Dniepr river in Kyiv.jpg

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The Dnieper () or 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. It is the longest river of Ukraine and Belarus and the fourth-longest river in Europe, after the Volga, Danube, and Ural rivers. It is approximately long, with a drainage basin of .

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 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, immediately above that tributary's 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 form a defensive line between territory controlled by Russians and Ukrainians.

Names

In English, "Dnieper" derives from the Russian pronunciation and "Dnipro" from the Ukrainian. The initial D in Dnieper is generally silent, although it may be sounded: or . The English pronunciation of Dnipro is .

The name varies slightly in the local Slavic languages of the three countries through which it flows:
* be, Дняпро, translit=Dnyapro, , or ,
* rus, Днепр, r=Dnepr, p=ˈdⁿʲepr; formerly spelled
* uk, Дніпро, translit=Dnipro, ; poetic ; formerly , , or older (, )
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, from which was also derived the Late Antique name of the river, ().

Another Scythian language name of the Dnipro was , meaning "having broad space," from which were derived:
*the Graeco-Roman name of the river, ( ; Latin: ). This name was connected to the Graeco-Roman name of the Volga river, ( Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), which was derived from Scythian , meaning "Broad."
**From was derived the river's poetic Latin name,
*the Huns' name for the river, , from Scythian , "Broad."

During the period of Old Great Bulgaria, it was known as Buri-Chai and, under the Kievan Rus' it was known as Славу́тич (''Slavútytch''), a name still used poetically in Ukrainian 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. The Kipchak Turks called it the ''Uzeu'', the Crimean Tatars the ''Özü'', and modern Turks the ''Özü'' or ''Özi''.

Geography

The total length of the river is variously given as or , 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.

The southernmost point in Belarus is on the Dnieper to the south of Kamaryn in Brahin Raion.

Tributaries of the Dnieper

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:

* 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

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