Göta älv

The Göta älv (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈjø̌ːta ˈɛlːv]; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ice Lake to the Atlantic Ocean and nowadays it has the largest drainage basin in Scandinavia. The Göta älv is located in Götaland, with the river itself being a site of early Geatish settlement. Its length is 93 km (58 mi). The Bohus Fortress is located by the river at Kungälv. There the river splits into two, with the northern part being the Nordre älv and the southern part keeping the name Göta älv; the two arms of the river enclose the island of Hisingen. At Trollhättan there is a dam, canal locks and a hydropower station in the river. The locks make the river navigable, even for large cargo vessels (88 m [289 ft] long). The artificial parts are called Trollhätte Canal. The river and the canal is part of a mostly inland waterway, Göta Canal, which spans the width of Sweden to the Baltic Sea south of Stockholm. The power station supplied electric power to the heavy steel industry concentrated around Trollhättan Falls, contributing to its Industrial Revolution. In the summer months the spillway of the dam is opened for a few minutes daily and tourists gather to see the water rushing down the river (pictu

Flows through: Sweden.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.