Sajó

Sajó
Slaná
Sajó; Slaná
	The river between Sajóvámos and Szirmabesenyő
	Current and watershed of the Sajó River in Slovakia and Hungary
Location
Countries	Slovakia and Hungary
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Stolica Mountains
• coordinates	48°46′34.4388″N 20°12′34.6464″E / 48.776233000°N 20.209624000°E
• elevation	1,229 m (4,032 ft)
Mouth
• location	Tisza
• coordinates	47°56′37″N 21°06′51″E / 47.9437°N 21.1142°E
• elevation	91 m (299 ft)
Length	229.4 km (142.5 mi)
Basin size	12,708.3 km2 (4,906.7 sq mi) to 12,869.6 km2 (4,969.0 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Tiszaújváros, Hungary (near mouth)
• average	65.6 m3/s (2,320 cu ft/s) to 78.623 m3/s (2,776.5 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Miskolc (53.205 rkm; Basin size: 6,245.8 km2 (2,411.5 sq mi)
• average	35.087 m3/s (1,239.1 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Kazincbarcika (88.4 rkm; Basin size: 4,361 km2 (1,684 sq mi)
• average	24.473 m3/s (864.3 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Bánréve, Sajópüspöki (123.6 rkm; Basin size: 3,204.7 km2 (1,237.3 sq mi)
• average	20.55 m3/s (726 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Rožňava (Rozsnyó, 177.5 rkm; Basin size: 301.53 km2 (116.42 sq mi)
• average	3.264 m3/s (115.3 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Tisza→ Danube→ Black Sea
Tributaries
• left	Takta, Hernád, Bódva, Szuha
• right	Szinva, Bán-patak, Hangony, Rimava, Turiec, Muráň, Štítnik

The Sajó (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈʃɒjoː] SHOH-yoe, Hungarian) or Slaná (Slovak) is a river in Slovakia and Hungary.

Its length is 229 km, of which 110 km is in Slovakia. Its source is in the Stolica Mountains range of the Slovak Ore Mountains. It flows through the Slovak town Rožňava and the Hungarian city Miskolc. In Hungary Sajó flows through the county of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. It flows into the River Tisza near Tiszaújváros. Its main tributaries are the Bodva and the Hornád. It is also known for the Battle of the Sajó River from 11 April 1241 between the Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary.

Geography

Catchment area of the Sajó river by country:^[3]

River	Area by country
	Slovakia		Hungary
	(km²)	(%)	(km²)	(%)
Sajó	3,217	25.3	2,328	18.3
Bódva	858	6.8	869	6.8
Hernád	4,423	34.8	1,013	8.0

	8,498	66.9	4,210	33.1

Sajó River Basin	12,708 km²			100.0%

Important hydrological stations along the Sajó river:^[3]^[2]

Station	River kilo-meter (rkm)	Altitude (m)	Basin size (km²)	Average discharge (m³/s)
Hungary
Tiszaújváros (near mouth)	0.0	91	12,869.6	78.623
Kesznyéten	10.5	94	12,131.9	75.582
Ónod	34	104	6,691	36.701
Felsőzsolca	50.9	114	6,591.9	36.276
Miskolc	53.9	116	6,591.9	36.146
Kazincbarcika	88.4	135	4,361	24.473
Sajópüspöki, Bánréve	123.6	155	3,204.7	20.55
Slovakia
Lenartovce (Sajólénártfalva)	127.2	157	1,829.65	14.5
Bretka (Beretke)	149.8	193	889.12	6.075
Rožňava (Rozsnyó)	175.5	276.6	301.53	3.264
Gemerská Poloma (Veszverés)	184.3	320.9	201.6	2.622
Vlachovo (Oláhpatak)	198.6	412	123.16	2.051
Vyšná Slaná (Felsősajó)	201.3	440.9	60.28	0.696

Tributaries

Complete list of streams (slovak 'potok'; Hungarian 'patak') and rivers flowing into the Sajó (from the estuary upwards):^[2]^[4]^[1]

Left tributary	Right tributary	Length (km)	Basin size (km²)	Average discharge (m³/s)
Hungary
Inér-háti-főcsatorna		10.2	55	0.089
Takta		63.8	620.6	2.951
	Hejő-Szarda-övcsatorna
Hernád		282.2	5,436.4	38.555
Kis-Sajó		20.9	85.8	0.16
	Szinva	18.5	159.4	0.733
	Bábony-patak	9.5	26.9	0.122
Bódva		110.7	1,727.3	9.983
	Harica	20.1	86.1	0.292
	Alacska-patak	6.6	10	0.049
Szuha		40	211.6	0.982
	Tardona-patak	18.9	47.2	0.206
	Bán-patak	23.9	260.3	0.893
Galgóc-patak		3.1
Zsuponyó-patak		7.5	17	0.094
Szörnyűvölgyi-patak		6	10.3	0.051
	Mercse-patak	10.6	30.1	0.16
	Hangony	30.9	295.2	1.033
Keleméri-patak		15.6	60.3	0.19
Slovakia
	Rimava (Rima)	88	1,368.6	7.912
	Lúčka	7.2
Neporadzský potok		8.2		0.091
Konský potok		10		0.139
	Kaloša	15.1	146.6	0.27
Hubovský potok		9.2
	Turiec (Turóc)	46.2	370.5	2.072
Chinča		9.8		0.111
	Gemerský potok	3.8
Lapša		9.5
	Muráň (Murány)	48.8	413.2	3.118
Sograd'		8.3		0.064
Androvský potok		3.4		0.167
	Mlynský
	Štítnik (Csetnek)	32.8	229.6	1.715
	Egressy potok (Egres-patak)	4.2
Čremošná (Csermosnya-patak)		29	142	0.968
	Honský potok	12.8	26.23	0.189
Rožňavský potok		13.34	42.3	0.332
Betliarsky potok		7.9		0.124
Capašsky potok		5.3
Súl'ovský potok		14.2	57.66	0.462
	Kolesárský potok	6.2
Dolinský potok
Lučica		4.9
	Henckovský potok	3
	Pališov potok	2.9
	Kobeliarovský potok	6.76	15.65	0.138
	Gampel'ský potok	3.4
Gočovský potok		2.9
Vlachovský potok		5.3
Dobšinský potok (Dobsina)		15.5	57.32	0.578
	Žoltkovský potok	6.5
	Potôčik
	Mlynná
Krokovský potok		1.9
	Rovniansky potok	5.5
Skalný potok
Trsteník		3.5

Etymology

The origin of the name is the subject of scholar discussions. Hungarian linguists and historians suggested the derivation from the Hungarian sojó, só folyó (salt water, river) already in the 19th century.^[5] Newer theories associate the name with sió referring to fast streams. According to Slovak linguists the name is pre-Hungarian (Slaná: salt river) and most likely not associated with the salinity but with the salt road existing already in times of Great Moravia. The supporters argue by numerous Slavic toponyms in the river basin and by local names related to soľ (salt) and Moravia like Moravce, Soľár, Solišče, Soľka, Soľník, Morava (according to this interpretation the Hungarian name is a later translation).^[6]