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The Narva, formerly also Narwa or Narova, is a river in northeastern Estonia flowing north from Lake Peipus to the Baltic Sea. It is the largest Estonian river by discharge and forms part of the Estonia–Russia border.
The river gives its name to the archaeological (Neolithic Europe) Narva culture, as well as the city of Narva. Narva is the third most populous urban area in Estonia and faces the Russian town of Ivangorod across the river.
At the coast, the river passes part of the Estonian resort town of Narva-Jõesuu. Its mouth opens into WNW-facing Narva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. The Narva gives the second-greatest discharge into the Gulf of Finland after the Neva River.
The Plyussa is the largest tributary, joining the Narva River at the reservoir from the right. The large Lake Peipus notably drains the much longer Russian river, the Velikaya, and a large, splayed drainage basin in the two countries.
Since the creation of Narva Reservoir, an anabranch, in 1955, the falls are usually near-dry, but water is allowed to flow in them for a few days each year. When in flow non-flying viewing access is difficult, being in the border zone and most of the west bank is private, closed industrial land belonging to Krenholm Manufacturing Company.
The Narva has for centuries been an important border river. Beginning in the 13th century it was the border of Medieval Livonia and the Novgorod Republic. Though in earlier periods Narva was part of a larger buffer zone between the two territories, gradually the river emerged as the exact border. Castles built on the river banks (Narva Hermann Castle, founded at the beginning of the 14th century, Ivangorod fortress, established in 1492 and Vasknarva Castle, first built in the 14th century) were one of the main reasons behind this. Treaties from the 15th century between the Livonian Order and Novgorod Republic, later Tsardom of Russia, also recognize the Narva as the border. In the 17th century during the time of Swedish Estonia, when Ingria was also part of Sweden, the importance of the river as a border diminished. During the Russian Empire, from the end of the Great Northern War until the establishment of the Republic of Estonia in 1918, the Narva was the border of Governorate of Estonia and Saint Petersburg Governorate, with the exception of the town of Narva, which was part of the latter. By the Treaty of Tartu, signed in 1920, the Estonian–Russian border went slightly east of the river, up to , and, in particular, the town of Ivangorod was assigned to Estonia. In 1944 the former Estonian territory east of the river was transferred to Russian SFSR and the Narva was thus established as the eastern border of Estonian SSR, an internal border within USSR. In 1991 the same border became the de facto border of Estonia and Russia. Although no official border treaty has been ratified since then, today the Narva is the eastern border of the European Union and Schengen Zone.
Bridges
The Narva River is crossed only by a handful of bridges between Narva and Ivangorod. Besides the dam of the Narva Reservoir, these are, in downstream order:
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