The Adige is a river in which country?

The Adige is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po, rises in the Alps in the province of South Tyrol, near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland, and flows 410 kilometres (250 mi) through most of northeastern Italy to the Adriatic Sea.

The Adige rises in the north from two Alpine mountain lakes below Resia Pass and flows rapidly through the Venosta Valley south and east past Merano and Bolzano. Having received the waters of the Isarco River at Bolzano, the Adige then flows through the Trentino-Alto Adige region in its middle course, known as the Lagarina Valley. Entering the Po lowland near Verona, it veers southeast and, after several long meanders, enters the Adriatic Sea.

In early Christian times the river’s course was probably several miles farther north until, about AD 589, the river broke through its banks and built its present course. The dikes constructed during the past several centuries have had to be raised several times; the last 50 miles (80 km) or so of the river’s course are entirely man-made. The Adige supplies hydroelectric power in its upper Alpine section and irrigation for the Veneto in its lower course. Floods, such as occurred in 1951 and 1966, do great damage and require constant control of the riverbank.