The Nevėžis (; ) is the sixth longest river in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and one of the main tributaries of the Nemunas. The long Nevėžis flows entirely within Lithuania.Statistical Yearbook of Lithuania 2014
p. 12 Among the rivers that flow exclusively within Lithuania's borders, the Nevėžis is the second longest, after the Šventoji. Its

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

is in the

Anykščiai District Municipality Anykščiai (; see #Name, other names) is a ski resort city in Lithuania, west of Utena, Lithuania, Utena. The Roman Catholic Church of St. Matthias in Anykščiai is the tallest church in Lithuania, with spires measuring in height. Anykščia ...

. The river first flows in a northwesterly direction, but at

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

it turns southwest, and passing

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...

, flows into the Neman just west of

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

near Raudondvaris.

Name

There is a popular misconception that the name ''Nevėžis'' means 'a river without

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

' because ''vėžys'' is the Lithuanian word for crayfish and ''ne'' means 'no'. In fact, the Nevėžis is known for its variety of

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

which include crayfish. Other ethimology suggested from

Proto-Baltic Proto-Baltic (PB, PBl, Common Baltic) is the Attested language, unattested, Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed ancestral proto-language of all Baltic languages. It is not attested in writing, but has been partly reconstructed through the com ...

*''nevēźā-'' (ex. Lithuainian ''ne-vežti'' 'not to carry') and means 'slow, not-conveying river'. The Soviet-Belarusian geographer suggested that the name ''Nevėžis'' could be derived from a Finnish word ''nevo'' meaning 'swamp'. The upper river has swampy banks. The name also relate by ''N'' phoneme to the rivers ''

Neris The river Neris () or Vilija (, ) rises in northern Belarus. It flows westward, passing through Vilnius (Lithuania's capital) and in the south-centre of that country it flows into the Nemunas (Neman) from the right bank, at Kaunas, as its ma ...

'' and '' Nemunas'' that takes flow of the other two. The river gave name to many things including Panevėžys, the fifth-largest city in Lithuania. Its name translates to ' ownnear Nevėžis'.

FK Nevėžis FK Nevėžis is a professional association football, football club from the city of Kėdainiai, Lithuania. Achievements *Three times Lithuanian champion (1966, 1972, 1973). *Twice runner-up (1968, 1969). *Three times won Bronze medals (1967, ...

and KK Nevėžis are also named after the river. The Nevėžis is important in Lithuanian culture because it flows through the middle of Lithuania. During the Middle Ages, the river was considered to be a natural border between two

regions of Lithuania Lithuania can be divided into five historical and cultural regions (called ethnography, ethnographic regions). The exact borders are not fully clear, as the regions are not official political or administrative units. They are delimited by cult ...

Samogitia Samogitia, often known by its Lithuanian language, Lithuanian name ''Žemaitija'' (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Žemaitėjė''; see Samogitia#Etymology and alternative names, below for alternative and historical names) is one of the five ...

and

Aukštaitija Aukštaitija (; literally ''Highland'' or ''Upland'') is the name of one of five ethnographic regions of Lithuania. The name comes from the fact that the lands are in the upper basin of the Nemunas, as opposed to the Lowlands that begin from Š ...

History

Natural environment

Nevėžis has about seventy tributaries. The largest are: * left:

Alanta Alanta (dialectal Aukštaitian name ''Alunta'', , Yiddish אַוואָנטע) is a small town in Molėtai district municipality, Lithuania. It is the administrative seat of the Alanta Elderate. According to a census in 2011, Alanta had 348 res ...

, Juoda, Upytė, Linkava, Brasta, Žalesys, Alkupis,

Obelis The Obelis is a river in the Ukmergė district municipality and Kėdainiai district municipality in central Lithuania. It flows for and has a basin area of . It is a left tributary of the Nevėžis into which it flows near Kėdainiai. The river ...

, Šerkšnys, Ašarėna, Barupė, Gynia; * right:

Juosta The Juosta is a river of Anykščiai district municipality, Utena County and Panevėžys district municipality, Panevėžys County, northeastern Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic reg ...

, Kiršinas, Liaudė, Kruostas, Dotnuvėlė,

Smilga Smilga may refer to: * Smilga (river), Lithuania Surname * Ivan Smilga (Jānis Smilga) (1898-1918), Soviet Latvian soldier buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis * Ivar Smilga (1892–1938), Soviet Bolshevik leader * Kārlis Smilga (born 1975) ...

Šušvė Šušvė () is a river in central Lithuania, a right (the longest) tributary of the Nevėžis river. It begins in Kelmė district municipality, 6 km (4 mi) southeast from Tytuvėnai. The 134.6 km (83.6 mi) long river passes through Tytuv ...

(14th longest river in Lithuania), Aluona, Strūna. In 1992, the Krekenava Regional Park was established in order to preserve the Middle Nevėžis ecosystem and natural surroundings. The park is unique because it breeds and tries to protect from extinction

wisent The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...

s, the European bison. Even with two canals supplying Nevėžis with water, it becomes very shallow during a drier summer. Regularly it is between 4 and 9 meters deep. In more recent years, a number of

grass carp The grass carp (''Ctenopharyngodon idella'') is a species of large herbivorous freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae, native to the Pacific Far East, with a native range stretching from northern Vietnam to the Amur River on the Sino-Russian ...

was introduced to the river for aquatic weed control. The Nevėžis, due to its low level of water, slow current, and influx of the run-off of fertilizers from agriculture, was becoming more and more overgrown with weeds. It was hoped that the introduction of grass carp would help to control the process. Critics argued that the fish would not survive in the relatively cold climate. However, local fishermen still catch carp introduced several years ago.

Canals

The Nevėžis is connected with two other large rivers by canals. In order to reduce floods on the

Lėvuo The Lėvuo is a river in Northern Lithuania, a right tributary of the river Mūša.Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

was looking for ways to direct ships from the Neman directly to the port of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. The plan was abandoned because of insufficient funds. The idea was revisited again in 1914, the preparations for construction started but were interrupted by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After reclaiming the origin of the Lėvuo, heavy rains would cause the flood of as many as twenty villages. It was decided to dig an 8 km length canal. In 1961–63 another canal connecting the Nevėžis with the Šventoji was finished. It is 12 km in length. There is a pumping station near Kavarskas to supply the canal with water.

References

*
Krekenavos regioninis parkas (Krekenava Regional Park)
Lithuanian State Department of Tourism, Ministry of Economy. Accessed May 20, 2006. *
Upių pertvarkymas (Betterment of Rivers)
Lithuania: Electronic Encyclopedia, 2005, Šviesa. Accessed May 20, 2006. * Petras Juknevičius, Laura Vasiliauskaitė
Sanžilė

Panevėžys district municipality Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

, Panevėžys, 2003. Accessed May 20, 2006. * Neringa Martinkutė
Nevėžio baltieji amūrai plušės be pamainos (Grass Carps Will Clean Nevėžis Non-Stop)
Panevėžys Voice, Delfi.lt, May 12, 2006. Accessed May 20, 2006. *
Krašto istorija (History of the Land)

Kėdainiai district municipality Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...

, 2005. Accessed May 21, 2006.

External links

Niewiaża
in the

Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland The Geographical Dictionary of the Kingdom of Poland and other Slavic Countries () is a monumental Polish gazetteer, published 1880–1902 in Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns ...

(1886)
Gallery of underwater pictures and video from Nevėžis

Map of Nevėžis basin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nevezis River Rivers of Lithuania Nevėžis basin