SAN RIVER

'San (Sanok) River'
Length	433 km
Basin area	16,861 km²
Origin	Carpathian Mountains
Tributary of	Vistula River
Countries	Poland, Ukraine

The 'San' () is a river in southeastern Poland and western Ukraine, a tributary of the Vistula River, with a length of 433 km (it is the 6th-longest Polish river) and a basin area of 16,861 km² (14,390 km² of it, in Poland). The San arises in the Carpathian Mountains near the village of Sianky, at an elevation of 900 metres, exactly on the Polish-Ukrainian border [1] () and on the continental watershed, and forms the border between Poland and Ukraine for approximately its first 50 km.
"''San''," in proto-Indoeuropean languages, means "speed" or "rapid stream." In Celtic languages, "''San''" means "river."
Poland's largest artificial lake, Lake Solina was created by a dam on the San River near Lesko.

Contents

History

Tributaries

Cities

Literature

See also

History

In historical records the river was first mentioned in 1097 as ''Sanъ'', ''reku Sanъ'', ''k Sanovi'', ''nad Sanomъ'' (1152) and ''Sanu'' (1287). On the old maps of the Ruthenian Voivodeship, Poland 1339–1772: "San" (1339), San (1372), "Szan" (1406), "Sanok" (1438), "Saan" (1439), "Sayn" (1445), "San" (1467), "Szan" (1517), "Schan" (1526).
Settled in prehistoric times, the sountern-eastern Poland region that is now Podkarpacie was overrun in pre-Roman times by various tribes, including the Celts, Goths and Vandals (Przeworsk culture and Puchov culture). After the fall of the Roman Empire, of which most of sountern-eastern Poland was part (all parts below the San River), the area was invaded by Hungarians and Slavs.
The San valley must have been an important trade route and human settlement axis as early as 9th or 10th century. The region subsequently became part of the Great Moravian state. Upon the invasion of the Hungarian tribes into the heart of the Great Moravian Empire around 899, the Lendians of the area declared their allegiance to Hungarian Empire. The region then became a site of contention between Poland, Kievan Rus and Hungary starting in at least the 9th century. This area was mentioned for the first time in 981 (by Nestor) , when Volodymyr the Great of Kievan Rus took the area over on the way into Poland. In 1018 it returned to Poland, 1031 back to Rus, in 1340 Casimir III of Poland recovered it.

During (966–1018), (1340 - 1772) - (Ruthenian Voivodeship) and during 1918 – 1939 the region was a part of Poland. While between 1772 and 1918 it belonged to Austrian empire, later Austrian-Hungarian empire when double monarchy was introduced in Austria. This part of Poland was controlled by Austria for almost 120 years. At that time the area (including west and east of Subcarpathian Voivodship) was known as Galicia.
During the World War II invasion of Poland, Polish forces attempted to defend a line along the San River from September 6 1939, until German forces were able to advance out of their bridgeheads on September 12 1939.

Tributaries

'Right tributaries'#Wołosaty, #Solinka, #Hoczewka, #Osława, #Sanoczek, #Tyrawski, #Baryczka, #Stupnica,

'Left tributaries'#Wiar,#Wisznia,#Rada,#Szkło,#Lubaczówka,#Lubienia,#Wisłok,#Trzebośnica,#Tanew,#Bukowa,

Cities

★ Dynów, Jarosław, Lesko, Leżajsk, Nisko, Przemyśl, Radymno, Rudnik nad Sanem, Sandomierz, Sanok, Sieniawa, Stalowa Wola, Ulanów, Zagórz

Literature

★ Prof. Adam Fastnacht, ''Slownik Historyczno-Geograficzny Ziemi Sanockiej w Średniowieczu'' (Historic-Geographic Dictionary of the Sanok District in the Middle Ages), Kraków, 2002, ISBN 83-88385-14-3.

See also

★ Rivers of Poland

★ San (disambiguation page)