Gauja

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Gauja
The Ērgļu cliffs, a Devonian sandstone formation, along the Gauja River
Location
Countries	Latvia Estonia
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Vidzeme Highland
• elevation	234 metres (768 ft)
Mouth	Gulf of Riga
• location	Carnikava
• coordinates	57°09′33″N 24°15′59″E / 57.1593°N 24.2663°E / 57.1593; 24.2663
Length	452 kilometres (281 mi)
Basin size	9,800 km2 (3,800 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	71 m3/s (2,500 cu ft/s)

The Gauja River (Estonian: Koiva jõgi, German: Livländische Aa) is a river in the Vidzeme region of Latvia.^[1] It is the only large river of Latvia that begins and ends its flow in Latvia. Its length is 460 km, of which 93.5 km (approximately one-fifth) are in Gauja National Park. In this part, the Gauja River flows through the Gauja Valley, which is between 1 and 2.5 km wide, and the maximum depth near Sigulda is 85 m. Thus, the Gauja is the longest river of Latvia if only the parts of the river in the country's territory are counted. The Daugava has only 367 km in Latvia, whereas the entire length of the river is over 1,000 km.

The sandstone rocks on the banks of the Gauja and its adjoining rivers started forming 370 to 300 million years ago, during the Devonian period.