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The 'Leitha' (German: ''Leitha''; Hungarian: ''Lajta''; Czech and Slovak: ''Litava'') is a river in Central Europe with a length of approximately 180 km. It is formed in eastern Austria at the confluence of two headstreams (''Schwarza'' and ''Pitten''). Between Ebenfürth and Leithaprodersdorf, and between Bruck an der Leitha and Gattendorf, the Leitha forms part of the border between Lower Austria and Burgenland, which was the Austrian-Hungarian border until 1921.
Near Nickelsdorf, the river passes into modern Hungary, where it flows into an arm of the Danube river near Mosonmagyaróvár.
Besides Mosonmagyaróvár, other cities on its course are Wiener Neustadt and Bruck an der Leitha.
Several canals diverge from the Leitha and its tributaries. The canals fed spinning companies in the past, and they now feed small hydroelectric power plants. Between Seibersdorf and Hof am Leithaberge, most of the water in the Leitha is removed for this purpose. From there on, the Leitha only really flows when it is at its high watermark. Downriver from Katzelsdorf the river is bed almost completely dry as well.

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Historic importance

Historic importance

The placenames Lajtabánság, Cisleithania and Transleithania all come from the Leitha. After the 1867 Ausgleich between Austria and Hungary, which created the Dual Monarchy, ''Transleithanien'' ("beyond the Leitha") was the Viennese colloquial word for the region beyond the Leitha (meaning Hungary), while ''Cisleithanien'' ("on this side of the Leitha") was the region around Vienna (meaning Austria). In the same way, it was also the name for Kingdom of Hungary. These names reflect the Viennese and Austrian perspectives towards the rest of the Empire, because the center of Vienna lay on this side, and the other half, Hungary, lay on ''that'' side. Also, Galicia and Bukovina, which were counted as part of Cisleithania, lie far to Hungary's east. Moreover, the Morava River formed the border between Moravia and Hungary, this area is now in Slovakia.