Iron Gate (Danube)

Iron Gate (Danube)

The Iron Gates (Romanian: Porţile de Fier ; (Serbian: Ђердапска клисура, Đerdapska klisura or ; Hungarian: Vaskapu; Slovak: Železné vráta; Turkish: Demirkapı; German: Eisernes Tor; Bulgarian: Железни врата, transliterated: Zhelezni vrata) is a gorge on the Danube River. It forms part of the boundary between Romania and Serbia. In the broad sense it encompasses a route of 134 km (83 mi); in the narrow sense it only encompasses the last barrier on this route, just beyond the Romanian city of Orşova, that contains two hydroelectric dams, with two power stations, Iron Gate I Hydroelectric Power Station and Iron Gate II Hydroelectric Power Station.

The gorge lies between Romania in the north and Serbia in the south. At this point, the river separates the southern Carpathian Mountains from the northwestern foothills of the Balkan Mountains. The Romanian, Hungarian, Slovakian, Turkish, German and Bulgarian names literally mean "Iron Gates" and are used to name the entire range of gorges. An alternative Romanian name for the last part of the route is Defileul Dunării, "Danube Gorge". In Serbia, the gorge is known as Đerdap (Ђердап), with the last part named Đerdapska klisura. The Romanian side of the gorge constitutes the Iron Gates natural park, whereas the Serbian part constitutes the Đerdap national park.