkodër Kukës Lezhë Struga Debar Peshkopi Maqellarë
Physical characteristics
Source	White Drin at Zhleb Mountains near Radavc
• location	Kosovo, Peja District
2nd source	Black Drin at Lake Ohrid near Struga
• location	North Macedonia, Struga Municipality
Source confluence	Near Kukës
• location	Kukës County, Albania
Mouth	Large Drin: Buna Small Drin: Gulf of Drin
• location	Large Drin: Shkodër County Small Drin: Lezhë County, Albania
• elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Length	285 km (177 mi)[1][A]
Basin size	19,686 km2 (7,601 sq mi)[4]
Discharge
• location	the river mouth
• average	352 m3/s (12,400 cu ft/s)[2]
• maximum	1,800[3] m3/s (64,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Adriatic Sea
Tributaries
• left	Black Drin, Mirusha, Prizren, Toplluha
• right	White Drin, Sateska, Radika, Perro, Bushtrica, White Drin: Peja, Deçan, Erenik, Black Drin: Valbona, Shala, Kir, Mertur

The Drin (/driːn/;^[5] Albanian: Drin [dɾin] or Drini [ˈdɾini]; Macedonian: Дрим, romanized: Drim [drim]) is a river in Southeastern Europe with two major tributaries – the White Drin and the Black Drin and two distributaries – one discharging into the Adriatic Sea, in the Gulf of Drin and the other into the Buna River. Its catchment area extends across Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and North Macedonia^[6][7] and is home to more than 1.6 million people.^[8] The river and its tributaries form the Gulf of Drin, an ocean basin that encompasses the northern Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast.

At 285 kilometres (177 miles) long,^[1][9][10] the Drin is the longest river of Albania and its tributaries cross through both Kosovo and North Macedonia. Its northern tributary, the White Drin starts from the foothills of Žljeb, at White Drin Waterfall in west Kosovo, and flows generally south, whereas its southern tributary, the Black Drin originates from Ohrid lake in the town of Struga, North Macedonia and flows north. Both tributaries' confluence occurs near Kukës in northeast Albania and Drin then flows westwards through the Albanian Alps and Dukagjin Highlands, where three successive dams were erected between 1960s and late 1980s, forming 3 large artificial lakes. The Drin then passes Vau i Dejës and drains into the Adriatic Sea through its two distributaries in Buna river and west of Lezhë.

Located in the Balkan Peninsula at the crossroad of Europe and Asia, the river basin's varied climate and topography have shaped a vast array of flora and fauna. In addition, it has been recognized as one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in Europe.^[11][12] The Drin Delta is classified as an Important Bird Area of international importance by designation under the BirdLife International Convention.^[13]