Vistula, << VIHS choo luh, >> River is an important waterway of east-central Europe. It carries much of the river traffic in Poland. The Vistula rises in the Carpathian Mountains in southern Poland and then takes a circular course northward. The river runs through the city of Warsaw. It empties by several branches into the Baltic Sea. Gdansk lies at the mouth of the Nogat, the westernmost branch. The river’s name in Polish is Wisla << VEE swah >> .
Light boats sail up the river as far as Krakow. The Vistula is frozen two to three months of the year.
Canals link the Vistula with the Oder, the Dnieper, and the Neman, all navigable rivers. The Vistula is 678 miles (1,091 kilometers) long and drains about 74,000 square miles (192,000 square kilometers).
