Dnieper River

The Dnieper River (also known as: Dnepr, Dniapro, or Dnipro) is a river which flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, ending its flow in the Black Sea. Its total length is 2,285 km, of which 485 km lie within Russia, 595 km within Belarus, and 1,095 km within Ukraine. The Dnieper's Basin covers 504,000 km², of which 289,000 km² are within the territory of Ukraine.^[1]

The Dnieper finds its source in the Valdai Hills of central Russia, at an elevation of 220 m, among turf swamps.^[1] It later runs south eventually flowing into the Black Sea. 115 kilometres of its length serve as a natural border between Belarus and Ukraine. Approximately the last 800 kilometres of the river is a chain of nearly consecutive reservoirs.

The Dnieper is connected with the Western Bug by the Dnieper-Bug Canal. Its estuary, or liman, used to be defended by the strong fortress of Ochakiv.

Geography

Tributaries of the Dnieper

The Dnieper has many tributaries extending from it. The most significant tributaries are listed in their orographic sequence:

Reservoirs

The Dnieper's last 800 kilometres before it flows into the Black Sea is an almost consecutive chain of reservoirs, all of them being located in Ukraine. They were built along with the river's hydroelectric stations during the Soviet Union, and are used to generate hydroelectric power, providing around ten percent of Ukraine's electricity. The reservoirs include: Kiev (922 km²), Kaniv (675 km²), Kremenchuk (2,250 km²), Dniprodzerzhynsk (567 km²), Dnieper (420 km²), and Kakhovka (2,155 km²). The dams forming these are used to generate hydroelectric power,

Cities and towns on the Dnieper

Cities and towns located on the Dnieper are listed from the river's source (in Russia) to its mouth (in Ukraine):

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

Navigation

The Dnieper river is important for the transport and economy of Ukraine: the river's reservoirs have all been equipped with large ship locks, allowing vessels of up to 270×18 metres to access even the port of Kiev and thus creating a perfect transport corridor. The river is used by passenger vessels too: 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 Western 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 interesting international waterway. The political relation between Western Europe and Belarus does not allow for much hope of reopening of this direct inland shipping link any time soon.^[2]

Economic significance

Hydroelectric power

The river is very famous for its dams, which were often touted as achievements of Soviet Industry. The most famous one was the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station or (DnieproGES) near Zaporizhia, which was built in 1927-1932 with an output of 558 MW. The Second World War completely destroyed the station and in 1948 it was rebuilt (using concentration camp labour—Gulag) and its capacity output increased to 750 MW.

The Kremenchuk Hydroelectric Station was the second one built in 1954–60, the Kiev Hydroelectric Station followed 1960–64, the Dniprodzerzhynsk Hydroelectric Station in 1956–64, and the Kaniv Hydroelectric Station 1963–75 completed the Cascade of Dams.

Name etymology

In all three countries it has essentially the same name, albeit pronounced differently, Russian: Днепр, Dnepr; Belarusian: Дняпро, Dniapro; Ukrainian: Дніпро, Dnipro. The river is mentioned by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century BC as Borysthenes (Βορυσθένης), as well as by Strabo ; the late Greek and Roman authors called it Δαναπρις - Danapris and Danaper respectively, Δανα in Old Persian means river. Its Old Slavic name used at times of Kievan Rus' was Slavutich "the Slavic (river)"; the Huns called it Var, and Bulgars - Buri-Chai.

The name Dnieper is derived from Sarmatian Dānu apara "the river to the rear".^[3] (By contrast, the Dniester derives from "the river to the front".)

See also

• Threat of the Dnieper reservoirs
• List of rivers of Russia
• List of rivers of Ukraine

References and footnotes

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