Vrbanja river

Vrbanja Врбањa
The Vrbanja in Šiprage in summertime
Country	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Physical characteristics
Main source	Vlašić
River mouth	Vrbas Врбаc
Length	85 km (53 mi)
Basin features
Basin size	Black Sea

The Vrbanja is a river in Central Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina; with Ugar, the largest right tributary of the Vrbas. Its basin covers an area of approximately 703.5 km². It has significant hydropower potential. There are many different estimations of the Vrbanja's length, from 84 km to 95.4 km.

Like many other sites in Bosnia, Vrbanja is named after the willows that grow along the river from Kruševo Brdo to Banja Luka. Other examples are Vrbanjci village and Vrbanja, near Banja Luka, as well as Vrbas and a bridge in the center of Sarajevo.

The Vrbanja source is on the slopes of Vlašić Mountain, upstream of Pilipovina village (at about 1,530 meters above sea level). The area around the source is called "Prelivode", with a radius of around 2-3 kilometers. Prelivode is on a ridge between the Vlašić (1933 m) and Meokrnje (1425 m) mountains.

The Vrbanja flows through Kruševo Brdo, Šiprage, Obodnik, Vrbanjci, Kotor Varoš, Zabrđe, Čelinac and the settlement of Vrbanja. It joins the Vrbas river in Banja Luka.

During the Austro-Hungarian administration of 1878-1914, a wide network of railway communications was built along the Vrbanja, with the support of the Bosnian Government. Exploitation of the natural resources (especially wood and mining) was the primary intended purpose of this investment. The railroad was built along the valley of the Vrbanja from Kotor Varoš to Šiprage, where it branched along a few tributaries of the river. It leads to the area of the Riječice, across the pass between Jasen and Šepirice.