How long is the Danube? Length and the 10 countries it crosses
The Danube is about 2,850 km (1,770 miles) long. It is the second longest river in Europe after the Volga and the river that flows through the most countries in the world: 10.
Lay the Danube over your country
The river and a country at one scale. Pick a country, drag the river or switch the globe to the Mercator map.
Danube: about 2,850 km (1,770 miles), about 72% of the straight-line distance from New York to Los Angeles (about 3,940 km).
Drag the river with your finger or mouse. It moves over the globe without changing shape or length, and its north stays up. The globe keeps the true proportions; on the Mercator map you can see how a river moved north grows.
Where the Danube flows
The Danube rises in the Black Forest of southwestern Germany and flows east through Central Europe and the Balkans to the Black Sea. It flows through or along the borders of 10 countries and passes four capitals: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade.
The Danube basin covers about 817,000 km². At its mouth the river carries about 6,400 m³/s of water on average. The Danube is the longest river in the European Union, because the longer Volga flows only through Russia.
Rivers of similar length, straightened
Rivers drawn at one scale. Straighten them to compare their lengths and see how they look on a Mercator map.
On a Mercator map: about 4,100 km
On a Mercator map the Danube looks about 4,100 km long (×1.45 its true length). Its course lies at middle latitudes, so the map stretches it by about 45%.
Open the Mercator mapHow long is it really?
Encyclopedias give about 2,850 km. The international commission for the Danube gives about 2,857 km. The gap comes from a different starting point in the Black Forest and the choice of delta branch.
The line on this page's maps is about 2,637 km long, shorter than the sources say, because a 1:10 million map smooths the bends and the mouth. That is why lengths here come from the sources, not from the drawing.
Danube: questions and answers
The Danube is about 2,850 km (1,770 miles) long according to Encyclopædia Britannica. It is the second longest river in Europe after the Volga.
Ten, more than any other river: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine. In several of them it runs along the border.
Four: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade.
The Danube rises in the Black Forest of southwestern Germany.
The Danube flows into the Black Sea through a wide delta in Romania and Ukraine.