Maros River Formation

The **Mureș** (Romanian: [ˈmureʃ]; Hungarian: *Maros*, IPA: [ˈmɒroʃ]; Serbian: Мориш, romanized: *Moriš*) is a 789-kilometre-long (490 mi) river in Eastern Europe. Its drainage basin covers an area of 30,332 km2 (11,711 sq mi). It originates in the Hășmașu Mare Range in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, Romania, rising close to the headwaters of the river Olt, and joins the Tisza at Szeged in southeastern Hungary. In Romania, its length is 761 km (473 mi) and its basin size is 27,890 km2 (10,770 sq mi).

The Mureș River flows through the Romanian counties Harghita, Mureș, Alba, Hunedoara, Arad and Timiș, and the Hungarian county Csongrád. The largest cities on the Mureș/Maros are Târgu Mureș, Alba Iulia, Deva and Arad in Romania, and Makó in Hungary.

The Hungarian reaches of the Mureș/Maros are 73 km (45 mi) long as the state border. Some 28.5 km2 (11.0 sq mi) on the northern side of the river are protected as part of the Körös-Maros National Park. The Maros Floodplain Protected Area consists of gallery forests, floodplain meadows and 0.6 km2 (0.23 sq mi) of forest reserve near Szeged.

Salt used to be traded in medieval times on the river on large rafts.

## Name[edit]

The river is known to be first mentioned by Herodotus in 484 BC bearing the name *Maris* (Μάρις). Strabo calls it *Marisos* (Μάρισος). It was known in Latin as the '**Marisus'**; It is also mentioned in 948 AD, in a document of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII, under the name *Moreses* (Μορήσης).

It was also known in German variously as the '**Mieresch'**, '**Marosch'** or '**Muresch'**, owing to Transylvanian Saxon settlements and prior Habsburg rule. It was known in Turkish as the '**Maroş'** or '**Muriş'** under the Ottomans.

## Towns and villages[edit]

The following towns are situated along the river Mureș, from source to mouth: Toplița, Reghin, Târgu Mureș, Luduș, Ocna Mureș, Aiud, Teiuș, Alba Iulia, Geoagiu, Orăștie, Simeria, Deva, Lipova, Arad, Nădlac (all in Romania), Makó, Szeged (both in Hungary).

The Mureș flows through the following communes (grouped by counties, from source to mouth):

* Harghita County: Voșlăbeni, Suseni, Joseni, Remetea, Subcetate, Sărmaș, Gălăuțaș, Toplița
* Mureș County: Stânceni, Lunca Bradului, Răstolița, Deda, Rușii-Munți, Aluniș, Brâncovenești, Ideciu de Jos, Suseni, Reghin, Petelea, Gornești, Glodeni, Ernei, Sântana de Mureș, Sângeorgiu de Mureș, Târgu Mureș, Sâncraiu de Mureș, Cristești, Pănet, Ungheni, Sânpaul, Iernut, Cuci, Bogata, Luduș, Chețani
* Alba County: Noșlac, Lunca Mureșului, Ocna Mureș, Unirea, Mirăslău, Aiud, Rădești, Teiuș, Sântimbru, Ciugud, Alba Iulia, Vințu de Jos, Blandiana, Săliștea, Șibot
* Hunedoara County: Geoagiu, Orăștie, Turdaș, Rapoltu Mare, Simeria, Hărău, Deva, Șoimuș, Vețel, Brănișca, Ilia, Gurasada, Dobra, Burjuc, Zam
* Arad County: Petriș, Săvârșin, Birchiș, Vărădia de Mureș, Bata, Bârzava, Conop, Ususău, Lipova, Păuliș, Frumușeni, Fântânele, Vladimirescu, Arad, Zădăreni, Felnac, Pecica, Secusigiu, Semlac, Șeitin, Nădlac
* Timiș County: Periam, Sânpetru Mare, Sânnicolau Mare, Cenad
* Csongrád County: Nagylak, Magyarcsanád, Apátfalva, Makó, Kiszombor, Ferencszállás, Maroslele, Klárafalva, Deszk, Szeged

Dinosaurs:

- Zalmoxes

- Telmatosaurus

- Rhabdodon