The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long,
In antiquity, the river was part of the Amber Road trade routes. During the Ruin in the later 17th century, the area was contested between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia, dividing what is now Ukraine into areas described by its right and left banks. During the Soviet Union, the river became noted for its major hydroelectricity and large reservoirs. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster occurred on the Pripyat River, a tributary of the Dnieper, just upstream from its confluence with the Dnieper. The Dnieper is an important navigable waterway for the economy of Ukraine and is connected by the Dnieper–Bug Canal to other waterways in Europe. During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, certain segments of the river were made part of the defensive lines between territory controlled by the Russians and the Ukrainians.
Names
Dnieper
The river is also sometimes called by the
Russian language name
Dnepr (Днепр,
pre-revolutionary spelling ).
The initial D in Dnieper is generally silent when pronounced in English, although it may be sounded:
or .
Dnipro derives from .[ Dnipro www.dictionary.com] The Ukrainian name has a rare form and rare dialectal .
In Belarusian, the river is called , or .[Блакітная кніга Беларусі: Энцыклапедыя. — Мінск: Беларуская Энцыклапедыя, 1994. — С. 144. — 415 с. — 10 000 экз.]
These names are all cognate, deriving from Old East Slavic Дънѣпръ ( Dŭněprŭ). The origin of this name is disputed but generally derived from either Sarmatian *Dānu Apara ("Farther River") in parallel with the Dniester ("Nearer River") or from Scythian *Dānu Apr ("Deep River") in reference to its lack of river ford,[ Абаев В. И. Осетинский язык и фольклор ( tr "Ossetian language and folklore"). Moscow: Publishing house of Soviet Academy of Sciences, 1949. p. 236] from which was also derived the Late Antiquity name of the river, Δάναπρις Danapris, as found in the Ravenna Cosmography.
Borysthenes
The earlier Graeco-Roman name of the river, as attested by
Herodotus, was "
Borysthenes" (; ,
) and later Δάναπρις
Danapris. The name
Borysthenes was derived from a Scythian name whose form was:
-
either , meaning "yellow place,"
-
or meant "place of beavers."
-
this name was linked to the mantle of beaver skins worn by the Iranic water goddess Anahita, whose epithet of () was connected to the name of the daughter of the river-god Borysthenēs in Scythian mythology, the Earth-and-Water goddess Api, whose own name meant "water."
Ovid used Borysthenius, an adjective derived from Borysthenes, as the river's poetic Latin name.
Var
The
Huns' name for the river, , was derived from Scythian , meaning "Broad." This name was connected to the Graeco-Roman name of the
Volga river, (; ), which was also derived from Scythian .
Other names
In Ukrainian it is also known poetically as or ,
from an old name used in Kievan Rus'. This is due to the influence of the Old East Slavic
epic poetry The Tale of Igor's Campaign and its modern adaptations on Ukrainian literature. This usage also lent its name to the city of
Slavutych, founded in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 to house displaced workers,
and to the Slavutych station of the
Kyiv Metro.
In Crimean Tatar, the river is known as . In Turkish language it is or , which was derived from Ochakiv.
Geography
The total length of the river is variously given as
or ,
(1998). 966709006X 966709006X
[Mishyna, Liliana. Hydrographic research of Dnieper river . Derzhhidrohrafiya.] of which are within Russia, are within
Belarus,
and are within
Ukraine. Its basin covers , of which are within Ukraine,
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 .[ Sigismund von Herberstein places 'Oczakow' (today's "Ochakiv") on the coast of the Black Sea (Ponti Evxini) in his 1549 map. www.baarnhielm.net ]
The southernmost point in Belarus is on the Dnieper to the south of Kamaryn in Brahin Raion.
Tributaries
The Dnieper has many
tributaries (up to 32,000) with 89 being rivers of 100+ km.
[ Splendid Dnieper. There is no straighter river. Ukrinform. 4 July 2015] The main ones are, from its source to its mouth, with left (L) or right (R) bank indicated:
Many small direct tributaries also exist, such as, in the Kyiv 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% of the total for all Ukraine.
Rapids
The
Dnieper Rapids were part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, first mentioned in the
Kievan 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
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 9 major rapids (although some sources cite a smaller number), obstructing almost the whole width of the river, about 30 to 40 smaller rapids, obstructing only part of the river, and about 60 islands and islets.
After the Dnieper hydroelectric station was built in 1932, they were inundated by Dnieper Reservoir.
Canals
There are a number of canals connected to the Dnieper:
-
The Dnipro – Donbas Canal;
-
The Dnipro – Kryvyi Rih Canal;
-
The Kakhovka Irrigation System (including Kakhovka Canal, SE Kherson Oblast);
-
The Krasnoznamianka Irrigation System (SW Kherson Oblast);
-
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.
Delta
The city of
Kherson lies on the northern bank, upstream of the Dnieper
river delta, before the Dnieper meets the
Southern Bug river in the Dnieper–Bug estuary.
Ecology
Nowadays the Dnieper River suffers from anthropogenic influence resulting in numerous emissions of pollutants.
The Dnieper is close to the Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant radioactive dumps (near
Kamianske) and susceptible to leakage of its radioactive waste. The river is also close to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station (Chernobyl Exclusion Zone) which is located next to the mouth of the
Pripyat River.
Navigation
Almost of the river is navigable (to the city of
Dorogobuzh).
The Dnieper is important for transportation in the economy of Ukraine. Its reservoirs have large ship locks, allowing vessels of up to access as far as the port of
Kyiv, and thus are an important transportation corridor. The river is used by passenger vessels as well. Inland cruises on the rivers
Danube and Dnieper have had a growing market in recent decades.
Upstream from Kyiv, 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 any ship lock near the town of Brest, Belarus, has interrupted this international waterway. Poor political relations between Western Europe and Belarus mean there is little likelihood of reopening this waterway in the near future.
Reservoirs and hydroelectric power
From the mouth of the
Pripyat River to the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Station, there are six sets of dams and hydroelectric stations, which produce 10% of Ukraine's electricity.
The Kakhovka dam was destroyed on 6 June 2023 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine,
with the subsequent drying up of the Kakhovka Reservoir revealing the original course of the river in the area and disconnecting four canal networks known as the Great Meadow.
The first constructed was the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (or DniproHES) near Zaporizhzhia, built between 1927 and 1932 with an output of 558 MW.
|
|
| 1960–1964 |
| 1963–1975 |
| 1954–1960 |
| 1956–1964 |
| 1927–1932; 1948 |
| 1950–1956 |
|
Regions and cities
Regions
File:Dorogobuzh.jpg|The Dnieper River in Dorogobuzh, Russian Empire, before 1917
File:Dnieper River from Kryukivs'kyi bridge in Kremenchuk, Ukraine.jpg|The Dnieper River in Kremenchuk, Ukraine
File:Above Dnieper river video from helicopter - 2004.ogv|The Dnieper river in Ukraine from a helicopter, 2004
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
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Smolensk, Russia
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Orsha, Belarus
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Shklow, Belarus
-
Mogilev, Belarus
-
Bykhaw, Belarus
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Rahachow, Belarus
-
Zhlobin, Belarus
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Rechytsa, Belarus
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Vyshhorod, Ukraine
-
Kyiv, Ukraine
-
Ukrainka, Ukraine
-
Pereiaslav, Ukraine
-
Kaniv, Ukraine
|
-
Cherkasy, Ukraine
-
Svitlovodsk, Ukraine
-
Kremenchuk, Ukraine
-
Horishni Plavni, Ukraine
-
Kamianske, Ukraine
-
Dnipro, Ukraine
-
Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
-
Marhanets, Ukraine
-
Nikopol, Ukraine
-
Enerhodar, Ukraine
-
Kamianka-Dniprovska, Ukraine
-
Kakhovka, Ukraine
-
Nova Kakhovka, Ukraine
-
Kherson, Ukraine
|
Arheimar, a capital of the Goths, was located on the Dnieper, according to the Hervarar saga.
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.
In the adventure novel The Long Ships (also translated Red Orm), set during the Viking Age, a chieftain travels to the Dnieper Rapids to retrieve a treasure hidden there by his brother, encountering many difficulties. The novel was very popular in Sweden and is one of few to depict a Viking voyage to eastern Europe.
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.
Films
The River Dnieper makes an appearance in the 1964 Hungarian drama film
The Sons of the Stone-Hearted Man (based on the novel of the same name by Mór Jókai), where it appears when two characters are leaving
Saint Petersburg but get attacked by wolves.
In 1983, the concert program "Song of the Dnieper" from the "Victory Salute" series was released, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Kyiv from the German fascist invaders. The program includes songs by Soviet composers, Ukrainian folk songs, and dances performed by the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Kiev Military District led by A. Pustovalov, P. Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble, Kyiv Bandurist Capella, the Military Band of the Headquarters of the Kiev Military District led by A. Kuzmenko, singers Anatoliy Mokrenko, Lyudmila Zykina, Anatoliy Solovianenko, Dmytro Hnatyuk, Mykola Hnatyuk. Filming on the battlefield, streets and squares of Kiev. Scriptwriter – Victor Meerovsky. Directed by Victor Cherkasov. Operator – Alexander Platonov.
The 2018 film Volcano was filmed at the river in Beryslav, Kherson Oblast.
Music
In 1941,
Mark Fradkin wrote "Song of the Dnieper" to the words of Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky.
Image gallery
File:Plersch-Odjazd Katarzyny II z Kaniowa w 1787 roku.jpg| Catherine II leaving Kaniów in 1787 by Johann Gottlieb Plersch
File:Archip Iwanowitsch Kuindshi 001.jpg| Dnieper by Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1881
File:Arkhip Kuindzhi - Ночь на Днепре - Google Art Project.jpg| Moonlit Night on the Dnieper by Arkhip Kuindzhi, 1882
File:Aivazovsky Ice on Dnipro.jpg| Ice in the Dnieper by Ivan Aivazovsky, 1872
StanislawskiJan.DnieprSzafirowy.1904.ws.jpg| Sapphire Dnieper by Jan Stanisławski, 1904
Popular culture
-
The river is one of the symbols of the Ukrainian nation
[ Work on the subject Ukrainian national symbols. Library of Ukrainian literature.] and is mentioned in the national anthem of Ukraine.
-
There are several historical names that connect the name of the river with Ukraine: Dnieper Ukraine (), Right-bank Ukraine, Left-bank Ukraine, and others.
-
The cities Dnipro, Dniprorudne, Kamianka-Dniprovska are named after the river.
-
The Zaporozhian Cossacks lived on the lower Dnieper and their name refers to their location "beyond the rapids".
["...the Zaporohjans whose name meant 'those who live beyond the cataracts'...", Henryk Sienkiewicz, With Fire and Sword, chap. 7.]
-
The folk metal band Turisas have a song called "The Dnieper Rapids" on their 2007 album The Varangian Way.
See also
-
2022–23 Dnipro River skirmishes
-
List of crossings of the Dnieper
-
List of rivers of Belarus
-
List of rivers of Russia
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List of rivers of Ukraine
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Middle Dnieper culture
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Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks
Notes
References and footnotes
Sources
External links
