Erenik

Infobox River | river_name = Erenik
Ереник


caption =
origin = Đeravica peak, North Albanian Alps mountains, Kosovo
mouth = White Drin, east of Đakovica, Kosovo
basin_countries = Kosovo
length = 51 km
elevation =
discharge =
watershed = 516 km²

The Erenik (Albanian: "Erenik"; Serbian Cyrillic: Ереник) is a river in Kosovo. Located in Metohija region of western Kosovo, it's a 51 km-long right tributary to the White Drin river.

The Erenik originates near the Albanian border, in the northern slopes of the Junička mountain, a part of the North Albanian Alps massif, under the Đeravica peak (2,656 m), the highest in Kosovo. It's origin is the Đeravica Lake just under Đeravica peak. The river flows to the south and south-east and follows the eastern edge of the North Albanian Alps mountains, dividing them from the Metohija region.

Before it reaches the town of Đakovica, there is a string of settlements on the river, as the area is densely populated: the villages of Jasiċ, Nivokaz and Ponoševac, the small town of Junik and the village and mine of Babaj Boks. It receives many streams from the right, coming down from the North Albanian Alps (most notably, Šlepica and Rečica), but the Erenik's major tributaries are from its Metohijan side (Trava, Loćanska Bistrica).

After Đakovica, the Erenik flows next to the villages of Rača and Bistražin, emptying soon into the White Drin near the village and hill of Gradiš. In the hill, the river formed a galleric epigene feature called "Švanjski most" . The river valley in this final section serves as a part of the route of the Peć-Đakovica-Prizren road.

The Erenik belongs to the Adriatic Sea drainage basin, drains an area of 516 km², and it is not navigable.

References

* "Mala Prosvetina Enciklopedija", Third edition (1985); Prosveta; ISBN 86-07-00001-2
* Jovan Đ. Marković (1990): "Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije"; Svjetlost-Sarajevo; ISBN 86-01-02651-6