Lab (river)

Lab Llap
The Lab in Podujevo
Physical characteristics
Main source	Kopaonik mountain, Kosovo
River mouth	Sitnica river, south of Vučitrn, Kosovo
Length	72 km (45 mi)
Basin features
Basin size	950 km2 (370 sq mi)

The Lab (Serbian Cyrillic: Лаб) or Llap (Albanian: Llapi), is a river in the north-eastern part of Kosovo. The 72 km (45 mi) long right tributary to the Sitnica river, it is the main river in the Malo Kosovo depression. Near its origin are remains of medieval palace of Serbian king Milutin (1282-1321) called Vrhlab (Serbian Cyrillic: Врхлаб, which means origin of the Lab).

The etymology of the river's name is derived from a pre-Slavic form Alb that underwent linguistic metathesis within Slavic giving the final form as Lab.

The Lab originates from the Kopaonik mountain, between the Pilatovica and Bela Stena peaks, on the border of Kosovo and Serbia. The river flows southward, through the region of Gornji Lab (Upper Lab), by the villages of Marince, Bela Stena, Murgula, Brece and Metohija, receives several smaller streams from the Kopaonik and after it passes the village of Donja Pakaštica, the Lab enters the Malo Kosovo field.

Malo Kosovo is located between the mountains of Kopaonik (north) and Prugovac (south) and, unlike the Gornji Lab, it is densely populated. After the villages of Dobri Do, Bajčina, Perane and Letance, the Lab reaches the town of Podujevo. At this point, the river bends gently to the southwest and its valley becomes the route for the regional road and railway Niš-Pristina. After the larger village of Glavnik, the Lab receives from the left the Batlava river at the village of Lužane, and from the right its major tributary, the Kačandolska reka by the village of Donje Ljupče.

At Vrani Do and Besinje villages, the Lab slowly turns west, passing the villages of Raškovo, Miloševo, Prilužje, and Reka, where it empties into the Sitnica. The Lab drains an area of 950 km² (367 sq mi), belongs to the Black Sea drainage basin and it is not navigable.