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The Emajõgi (; meaning 'mother river') is a
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
which flows from
Lake Võrtsjärv A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
through
Tartu County Tartu County ( or ''Tartumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in eastern Estonia bordering Põlva County, Valga County, Viljandi County and Jõgeva County. The area of Tartu County is , which covers 6.9% of the territory of E ...
into
Lake Peipus Lake Peipus is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on the international border between Estonia and Russia. The lake is the fifth-largest in Europe after Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega (in Russia), Lake Vänern (in Sweden), and Lake ...
, crossing the city of
Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...
for . It has a length of . The Emajõgi is sometimes called the Suur Emajõgi (Big Emajõgi), in contrast with the
Väike Emajõgi The Väike Emajõgi is a river in southern Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across fr ...
(Little Emajõgi), another river which flows into the southern end of Lake Võrtsjärv. The Emajõgi is the second-largest river in Estonia by discharge and the only fully navigable river.


Course

The source of the Emajõgi is at the northeastern shore of Võrtsjärv at Rannu-Jõesuu, from where the river follows a roughly eastward course towards Lake Peipus. The course of Emajõgi is divided into three distinct sections. dead link In the upper course, from Võrtsjärv to Kärevere bridge, the river flows through large, flat and marshy areas, which are part of
Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve Alam-Pedja Nature Reserve () is the largest nature reserve in Estonia. It is a vast wilderness area which covers and consists of a complex of 5 large bogs separated by unregulated rivers, their floodplains, and extensive forests. The nature re ...
. In this heavily
meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...
ing section, Emajõgi lacks a clearly defined
floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...
– the flooded area spans several kilometres at times and has no definite borders. In the middle course from Kärevere to Kavastu through Tartu, Emajõgi follows a straighter course and flows in a clearly defined, shallow valley mostly a maximum of deep. The width of the valley in the middle course is ; in Tartu, it narrows to . The narrowest section of the valley () is located in the end of the middle course near Kavastu. In the lower course, the river flows through a swampy lowland –
Emajõe Suursoo Peipsiveere Nature Reserve () is a nature reserve in Tartu County, Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by t ...
– before emptying into Lake Peipus at Praaga. The length of the river is . In 1927, its length was measured to be . This may have changed somewhat in the 1930s, when the river's meandering upper course was straightened to allow for easier navigation.


History

The Emajõgi has been widely used as a waterway and trade route for centuries. In the past, it has also been an obstacle for land transport between Northern and Southern Estonia, because the river flows in a low-lying and swampy valley. Of the few suitable locations for crossing the river, Tartu has the most favourable conditions. Due to its location on the crossing of land and water routes, Tartu became an important trading center in
Ancient Estonia Ancient Estonia refers to a period covering History of Estonia from the middle of the 8th millennium BC until the conquest and subjugation of the local Finnic tribes in the first quarter of the 13th century during the Teutonic and Danish Nort ...
. In the 19th century, Emajõgi was actively used for transporting different cargo to Tartu –
firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...
,
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
,
hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...
, fish, and so on. The main type of vessel used was the '' lodi'', a small river
barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...
or sailing ship adjusted for navigation on Lake Peipus and Emajõgi. Up to 200 barges were anchored in Tartu's port at the time. The first
steam paddler A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...
appeared on Emajõgi in 1843; there were six by 1900. The last river barges disappeared by the mid-20th century, however several new ships were brought onto the river to continue naval transport to
Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...
,
Piirissaar Piirissaar (earlier ''Borka'', or Желачек, romanized: Zhelachek) is an Estonian island located in Lake Peipus. It belongs to Tartu County as the Tartu Parish. Piirissaar is the second largest island in Lake Peipus with a size of 7 ...
and other destinations. Fast
hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...
s, which were first introduced in 1960s, operated daily on the Tartu-Pskov route. Traffic on the route ended in 1992. Though attempts have been made to restart it since 1997, it remains closed.


Crossings

Emajõgi is crossed by 10 bridges, the majority of them located in Tartu. The bridges are, in downstream order: *Rannu-Jõesuu bridge at the source of Emajõgi on Tartu–
Viljandi Viljandi (, , , , ) is a Populated places in Estonia, town and Municipalities of Estonia, municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,255 in 2024. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major ...
highway **Includes an old bridge currently reserved for pedestrians and local traffic and a new highway bridge completed in 2009. *Kärevere bridge on Tartu–
Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
highway **Includes a closed old bridge and a new highway bridge completed in 1999. *Jänese railway bridge on Tallinn–
Tapa Tapa, TAPA, Tapas or Tapasya may refer to: Media *Tapas (website), a webtoon site, formerly known as Tapastic * ''Tapas'' (film), a 2005 Spanish film * ''Tapasya'' (1976 film), an Indian Hindi-language film * ''Tapasya'' (1992 film), a Nepalese f ...
–Tartu railway 7 km northwest of Tartu in Vorbuse *Kroonuaia bridge in Tartu *Vabadussild in Tartu peedu **Vabadussild *Kaarsild – pedestrian bridge in Tartu *Võidu bridge in Tartu *Turusild – pedestrian bridge in Tartu *Sõpruse bridge in Tartu *Ihaste bridge on the Tartu ring road, opened in 2015 *Luunja bridge on Tartu–
Räpina Räpina (, ) is a town in Põlva County, Estonia. Räpina was administrative centre of Räpina raion from 1950 until 1961, currently it is the administrative centre of Räpina Parish. The oldest commercial enterprise in Räpina is a paper fac ...
highway in Luunja In addition to the bridges, the only operating
cable ferry A cable ferry (including the types chain ferry, swing ferry, floating bridge, or punt) is a ferry that is guided (and in many cases propelled) across a river or large body of water by cables connected to both shores. Early cable ferries often ...
in Estonia crosses the river at Kavastu, about downstream of Luunja bridge.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emajogi Rivers of Estonia Landforms of Tartu County Tartu