The Vilnia (also Vilnelė; , ''Vilnia'' ; ) 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 ...

primarily running through Eastern

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 ...

. Its source is near the villages of and , 6 km south of

Šumskas Šumskas (, (historical)) is a town in Vilnius District Municipality, in Vilnius County, in southeast Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic stat ...

, nearby to the A3– M7 Medininkai–Kamenny Log border crossing complexes of the

Belarus–Lithuania border The Belarus–Lithuania border is an international border almost in length between the Republic of Belarus (Member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States, CIS member) and the Republic of Lithuania (Member state of the European Union, ...

for approximately 12 kilometers.

Geography

The Vilnia is 79.6 km long and its basin covers 624 sq. km. The river's steepness is 124.6 metres from the source to the mouth. For 13 km, its flow marks the Belarus-Lithuania border, and the remaining 69 km are in Lithuania where it flows into the

Neris River 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 ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. Eventually, its waters, via the Neris draining into the

Neman River Neman, Nemunas or Niemen is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms Lithuania–Russia border, the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its s ...

, reach the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

with the Neris lies within the city of

, and the river's name is regarded to have been the source of the city's name.

Sources

The

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

s along the Vilnia's length contribute to its flow. Locals refer to the river's starting source as the Holy Stream. A series of

well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

s accessing the river's

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

s, drilled in the early 20th century, remained a major source of potable water for the city into the late 20th century. Vilnia by Augustas Didzgalvis

Naming

The name of the river derives from the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

word ''vilnis'' ("a surge") or ''vilnyti'' ("to surge"). Beneath it stands the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

root wel-/wl- meaning "to roll", "to spin". ''Vilnelė'', the

diminutive A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...

form of the original

hydronym A hydronym (from , , "water" and , , "name") is a type of toponym that designates a proper name of a body of water. Hydronyms include the proper names of rivers and streams, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, seas and oceans. As a subset of top ...

''Vilnia'', came into popular use in Lithuanian and in

Soviet times The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

largely replaced the latter because of

Polish language Polish (, , or simply , ) is a West Slavic languages, West Slavic language of the Lechitic languages, Lechitic subgroup, within the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is written in the Latin script. It is primarily spo ...

influence — Poles translated Lithuanian name of the river with such diminutive form (Wilenka).

Fauna

Within the river basin, approximately 30 living species of fish and birds have protected status. In an effort to restore the upstream migration of

salmonids Salmonidae (, ) is a family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon (both Atlantic a ...

in the basin, a

fish ladder A fish ladder, also known as a fishway, fish pass, fish steps, or fish cannon, is a structure on or around artificial and natural barriers (such as dams, locks and waterfalls) to facilitate diadromous fishes' natural migration as well as mov ...

was constructed on the Vilnia in 2000.

References

Rivers of Lithuania Geography of Vilnius International rivers of Europe Belarus–Lithuania border {{Lithuania-river-stub