The Prut River starts from the south-western slope of Mount Goverla at 15 km to south-southeast of the village of Vorokhta, of the Chernogory massif of Forested Carpathian Mountains, and falls into the Danube River to the south of the village of Giurgiuleşti, at a distance of about 164 km from the Danube mouth. The river is 967 km long; and its catchment area is 27,540 km2; the overall drop of the river is 1577 m; the total slope makes 163%; and the average meandering ratio is 2.1.
The basin of the Prut River, being a transboundary basin, is located in the territory of three countries: 28% in Moldova; 33% in Ukraine; and 39% in Romania. Within Moldova the length of the river is 695 km, i.e., 71.9% of its total length. The Prut basin comprises 41 small river basins; these rivers are longer than 15 km; of them 13 are first-order tributaries. The maximum altitude of the basin is 429.5 m; the minimum one is 2.6 m.