The Oder

Oder (Odra)
River
Oder between Kienitz and Zollbrücke, Germany
Countries	Poland, Czech Republic, Germany
Source
- location	Fidlův kopec, Oderské vrchy, Nízký Jeseník, Olomouc District, Olomouc Region, Moravia, Czech Republic
- elevation	634 m (2,080 ft)
- coordinates	49°36′47″N 017°31′15″E / 49.61306°N 17.52083°E / 49.61306; 17.52083
Mouth	Szczecin Lagoon
- location	Baltic Sea, Poland
- coordinates	53°40′19″N 14°31′25″E / 53.67194°N 14.52361°E / 53.67194; 14.52361Coordinates: 53°40′19″N 14°31′25″E / 53.67194°N 14.52361°E / 53.67194; 14.52361
Length	854 km (531 mi)
Basin	118,861 km2 (45,892 sq mi)
Discharge	mouth
- average	574 m3/s (20,271 cu ft/s)

The Oder (German pronunciation: [ˈoːdɐ]; Czech, Lower Sorbian and Polish: Odra, Upper Sorbian: Wódra) is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows (generally north- and northwest-ward) through western Poland, later forming 187 kilometres (116 mi) of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder–Neisse line. The river ultimately flows into the Szczecin Lagoon north of Szczecin and then into three branches (the Dziwna, Świna and Peene) that empty into the Gulf of Pomerania of the Baltic Sea.

The Oder is known by several names in different languages, but the modern ones are very similar: English and German: Oder; Czech, Polish, and Lower Sorbian: Odra, Upper Sorbian: Wódra; Kashubian: Òdra (pronounced [ˈwɛdra]); Medieval Latin: Od(d)era; Renaissance Latin: Viadrus (invented in 1534).

Ptolemy knew the modern Oder as the Συήβος (Suebos; Latin Suevus) – a name apparently derived from the Suebi, a Germanic people. While he also refers to an outlet in the area as the Οὐιαδούα Ouiadoua (or Οὐιλδούα Ouildoua; Latin Viadua or Vildua), this was apparently the modern Wieprz, as it was said to be a third of the distance between the Suebos and Vistula. The name Suebos may be preserved in the modern name of the Świna river (German Swine) – an outlet from the Szczecin Lagoon to the Baltic.