The river Warta ( , ; ; ) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly through the Polish Plain in a north-westerly direction to flow into the Oder at Kostrzyn nad OdrÃÂ on Poland's border with Germany. About long, it is the second-longest river within the borders of Poland (after the Vistula), and the third-longest Polish river after the Oder (which also flows through the Czech Republic and Germany). Its drainage basin covers . The Warta is navigable from Kostrzyn nad OdrÃÂ to Konin - approximately half of its length.
The Warta connects to the Vistula via its own tributary, the NoteÃÂ, and the Bydgoszcz Canal () near the city of Bydgoszcz.
The Warta rises in the Kraków-CzÃÂstochowa Upland at Kromoà Âów in Zawiercie, Silesian Voivodeship, flows through à Âódà º Land, Greater Poland and Lubusz Land, where it empties into the Oder near Kostrzyn at the border with Germany.
The Greater Warta Basin defines the site of early Poland; it is said that the tribe of Western Polans () settled the Warta Basin between the 6th and 8th centuries. The river is also mentioned in the second stanza of the Polish national anthem, "Poland Is Not Yet Lost".