Dnieper

This article is about the river. For other uses, see Dnieper (disambiguation) and Dnipro (disambiguation).

"Dnepr" redirects here. For the missile, see SS-18 Satan and Dnepr (rocket).

Template:Geobox Template:BS-map The Dnieper River (UK: /ˈdniːpər/, US: /ˈniːpər/; also known as: Dnepr (/ˈdnjɛpər/, Dnyapro or Dnipro (/dniːˈproʊ/) is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising near Smolensk, Russia and flowing through Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe. The total length ranges between 2,145 km (1,333 mi) and 2,201 km (1,368 mi) with a drainage basin of 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi). The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations. The Dnieper is an important navigable waterway for the economy of Ukraine and is connected via the Dnieper–Bug Canal to other waterways in Europe.

In antiquity, the river was known to the Greeks as the Borysthenes and was part of the Amber Road. Arheimar, a capital of the Goths, was located on the Dnieper, according to the Hervarar saga.

Etymology

Human representation of the Dnepr river (known as Borysthenes) on an Ancient Greek coin of Pontic Olbia, 4th–3rd century BC

The name Dnieper is derived from Sarmatian [Dānu apara] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "the river on the far side". (By contrast, the Dniester derives from "the close river".) According to V. Abaev (expert on Scytho-Sarmatian languages) the name Dnieper derives from Scythian [Dānu apr] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (Dānapr) "deep river", while the name Dniester is combination of Scythian Dānu (river) and Thracian Ister, the old name of Dniester.

In the three countries through which it flows it has essentially the same name, albeit pronounced differently:

• Russian: Днепр (Dnepr, [dnʲepr]);
• Belarusian: Дняпро (Dnyapro, [dnʲaˈprɔ]) or Днепр (Dnyepr, [dnʲɛpr]);
• Ukrainian: Днiпро (Dnipro, [dnʲiˈprɔ]) or Дніпер (Dniper, [ˈdnʲiper]).

The river is mentioned by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC as [Borysthenes] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (Βορυσθένης), as well as by Strabo; this name is Scythian (cf. Iranian *[varu-stāna] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and translates as "wide land", referring most likely to the Ukrainian steppe. The late Greek and Roman authors called it Δάναπρις - [Danapris] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [Danaper] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) respectively - (dana in Old Persian meant "river"); this form is derived from Sarmatian [Dānu apara] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) "the river on the far side". Its Old East Slavic name used at the time of Kievan Rus' was [Slavuta] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or [Slavutych] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), the Huns called it Var, and Bulgars - Buri-Chai. The name in Crimean Tatar: Özü.

Geography

satellite image of the Dnieper river estuary, captured 8-Aug 2015

The total length of the river is 2,145 kilometres (1,333 mi), of which 485 km (301 mi) are within Russia, 700 km (430 mi) are within Belarus, and 1,095 km (680 mi) are within Ukraine. Its basin covers 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi), of which 289,000 km² (112,000 sq mi) are within Ukraine, 118,360 km² (45,700 sq mi) are within Belarus.

The source of the Dnieper is the sedge bogs (Akseninsky Mokh) of the Valdai Hills in central Russia, at an elevation of 220 m (720 ft). For 115 km (71 mi) of its length, it serves as the border between Belarus and Ukraine. Its estuary, or liman, used to be defended by the strong fortress of Ochakiv.

On the Dnepr River to the south of Komarin urban-type settlement, Braghin District, Gomel Region the southern extreme point of Belarus is situated.

Tributaries of the Dnieper

The Dnieper has many tributaries (up to 32,000) with 89 being rivers of 100+ km. The main ones, in orographic sequence, are:

Dnieper basin showing peoples in the ninth century

Drut (R) Berezina (R) Sozh (L) Prypiat (R) Teteriv (R)

Irpin (R) Desna (L) Stuhna (R) Trubizh (L) Ros (R)

Tiasmyn (R) Supiy (L) Sula (L) Psyol (L) Vorskla (L)

Samara (L) Konka (L) Bilozerka (L) Bazavluk (R) Inhulets (R)

Many small direct tributaries also exist, such as, in the Kiev area, the Syrets (right bank) in the north of the city, the historically significant Lybid (right bank) passing west of the centre, and the Borshahivka (right bank) to the south.

The water resources of the Dnieper basin compose around 80% out of all Ukraine.

Rapids

Dnieper Rapids were part of trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, first mentioned in the Kiev Chronicle. The route was probably established in the late eighth and early ninth centuries and gained significant importance from the tenth until the first third of the eleventh century. On the Dnieper the Varangians had to portage their ships round seven rapids, where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads.

Along this middle flow of the Dnieper, there were nine major rapids (although some sources cite a fewer number of them), obstructing almost the whole width of the river, about 30–40 smaller rapids, obstructing only part of the river, and about 60 islands and islets.

After Dnieper Hydroelectric Station was built in 1932, they were inundated by Dnieper Reservoir.

Channel

There are a number of channels:

– The Dnieper–Donbas Canal;

– The Dnieper–Kryvyi Rih Canal;

– The Kakhovka Canal (south-east of the Kherson region);

– The Krasnoznamianka Irrigation System in the south-west of the Kherson region;

– The North Crimean Canal—will largely solve the water problem of the peninsula, especially in the arid northern and eastern Crimea;

– The Inhulets Irrigation System.

Fauna

The river is part of the Quagga mussel's native range. The mussel has been accidentally introduced around the world where it has become an invasive species.

Reservoirs and hydroelectric power

See also: Ukrhydroenerho

From the mouth of the Prypiat River to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station, there are six sets of dams and hydroelectric stations, which produce 10% of Ukraine's electricity.

The first constructed was the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (or DniproHES) near Zaporizhia, built in 1927–1932 with an output of 558 MW. It was destroyed during World War II, but was rebuilt in 1948 with an output of 750 MW.

Location	Dam	Reservoir area	Hydroelection station	Date of construction
Kiev	Kiev Reservoir	922 km2 or 356 sq mi	Kiev Hydroelectric Station	1960–1964
Kaniv	Kaniv Reservoir	675 km2 or 261 sq mi	Kaniv Hydroelectric Station	1963–1975
Kremenchuk	Kremenchuk Reservoir	2,250 km2 or 870 sq mi	Kremenchuk Hydroelectric Station	1954–1960
Kamianske	Dniprodzerzhynsk Reservoir	567 km2 or 219 sq mi	Dniprodzerzhynsk Hydroelectric Station	1956–1964
Zaporizhia	Dnieper Reservoir	420 km2 or 160 sq mi	Dnieper Hydroelectric Station	1927–1932; 1948
Kakhovka	Kakhovka Reservoir	2,155 km2 or 832 sq mi	Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station	1950–1956

Regions and cities

Satellite image of the Dnieper and its tributaries

Regions

Smolensk Oblast, Russia Vitebsk Region, Belarus Mogilev Region, Belarus Gomel Region, Belarus

Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine Kiev Oblast, Ukraine Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine

Poltava Oblast, Ukraine Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine Kherson Oblast, Ukraine

• The Dnieper River in different regions
• 
  The Dnieper River in Kherson, Ukraine
• 
  The Dnieper River in Dorogobuzh, Russian Empire, before 1917
• 
  The Dnieper River in Kremenchuk, Ukraine

Cities

Major cities, over 100,000 in population, are in bold script. Cities and towns located on the Dnieper are listed in order from the river's source (in Russia) to its mouth (in Ukraine):

Dorogobuzh, Russia Smolensk, Russia Orsha, Belarus Shklow, Belarus Mogilev, Belarus Bychaw, Belarus Rahachow, Belarus Zhlobin, Belarus Rechytsa, Belarus Kiev, Ukraine Ukrayinka, Ukraine Kaniv, Ukraine

Cherkasy, Ukraine Kremenchuk, Ukraine Horishni Plavni, Ukraine Kamianske, Ukraine Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine Zaporizhia, Ukraine Marhanets, Ukraine Nikopol, Ukraine Enerhodar, Ukraine Kamianka-Dniprovska, Ukraine Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine Kherson, Ukraine

Arheimar, a capital of the Goths, was located on the Dnieper, according to the Hervarar saga.

Navigation

Almost 2,000 km (1,200 mi) of the river is navigational (to the city of Dorogobuzh). The Dnieper is important for the transport and economy of Ukraine: its reservoirs have large ship locks, allowing vessels of up to 270 by 18 metres (886 ft × 59 ft) to access as far as the port of Kiev and thus create an important transport corridor. The river is used by passenger vessels as well. Inland cruises on the rivers Danube and Dnieper have been a growing market in recent decades.

Upstream from Kiev, the Dnieper receives the water of the Pripyat River. This navigable river connects to the Dnieper-Bug canal, the link with the Bug River. Historically, a connection with the Western European waterways was possible, but a weir without a ship lock near the town of Brest has interrupted this international waterway. Poor political relations between Western Europe and Belarus mean there is little likelihood of re-opening this waterway in the near future.

Navigation is interrupted each year by freezing in winter, and severe winter storms.

The Dnieper in the arts

Literature

The River Dnieper has been a subject of chapter X of a story by Nikolai Gogol A Terrible Vengeance (1831, published in 1832 as a part of the Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka short stories collection). It is considered as a classical example of description of the nature in Russian literature. The river was also described in the works of Taras Shevchenko.

Visual arts

The River Dnieper has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Major artists with works based on the Dnieper are Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ivan Aivazovsky.

• The Dnieper in painting
• 
  Catherine II leaving Kaniów in 1787 by Johann Gottlieb Plersch
• 
  Ice in the Dnepr by Ivan Aivazovsky, 1872
• 
  Moonlit Night on the Dniepr by Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1882
• 
  Dniepr by Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1881
• 
  Sapphire Dnieper by Jan Stanisławski, 1904

Popular culture

• The river is one of the symbols of the Ukrainian nation. The river mentioned in the national anthem of Ukraine.
• There are several names that connect the name of the river with Ukraine: Overdnieper Ukraine, Right-bank Ukraine, Left-bank Ukraine, and others. Some of the cities on its banks — Dnipropetrovsk, Dniprorudne, Kamianka-Dniprovska — are named after the river.
• The Zaporozhian Cossacks lived on the lower Dniepr and their name refers to their location "beyond the rapids".
• The river is referred to as Dnipro, in the song "Hey, Dnipro, Dnipro".
• The folk metal band Turisas have a song called "The Dnieper Rapids" on their 2007 album The Varangian Way.
• Leon Bolier featured a track called "Dnipro" in his debut 2-CD album Pictures. The track is said to be inspired by his visit to Kiev in May 2008.
• Briefly mentioned in the science fiction/adventure novel The Crisis Pendant by Charlie Patterson.
• Roberto Bolaño's novel 2666 features the Dnieper as a significant feature of the village of Hans Reiter.
• Beat laureate Spencer Hash spent childhood summers observing tide patterns in the Dnieper. It provides the backdrop for most of his 1998 novel Embassy.

Ecology

The Dnieper River is close to the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant radioactive dumps (near Kamianske), and susceptible to leakages of radioactive waste. The river is also close to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone) that is located next to the mouth of the Prypiat River.

See also

• Threat of the Dnieper reservoirs
• List of rivers of Russia
• List of rivers of Ukraine
• Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks

External links

• Volodymyr Kubijovyč, Ivan Teslia, Dnieper River at the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
• Site about Dnieper—objects over the river, photos, facts
• Dnieper river charts

• "Комсомольская правда" об угрозах плотины Киевской ГЭС и водохранилища [1]
• "Аргументы и факты" о реальных угрозах дамбы Киевского водохранилища и ГЭС [2]
• "Известия" о проблематике плотины Киевского водохранилища и ГЭС [3]
• Эксперт УНИАН об угрозах дамбы Киевского водохранилища [4]