The Abava is a river in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and the largest tributary of the Venta. It flows through

Tukums Tukums (; german: Tuckum; liv, Tukāmō) is a town in the Zemgale region of Latvia. History The historical center of Tukums developed between trade routes leading from the mouth of the Daugava River to Prussia. The oldest part is today's Ta ...

Talsi Talsi (; liv, Tālsa, german: Talsen) (population 11,371) is a town in Latvia. It is the administrative centre of Talsi Municipality. It is nicknamed the "green pearl of Courland". Etymology It is believed that the name is derived from an old L ...

and Kuldiga districts. Fifty percent of the basin is covered by forests. Its valley was submitted for inclusion in the

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List.

Characteristics of the river

The river begins at the Lestenes-Ēnavas marsh, on the eastern side of the

Eastern Courland Highlands Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air ...

at an elevation of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. The upper Abava is straightened, and flows in a northerly direction. At

Kandava Kandava (; german: Kandau; liv, Kāndav) is a town in Tukums Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. It had a population of 3,656 people as of January 2020. History Livonian Crusade Territory of the modern Kandava was inhabited by Finn ...

, it turns westward and follows a winding course. It descends through a height of . The river has a number of

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rapids with a velocity of . The second largest waterfall in Latvia, the Abava Waterfall (Latvian: Abavas rumba), is on this river. The Abava is crossed by an unusual "Bridge to Nowhere" (Tilts uz nekurieni) in Irlava parish, near Sāti. Built in 1940 as part of a planned railway between Tukums and Kuldiga, it was completed but the railway linkage construction was halted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During their occupation of Latvia, the Germans made initial plans to complete the railroad, but were unsuccessful in carrying the plans to completion. The concrete span is 55 meters in length.''Bridge to Nowhere - Irlavas Pagasts, Latvia'' (Atlas Obscura, accessed 6 February 2020)
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References

External links

Rivers of Latvia Venta River basin {{Latvia-river-stub