Dnieper

Human representation of the Dnieper river (known as Borysthenes) on an Ancient Greek coin of Pontic Olbia, 4th–3rd century BC

Pre-1918 photo with the old spelling of Dnieper (Днѣпръ)

In English, Dnieper derives from Russian Dnepr, and Dnipro from the Ukrainian.[7] The initial D in Dnieper is generally silent, although it may be sounded: /ˈniːpər/[8] or /dəˈniːpər/.[9] The English pronunciation of Dnipro is /dəˈniːproʊ/.[10]

The name varies slightly in the local Slavic languages of the three countries through which it flows:

• Belarusian: Дняпро, romanized: Dnyapro, [dⁿʲaˈprɔ], or Днепр Dnyepr,[11] [ˈdⁿʲɛpr]
• Russian: Днепр, tr. Dnepr, IPA: [ˈdⁿʲepr]; formerly spelled Днѣпръ[12]
• Ukrainian: Дніпро, romanized: Dnipro, IPA: [ɟⁿʲiˈprɔ] ^ⓘ; poetic Дніпр, Dnipr; formerly Дніпер[13] Dniper, [ˈɟⁿʲiper], or older Днѣпръ (Dnipr, [ˈdⁿ⁽ʲ⁾ipr])

These names are all cognate, deriving from Old East Slavic Дънѣпръ (Dŭněprŭ). The origin of this name is disputed but generally derived from either Sarmatian *Dānu Apara ("Farther River") in parallel with the Dniester ("Nearer River") or from Scythian *Dānu Apr ("Deep River") in reference to its lack of fords,[14][15] from which was also derived the Late Antique name of the river, Danapris (Δαναπρις).[16]

The earlier Graeco-Roman name of the river was Borysthenes (Ancient Greek: Βορυσθενης, romanized: Borusthenēs; Latin: Borysthenes), which was derived from a Scythian name whose form was:

• either Baurastāna, meaning "yellow place,"[17]
• or Baurustāna meant "place of beavers."[18]
  • this name was linked to the mantle of beaver skins worn by the Iranic water goddess Arəduuī Sūrā Anāhitā, whose epithet of āp (Avestan: 𐬁𐬞, lit. 'water') was connected to the name of the daughter of the river-god Borysthenēs in Scythian mythology, the Earth-and-Water goddess Api, whose own name meant "water."[18]

Ovid used Borysthenius, an adjective derived from Borysthenes, as the river's poetic Latin name.[19]

The Huns' name for the river, Var, was derived from Scythian *Varu, meaning "Broad." This name was connected to the Graeco-Roman name of the Volga river, Oarus (Ancient Greek: Οαρος, romanized: Oaros; Latin: Oarus), which was also derived from Scythian *Varu.[20]

During the period of Old Great Bulgaria, it was known as Buri-Chai and, under the Kievan Rus' it was known as Славу́тич (Slavutich), 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,[21] and to the Slavutych station in Kyiv Metro. The Kipchak Turks called it the Uzeu, the Crimean Tatars: Özü, and Turks: Özü or Özi.[22] In Romanian, the river is known as Nipru.

Waterbodies in Belarus, including a section of the Dnieper river

The Dnieper has many tributaries (up to 32,000) with 89 being rivers of 100+ km.[30] The main ones are, from its source to its mouth, with left (L) or right (R) bank indicated:

Context of the Dnieper basin showing peoples in the ninth century

Many small direct tributaries also exist, such as, in the Kyiv area, the Syrets (right bank) in the north of the city, the historically significant Lybid (right bank) passing west of the centre, and the Borshahivka (right bank) to the south.

The water resources of the Dnieper basin compose around 80% of the total for all Ukraine.[30]

Rapids at Dnieper in 1915

Tractus Borysthenis or Dnieper (from Bovzin city to Chortyca island) in 1662

The Dnieper Rapids were part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, first mentioned in the Kyiv Chronicle. The route was probably established in the late eighth and early ninth centuries and gained significant importance from the tenth until the first third of the eleventh century. On the Dnieper the Varangians had to portage their ships round seven rapids, where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads.

Along this middle flow of the Dnieper, there were 9 major rapids (although some sources cite a fewer number of them), obstructing almost the whole width of the river, about 30 to 40 smaller rapids, obstructing only part of the river, and about 60 islands and islets.

After the Dnieper hydroelectric station was built in 1932, they were inundated by Dnieper Reservoir.

There are a number of canals connected to the Dnieper:

• The Dnieper–Donbas Canal;
• The Dnieper–Kryvyi Rih Canal;
• The Kakhovka Canal (southeast of the Kherson region);
• The Krasnoznamianka Irrigation System in the southwest of the Kherson region;
• The North Crimean Canal—will largely solve the water problem of the peninsula, especially in the arid northern and eastern Crimea;
• The Inhulets Irrigation System.

The river is part of the quagga mussel's native range.[31] The mussel has been accidentally introduced around the world, where it has become an invasive species.[31]

Thematic map (upper) and false-colour IR from satellite images of the Dnieper delta, captured 8 August 2015

The city of Kherson lies on the northern bank, upstream of the Dnieper delta, before the Dnieper meets the Southern Bug river in the Dniprovska Gulf.

• The Dnieper River in different regions
• 
  The Dnieper River in Kyiv, Ukraine
• 
  The Dnieper River in Dorogobuzh, Russian Empire, before 1917
• 
  The Dnieper River in Kremenchuk, Ukraine
• The Dnieper river in Ukraine from a helicopter, 2004

Major cities, over 100,000 in population, are in bold script. Cities and towns located on the Dnieper are listed in order from the river's source (in Russia) to its mouth (in Ukraine):

Arheimar, a capital of the Goths, was located on the Dnieper, according to the Hervarar saga.[37]

The River Dnieper has been a subject of chapter X of a story by Nikolai Gogol A Terrible Vengeance (1831, published in 1832 as a part of the Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka short stories collection). It is considered as a classical example of description of the nature in Russian literature. The river was also described in the works of Taras Shevchenko.

In the adventure novel The Long Ships (also translated Red Orm), set during the Viking Age, a Scanian chieftain travels to the Dnieper Rapids to retrieve a treasure hidden there by his brother, encountering many difficulties. The novel was very popular in Sweden and is one of few to depict a Viking voyage to eastern Europe.

The River Dnieper has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Major artists with works based on the Dnieper are Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ivan Aivazovsky.

The River Dnieper makes an appearance in the 1964 Hungarian drama film The Sons of the Stone-Hearted Man (based on the novel of the same name by Mór Jókai), where it appears when two characters are leaving Saint Petersburg but get attacked by wolves.

In 1983, the concert program "Song of the Dnieper" from the "Victory Salute" series was released, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Kiev from the German fascist invaders. The program includes songs by Soviet composers, Ukrainian folk songs, and dances performed by the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Kiev Military District led by A. Pustovalov, P. Virsky Ukrainian National Folk Dance Ensemble, Kyiv Bandurist Capella, the Military Band of the Headquarters of the Kiev Military District led by A. Kuzmenko, singers Anatoliy Mokrenko, Lyudmila Zykina, Anatoliy Solovianenko, Dmytro Hnatyuk, Mykola Hnatyuk. Filming on the battlefield, streets and squares of Kiev. Scriptwriter – Victor Meerovsky. Directed by Victor Cherkasov. Operator – Alexander Platonov.[38]

The 2018 film Volcano was filmed at the river in Beryslav, Kherson Oblast.

In 1941, Mark Fradkin wrote "Song of the Dnieper" to the words of Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky.[39]

• The river is one of the symbols of the Ukrainian nation[40] and is mentioned in the national anthem of Ukraine.
• There are several names that connect the name of the river with Ukraine: Overdnieper Ukraine, Right-bank Ukraine, Left-bank Ukraine, and others. Some of the cities on its banks — Dnipro, Dniprorudne, Kamianka-Dniprovska — are named after the river.
• The Zaporozhian Cossacks lived on the lower Dnieper and their name refers to their location "beyond the rapids".[41]
• The folk metal band Turisas have a song called "The Dnieper Rapids" on their 2007 album The Varangian Way.[42]