Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

Jiu River

331 km from source to mouth · Romania.

RomaniaRomaniaFlows into Danube6th longest in Romania

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouth
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

331km

Average flow

94m³/s

Basin

10,070km²

Drop

764m

from 792 m to 28 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

331 km of river and 26 stops on the way: 21 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

792 m28 m
Sourceat 792 m0 km
Lupeni30,488 people28 km
Bumbeşti-Jiu10,445 people74 km
Amaradiatributary102 km
Tismana Rivertributary120 km
Gilort Rivertributary174 km
Motru Rivertributary181 km
Podari6,302 people244 km
Malu Mare4,995 people252 km
Valea Stanciului4,806 people296 km
Danubeat 28 m331 km
0100200331 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 792 m
  2. 18 kmUricani9,924 people
  3. 28 kmLupeni30,488 people
  4. 34 kmVulcan19,772 people
  5. 38 kmAninoasa4,998 people
  6. 74 kmBumbeşti-Jiu10,445 people
  7. 94 kmTârgu Jiu73,545 people
  8. 95 kmJiu Bridge
  9. 102 kmAmaradiatributary
  10. 106 kmDrăguţeşti5,126 people
  11. 119 kmRovinari12,259 people
  12. 120 kmTismana Rivertributary
  13. 127 kmFărcăşeşti3,857 people
  14. 141 kmUrdari3,162 people
  15. 146 kmPlopşoru6,576 people
  16. 159 kmTurceni8,458 people
  17. 174 kmGilort Rivertributary
  18. 181 kmMotru Rivertributary
  19. 190 kmBraloştiţa3,840 people
  20. 192 kmFiliaşi18,995 people
  21. 205 kmBrădeşti4,625 people
  22. 223 kmIşalniţa3,955 people
  23. 231 kmBreasta3,867 people
  24. 237 kmBucovăţ4,175 people
  25. 244 kmPodari6,302 people
  26. 252 kmMalu Mare4,995 people
  27. 296 kmValea Stanciului4,806 people
  28. 331 kmDanubeat 28 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

Tributary of the Danube River in southern Romania

At the mouth it carries 94 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 27 seconds. It drops from 792 m to 28 m, 2.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 10,070 km², about the size of LB. 919,000 people live in it. Highest water: February, April and June. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Jiu River, month by month

Highest water: February, April and June

Best months to visit: from May to September.

46
-2°37 mmJan
130
1°38 mmFeb
99
5°40 mmMar
130
11°52 mmApr
87
16°69 mmMay
120
20°83 mmJun
100
22°64 mmJul
73
21°52 mmAug
32
17°40 mmSep
24
12°37 mmOct
61
6°49 mmNov
98
1°46 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 24 m³/s in the lowest month to 130 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Jiu River: the basin in numbers

10,157 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.3% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 919,000people live in the basin
  • 91/km²people per km²
  • 442maverage altitude of the basin
  • 668mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 9.5°Caverage air temperature
  • 10%protected areas
  • 0.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 41% Forest
  • 34% Cropland
  • 19% Pasture
  • 2% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Jiu River: what you find on the way

  • 8DamsBarajul Valea de Pești, Barajul Vădeni, Barajul Turceni and 5 more
  • 7WaterfallsCascada Valea Mării, Cascada Lazărului, Cascada Firizoni and 4 more
  • 1River beachesPlaja Voinigești

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Jiu River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 3mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (3)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Peleaga11 km away · prominence 1,759 m2,509m
  2. Păpușa Peak10 km away2,504m
  3. Retezat14 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Jiu River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Jiu River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth14 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Jiu River in pictures

Jiu River in Craiova
Sandri 90 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (24)

Also: Amaradia, Gilort River, Motru River, Amaradia, Brădești River, Tismana River, Șușița River, Șușița River, Chițiu River, Argetoaia River, Bratcu River, Cioiana River, Dâmbova River, Gioroc River, Rasnic River, Polatiștea River, Jilț River, Jiul de Est River, Jiul de Vest River, Porcu River, Sadu River, Sâmbotin River, Tetila River, Izvorul River

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q530577) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesPeakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit