Radika

Infobox River
river_name = Radika (Радика)


caption =
origin = Vraca mountain, Kosovo
mouth = Black Drin river, south of Debar, Macedonia
basin_countries = Kosovo, Macedonia
length = 70 km
elevation =
discharge =
watershed = 665 km²

The Radika (Macedonian and Serbian Cyrillic: audio|Mk-Radika.ogg|Радика; _sq. Radikes) is a river in southern Serbia (Kosovo) and western Macedonia, a 70 km-long right tributary to the Black Drin river.

Radika proper is 52 km long, but measured from the most distant source in its watershed, that of the "Crni Kamen" river, it is 70 km long.

Origin

The "Crni Kamen" (Cyrillic: "Црни Камен"; "black stone") springs out from the northern slopes of the Vraca mountain, the southern extension of the Šar mountain, under the "Golema Vraca" peak (2,582 m). "Crni Kamen" originally flows westward, through the Gora region, bends around the "Vraca" and sharply turns to the south and empties into the Serbian-Macedonian border river "Ćafa Kadis" (Serbian Cyrillic: "Ћафа Кадис"; Macedonian "Цафа Кадис"; Albanian: "Qafa e Kadisë").

"Ćafa Kadis" originates from the southern slopes of the "Vraca" mountain and northern slopes of the Mangulova Kula mountain, another Šar mountain's extension. It flows westwards, on the northern section of the mountain of Ničipurska planina ("Brodec" peak, still part of the Šar massif) and for several kilometers forms the Serbian-Macedonian border. After it receives the "Crni Kamen" from the right and another stream coming from Serbia, "Ćafa Kadis" turns south into the Macedonian proper again and from this point it is known as the Radika.

Upper Radika

Upper Radika is just 8 km long and due to the human managing of its course, it belongs to the Aegean Sea drainage basin, unlike the latter course of the Lower Radika which belongs to the Adriatic Sea drainage basin. It flows to the south between the mountains of Korab to the west and "Ničipurska planina" to the east. At the village of "Volkovija", an artificial bifurcation is created, as the waters of the Upper Radika are conducted into the artificial lake Mavrovo at the village of Mavrovi Anovi and from there, via the Mavrovo system of the hydroelectric power plants, into the Vardar river (in this bifurcational flow, it even receives a tributuary, small stream of "Beličica" from the right).

Lower Radika

In the lower, 44 km-long section of the course, the Radika continues its general direction to the south. It carved a long and 1 km deep gorge between the mountains of Korab and Dešat on the west and Bistra (on the east) and. There are many interesting places along the Radika valley; including the villages "Velebrdo", Rostuša, "Jance", "Prisojnica", "Skudrinje", the monastery of Sveti Jovan Bigorski, the spa of Kosovratska banja (with sulphuric water, hot up to 49 °C) and the unique Alčija cave, formed in alabaster. Alabaster is abundant in the surrounding terrain and it has been extractd and treated for industrial and commercial use in the town of Debar.

After the gorge, the Radika receives its major tributary, the "Valovica" river from the right and flows on the northern slopes of the Stogovo mountain. After the villages of "Dolno Kosovrasti", "Dolni Melničani", "Gorenci" and "Rajčica", the Radika empties into the Crni Drim, just south of Debar. Actually, the lowest section of the river is floodbed by the artificial lake Debar on the Crni Drim, becoming one of lake's bays.

Overall, the Radika belongs to the Adriac Sea drainage basin, drains an area of 665 km² itself and it is not navigable.

The Radika has huge possibilities for the hydroelectric power production, which is partially used in its upper course. Also, the river valley is the natural route for the major road road in Western Macedonia which connects the regions of Polog and Ohrid.

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