This article is about the river in Albania. For the Mat River in Virginia, USA, see
Mattaponi River. For the river in Russia, see
Mati (river). For the Mat River in Mizoram, India, see
Kaladan River.
The Mat (
Albaniandefinite form: Mati) is a
river in north-central
Albania. Its overall length is 115 km (71 mi), while its catchment surface is 2,441 km2 (942 sq mi).[2][3] Its average discharge is 103 m3/s (3,600 cu ft/s).[4] The main
tributary is
Fan, flowing from the northeast, while the Mat flows from the southwest down to the confluence with Fan and then towards the
Adriatic Sea.
Etymology
The
Albanian name mat originally meant "elevated location", "mountain place". Today's meaning in Albanian, "river bank, river shore", is a consequence of a secondary change through the common use of both the terms mal, "mountain" and breg, "shore", giving the meaning of "elevation". The river was recorded by
Roman writer
Vibius Sequester (4th or 5th century AD) as Mathis, following a
hellenized graphic mode of the term mat.[5] It appeared in written records also as Mathia in 1380.[6]
The Mat originates from the confluence of several streams within the
karstic mountains in
Martanesh, where it forms deep
gorges and
canyons.[7] Rising in Martanesh, the Mat heads westwards to the town of
Klos and then northwest by the town of
Burrel. About 10 km (6 mi) downstream from Burrel, it flows into lake
Ulëz. After passing through the
Ulëzdam, it flows through another lake, Shkopet, dammed again by the
Shkopet Hydroelectric Power Station forming a narrow gorge through the mountain range that separates Mat from the coastal plains. It enters the plains between
Milot and
Zejmen.[8]
After a total length of 115 km (71 mi), the Mat flows into the
Adriatic Sea near
Fushë-Kuqe, between the towns of
Lezhë and
Laç.
^Eftimi, R. (2003).
"Some Considerations on Seawater-Freshwater Relationship in Albanian Coastal Area"(PDF). In López-Geta, Juan Antonio; de Dios Gómez, Juan; de la Orden, José Antonio; Ramos, Gerardo; Rodriguez, Luis (eds.). Tecnología de la intrusión de agua de mar en acuíferos costeros: Países mediterráneos: Estado de la intrusión de agua de mar en los acuíferos costeros del Mediterráneo y técnicas de evaluación / Coastal Aquifers Intrusion Technology: Mediterranean Countries: The Sete of Sea Water Intrusion in Coastal Aquifers of the Mediterranean and Assessment Techniques / Technologie de l'intrusion d'eau de mer dans les nappes aquiferes côtières: Pays méditerranéens: Situation d l'intrusion d'eau de mer dans les nappes aquifères côtières de la Mediterranée et technique d́évaluation. Vol. 2. Madrid: Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. pp. 239–250.
ISBN84-7840-471-6.
Matzinger, Joachim (2009). "Shqiptarët si pasardhës të ilirëve nga këndvështrimi i gjuhësisë historike". In Schmitt, Oliver Jens; Frantz, Eva Anne (eds.). Historia e Shqiptarëve: Gjendja dhe perspektivat e studimeve (in Albanian). Translated by Pandeli Pani and Artan Puto. Botime Përpjekja.
ISBN978-99943-0-254-3.