The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also known as the 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, with a drainage basin of , it is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers.
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 the Russian Empire, dividing what is now Ukraine into areas described by its right and left banks. During the Soviet period, the river became noted for its major hydroelectric dams 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 name Dnepr (, pre-revolutionary spelling ). The initial D in Dnieper is generally silent when pronounced in English, although it may be sounded: or .
Dnipro derives from . The English pronunciation is .Dnipro www.dictionary.com The Ukrainian name has a rare form and rare dialectal . The Middle Ukrainian form attested in the 16th to 18th centuries was . The city of Dnipro is named for the river.
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 (Dŭněprŭ). The origin of this name is disputed but generally derived from either Sarmatian * ("Farther River") in parallel with the Dniester ("Nearer River") or from Scythian * ("Deep River") in reference to its lack of fords,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 Antique name of the river, , as found in the Ravenna Cosmography.
Borysthenes The earlier Graeco-Roman name of the river, as attested by Herodotus, was "Borysthenes" (; , ) and later 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 Arəduuī Sūrā Anāhitā, 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 , an adjective derived from , 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 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 it is or (), which was derived from Ochakiv.
Geography
The total length of the river is variously given as or ,Mishyna, Liliana. . 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 . For 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.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 as many as 32,000 tributaries, with 89 being rivers greater than in length.Splendid Dnieper. There is no straighter river. Ukrinform. 4 July 2015 The main tributaries are, from its source to its mouth, with left (L) or right (R) bank indicated:
Vyazma (L) Vop (R) Khmost (R) Myareya (L) Drut (R) Berezina (R) Sozh (L) Pripyat (R) Teteriv (R) Irpin (R) Desna (L) Stuhna (R) Trubizh (L) Ros (R) Tiasmyn (R) Supii (L) Sula (L) Psel (L) Vorskla (L) Oril (L) Samara (L) Konka (Kherson Oblast) Konka (Zaporizhzhia Oblast) Bilozerka (L) Bazavluk (R) Inhulets (R)
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 Kyiv Chronicle. The route was probably established in the late 8th and early 9th centuries and gained importance from the 10th until the early part of the 11th 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 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 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). 90% of river transport in Ukraine occurs on the Dnieper, however, its overall contribution to total transport is less than 0.5%. 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. River navigation is interrupted each year by freezing and severe winter storms.
Reservoirs and hydroelectric power
From the mouth of the Pripyat 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. It was destroyed during World War II, but was rebuilt from 1944–1950 with an output of 750 MW, supplying of electricity annually.
Location Dam Reservoir area Hydroelectric station Date of constructionKyivKyiv ReservoirKyiv Hydroelectric Station1960–1964KanivKaniv ReservoirKaniv Hydroelectric Station1963–1975KremenchukKremenchuk ReservoirKremenchuk Hydroelectric Station1954–1960KamianskeKamianske ReservoirMiddle Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant1956–1964ZaporizhzhiaDnieper ReservoirDnieper Hydroelectric Station1927–1932; 1944–1950KakhovkaKakhovka ReservoirKakhovka Hydroelectric Station†1950–1956
Regions and cities
Regions Smolensk Oblast, Russia Vitebsk Region, Belarus Mogilev Region, Belarus Gomel Region, Belarus Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine Poltava Oblast, Ukraine Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine Kherson Oblast, 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 Bykhaw, Belarus Rahachow, Belarus Zhlobin, Belarus Rechytsa, Belarus 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 the description of 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 Scanian 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.
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.