Editing Elbe (section)

===In the Czech Republic===
The Elbe (Labe) rises on the slopes of Mt. [[Łabski Szczyt|Violík]] at an elevation of {{convert|1386|m|ft}} in the [[Giant Mountains]] on the northwest borders of the Czech Republic. Of the numerous small streams whose waters compose the infant river. After plunging down the {{convert|30|m|ft}} of the [[Špindlerův Mlýn#Geography|Elbe Falls]], the latter stream unites with the steeply torrential [[Bílé Labe]], and thereafter the united stream of the Elbe pursues a southerly course, emerging from the mountain glens at [[Jaroměř]], where it receives [[Úpa]] and [[Metuje]].

Here the Elbe enters the vast vale named [[Polabí]] (meaning "land along the Elbe"), and continues on southwards through [[Hradec Králové]] (where [[Orlice]] flows in) and then to [[Pardubice]], where it turns sharply to the west. At [[Kolín]] some {{convert|43|km|mi}} further on, it bends gradually towards the north-west. At the village of [[Káraný]], a little above [[Brandýs nad Labem]], the [[Jizera (river)|Jizera]] enters in.

At [[Mělník]] its stream is more than doubled in volume by the [[Vltava]], a major river which winds northwards through [[Bohemia]]. Upstream from the [[confluence]] the Vltava is in fact much longer ({{convert|434|km}} against {{convert|294|km}} of the Elbe so far), and has a greater discharge and a larger [[drainage basin]]. Nonetheless, for historical reasons the river retains the name Elbe, also because at the confluence point it is the Elbe that flows through the main, wider valley while the Vltava flows into the valley to meet the Elbe at almost a right angle, and thus appears to be the tributary river.

Some distance lower down, at [[Litoměřice]], the waters of the Elbe are tinted by the reddish [[Ohře]]. Thus augmented, and swollen into a stream {{convert|140|m|ft}} wide, the Elbe carves a path through the basaltic mass of the [[České Středohoří]], churning its way through a picturesque, deep, narrow and curved rocky gorge.