Lika (river)

Lika
Lika River, near Kosinj
Map
Location
CountryCroatia
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationVelebit Mountains
 • elevation600 m (2,000 ft)
Mouth 
 • location
ponor
 • coordinates
44°46′N 15°10′E / 44.767°N 15.167°E / 44.767; 15.167
 • elevation
480 m (1,570 ft)
Length77 km (48 mi)
Basin size1,014 km2 (392 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • average7.33 m3/s (259 cu ft/s)

The Lika is a river in Croatia which gives its name to the Lika region. It is 77 kilometres (48 mi) long and it has a basin with an area of 1,014 square kilometres (392 sq mi). Its average discharge at the measurement station in Bilaj (covering 225 km2 of the basin) is 7.33 m3/s, and it can go completely dry.[1]

It is known as a sinking river because at the end of its course, it flows into a series of ponors or swallow-holes and disappears from the surface. The Lika River rises near the village of Kukljić at the foot of the Velebit Mountains, flows in a northwesterly direction past the town of Gospić, enters and leaves Lake Krušćica, and continues to the northwest until it sinks into the karst topography at ponors near Lipovo Polje.

  1. ^ "Karakteristike značajnijih vodotoka". Vodnogospodarska osnova Hrvatske - Strategija upravljanja vodama (in Croatian). Croatian Parliament. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2011-12-18.