Dnieper

Dnieper (ancient Borysthenes), one of the large rivers of Europe, has its source, near the Volga and the Western Dwina, in certain swampy forest-lands in the north of the Russian province of Smolensk. It flows with a general southerly direction past Kiev, Ekaterinoslav, and Alexandrovsk to the Black Sea. Its embouchure (increased by the waters of the river Bug) forms a gulf nearly 50 miles in length, with a breadth of from 1 to 6 miles. Its principal affluents are the Desna and Soj from the east, and the Pripet, Beresina, and Druz from the west. The total length of the Dnieper is 1330 miles, and its drainage area embraces 245,000 sq. m. Some of the finest provinces of the Russian empire lie within its basin. At Dorogobush the stream becomes navigable, but below Kiev and at other points traffic is interrupted. Below Ekaterinoslav, indeed, there are no less than sixteen rapids in the course of about 25 miles; but these impediments to navigation have been overcome in part by blasting. The produce of the southern provinces is usually conveyed down the river to ports on the Black Sea, but many vessels pass annually from the Dnieper to the Baltic by the Brest-Litovsk canal (50 miles) and other waterways. The important river-traffic is now mostly below Smolensk; the chief fisheries are between Kherson and the estuary. The stream is permanently bridged at Kiev only, but boat-bridges and ferries are numerous along its banks. At Smolensk, the waters of the Dnieper are frozen from November to April; at Kiev, they are ice-bound only from January to the end of March; and at Kherson the river is frequently open all the year. See KINBURN.