The river Švėtė ( lt, Švėtė, lv, Svēte) flows through the
Šiauliai
Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County.
Names
Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different la ...
and
Joniškis districts in the northern part of
Lithuania, and the southern part of
Latvia.
[ ] The source of the Švėtė is near
Tulominai, about 16 km southeast of
Kuršėnai
Kuršėnai (; Samogitian: ''Koršienā''; yi, קורשאַן ''Kurshon''; german: Kurschenen; pl, Kurszany; lv, Kuršēni) is the twenty-fifth largest city in Lithuania. According to the 2020 estimate, it had 10,829 residents.
History
The tow ...
, and the river flows north passing by
Žagarė
Žagarė (, see also other names) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lithuania. Žag ...
, near the Latvian border.
[ It is a tributary of the ]Lielupe
The Lielupe ( in Latvian literally: ''Large River'', lt, Lielupė, german: Kurländische Aa) is a river in central Latvia. Its length is (the length would reach if the Mēmele River were counted as part of the Lielupe). The surface area o ...
, joining it 8 km to the northwest of Jelgava
Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Du ...
. The Lielupe ultimately flows into the Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
.
The upper part of the Švėtė can dry up completely in very dry summers,[ and its main tributaries are the Šakyna, Žarė, ]Tērvete
Tērvete (liv. ''Terwenden'', german: Hofzumberge) is a village in Tērvete Parish, Dobele Municipality in the Semigallia region of Latvia. It is famous for the historic hillfort built for the kings of Western Semigallia (Zemgale) in the Middle ...
, Bērze, Žvairilas, Bukiškis, Juodupis, Katmilžis and Vilkija rivers.[
]
References
Rivers of Lithuania
Rivers of Latvia
International rivers of Europe
Latvia–Lithuania border
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