Đetinja

Đetinja (Ђетиња)
The river Đetinja as it runs through the city of Užice
Country	Serbia
Basin features
Main source	Zlatibor, western Serbia
River mouth	with Golijska Moravica makes Zapadna Morava, near Požega, Serbia
Basin size	1,486 km2 (574 sq mi)
Physical characteristics
Length	75 km (47 mi)
Discharge	Average rate: 1.93 m3/s (68 cu ft/s) (at Vrutci dam)

Đetinja (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђетиња, pronounced [d͡ʑě̞tiɲa]) is a river in western Serbia, a 75 km long natural but shorter headstream of the Zapadna Morava River.

The Đetinja river valley serves as a route for the Belgrade-Bar railway.

According to the legend which describes how the Đetinja River got its name, the Ottoman Turks in the times when they ruled these lands, once punished the local Užican people by taking their children and brutally throwing them into the river. Thus the river was named Đetinja rijeka, which in Užican dialect means the children's river. Later rijeka (river) was just dropped out of the river name, leaving only Đetinja (meaning of the children).

However, the name probably originates from the old name Cetina, which meant "Horse river" and even today, one of the strams which form Đetinja is called Konjska reka (Serbian for Horse river).

The Đetinja River, as the Matijaševića reka, originates from the southeastern slopes of the Tara mountain, in western Serbia, near the field of Pusto polje. From the source to its mouth, the river flows in the eastern direction. First, it runs through the small Kremna depression, between the Tara and Zlatibor mountains, following the northern border of Mt. Zlatibor. At Kremna, five streams flow into the one river, forming Đetinja: Matijaševića reka, Konjska reka, Bratešina, Užički potok and Tomića potok.

Đetinja carved a gorge, 8 km long and 300 m deep. At the village of Vrutci, the river is dammed in 1986, creating an artificial Lake Vrutci. The reservoir was supposed to solve the chronic water problems of the fast-growing town of Užice and its industry (in 1961-91, the city population grew by 266%, from 20,060 to 53,310). From the south, Đetinja receives the right tributary of Sušica, coming from the central parts of Zlatibor, and enters the Užice valley.