Leitha
The Leitha (Hungarian: Lajta) is a river originating at the confluence of the Schwarza and Pitten rivers in Lanzenkirchen, Lower Austria, and flowing generally eastward through the Vienna Basin and Pannonian Plain for a total length of approximately 180 km before emptying into an arm of the Danube near Mosonmagyaróvár, Hungary.[1][2]
As a right-bank tributary of the Danube, it drains a basin of about 2,138 km² and is characterized by low flow rates, resulting in a largely dry riverbed in its upper and middle sections during dry periods.[1][2]
Historically, the Leitha demarcated the boundary between the Austrian (Cisleithania) and Hungarian (Transleithania) realms within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a division formalized after the 1867 Austro-Hungarian Compromise and persisting until the empire's dissolution in 1918.[3][4]
Today, portions of the river form the border between the Austrian states of Lower Austria and Burgenland, and it faces ecological challenges including poor water quality and habitat fragmentation, addressed through joint Austrian-Hungarian restoration efforts.[1][2]