{{short description|River in Central Europe}} {{redirect2|Neisse|Neisse River}} {{Infobox river | name = Lusatian Neisse | native_name = {{native name list|name1=Nysa Łużycka|tag1=pl|name2=Lausitzer Neiße|tag2=de|name3=Lužická Nisa|tag3=cs|name4=Łužiska Nysa|tag4=hsb|name5=Łužyska Nysa|tag5=dsb}} | name_other = | name_etymology = | image = Neisse bei skerbersdorf 640x480.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = The Neisse near Skerbersdorf, Krauschwitz municipality | map = Oder-Neisse line between Germany and Poland.jpg | map_size = | map_caption = Oder and Neisse rivers | subdivision_type1 = Countries | subdivision_name1 = {{hlist|Czech Republic|Poland|Germany}} | subdivision_type2 = Cities | subdivision_name2 = Liberec, Jablonec nad Nisou, Zittau, Görlitz/Zgorzelec, Gubin/Guben | length = {{convert|252|km|mi|abbr=on}} | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location = | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = {{convert|31|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} | discharge1_max = | source1 = Jizera Mountains | source1_location = Nová Ves nad Nisou, Liberec Region, Czech Republic | source1_coordinates = {{coord|50|43|47|N|15|13|44|E|display=inline}} | source1_elevation = {{convert|655|m|abbr=on}} | mouth = Oder | mouth_location = Neißemünde, Brandenburg, Germany | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|52|4|11|N|14|45|20|E|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = {{convert|32|m|abbr=on}} | progression = {{ROder}} | basin_size = {{convert|4403|km2|abbr=on}} | tributaries_left = | tributaries_right = }} thumb|Source thumb|The Neisse river near the village of Ratzdorf (D) at the confluence in the Oder river. View to Poland thumb|The Neisse river near the village of Ratzdorf (D) at the confluence in the Oder river. View to Poland The '''Lusatian Neisse'''<ref>Tockner, Klement; Uehlinger, Urs and Robinson Christopher T. (2009). ''Rivers of Europe'', Academic Press, London, Burlington and San Diego. {{ISBN|978-0-12-369449-2}}.</ref><ref>Fritsch-Bournazel, Renata (1992). ''Europe and German Unification'', Berg, Oxford and Providence, RI, p. 106. {{ISBN|0 85496 979 9}}</ref><ref>McKenna, Amy (2014). ''Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland'', Britannica Guide to Countries of the EU, New York, p. 193. {{ISBN|978-1-61530-991-7}}.</ref> ({{langx|de|Lausitzer Neiße}}; {{langx|pl|Nysa Łużycka}}; {{langx|cs|Lužická Nisa}}; {{langx|hsb|Łužiska Nysa}}; {{langx|dsb|Łužyska Nysa}}), or '''Western Neisse''', is a {{convert|252|km|mi|adj=on}} river in northern Central Europe.<ref name="brit">[https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/408303/Neisse-River ''Neisse River''] at www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011.</ref><ref>[http://eagri.cz/public/web/file/37537/PRB_Neisse_Final_Report__1_.pdf ''Transnational Pilot River Basin''] at http://eagri.cz/public. Retrieved 4 Feb 2011.</ref> It rises in the Jizera Mountains, near Nová Ves nad Nisou, at the Czech border becoming the Polish–German border for its remaining {{convert|197|km|mi}}, to flow into the similarly northward-flowing Oder from the left.

Its drainage basin covers {{convert|4403|km2|abbr=on}}, of which {{convert|2201|km2|abbr=on}} is in Poland, the rest is mainly in Germany.<ref name=yearbook>[http://stat.gov.pl/download/gfx/portalinformacyjny/en/defaultaktualnosci/3328/2/17/1/statistical_yearbook_of_the_republic_of_poland_2017.pdf Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland 2017], Statistics Poland, pp. 85–86</ref> The river reaches the tripoint of the three nations by Zittau, a German town/city, after {{convert|54|km|mi}}, leaving the Czech Republic.<ref name=yearbook/> It is a left-bank tributary of the Oder, into which it flows between Neißemünde-Ratzdorf and Kosarzyn &ndash; north of the towns of Guben and Gubin. The river was a motivation to found Gubin as a craftmanship and trading port in the 13th Century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gubin - town defensive walls |url=https://medievalheritage.eu/en/main-page/heritage/poland/gubin-city-defensive-walls/ |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=Ancient and medieval architecture |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Since the 1945 Potsdam Agreement in the aftermath of World War II, the river has partially demarcated the German-Polish border (along the Oder–Neisse line). The German population east of the river was expelled from Poland to Germany.

It is the longest and most watered of the three rivers of its non-adjectival name in both the main languages (the two other rivers being the Eastern Neisse ({{langx|pl|Nysa Kłodzka}}; {{langx|de|Glatzer Neiße}}) and Raging Neisse (Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neiße'' or ''Jauersche Neiße'')). It is usually simply referred to as the '''Neisse'''.

==Name== Since the river runs through the historic region of Lusatia, the adjective "Lusatian" or "Western" before the name of the river Neisse is used whenever differentiating this border river from the Eastern Neisse (Polish: ''Nysa Kłodzka'', German: ''Glatzer Neiße'') and the smaller Raging Neisse (Polish: ''Nysa Szalona''; German: ''Wütende Neiße'' or ''Jauersche Neiße''), both in Poland.

==Towns and villages== At Bad Muskau the Neisse flows through Muskau Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cities and towns on the river from source to mouth include: * Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic * Vratislavice, Czech Republic * Liberec, Czech Republic * Chrastava, Czech Republic * Hrádek nad Nisou, Czech Republic * Zittau, Germany * Bogatynia, Poland * Görlitz, Germany; Zgorzelec, Poland * Pieńsk, Poland * Bad Muskau, Germany; Łęknica, Poland * Forst (Lausitz), Germany * Guben, Germany; Gubin, Poland

==Tributaries== Right bank: * Lubsza

Left bank: * Mandau

==See also== * List of rivers of the Czech Republic * List of rivers of Germany * List of rivers of Poland

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons}} * [http://www.ppl.nl/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=82 Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law] Peace Palace Library * Closed Germany–Poland bridges

{{Tributaries of the Oder}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Lusatian Neisse basin Category:International rivers of Europe Category:Rivers of Poland Category:Rivers of Lower Silesian Voivodeship Category:Rivers of Lubusz Voivodeship Category:Rivers of the Liberec Region Category:Rivers of Brandenburg Category:Rivers of Saxony Category:Rivers of the Czech Republic Category:Geography of Lusatia Category:Germany–Poland border Category:Federal waterways in Germany Category:Border rivers Category:Rivers of Germany