List of rivers of Lithuania

Rivers of Lithuania are typical lowland rivers: they are slow, they make meanders, the valleys are wide. Because of abundant precipitation, the river net is dense: on the average 0.99 km of rivers flow in 1 km² of the territory.[1] However, the rivers are not evenly distributed. The highest density is in the Samogitian Highlands where it rains more often and in the northern Lithuania where the soil has clay and it does not allow the water to drain underground. The lowest density is in the southeastern Lithuania where the soil has a lot sand and the rainwater quickly ooze into the underground.

Šventoji River near Vepriai

Almost 70% (some 49,600 km²) of the territory of Lithuania are drained by the Neman River and its tributaries. The other five river basins are small and located nears the borders: Mūša-Nemunėlis (Lielupe; 8,976 km²), Venta (5,140 km²), Daugava (1,857 km²), small rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea (2,523 km²) and Pregolya (54 km²). During the winter all rivers freeze over. In the spring almost all rivers flood from melting snow and ice. However, usually only in the Neman River delta the water bursts out of the valley. Nowadays floods are controlled by dams and also due to drainage most rivers have lower water levels than they used to have. In the western Lithuania rivers tend to irregularly flood during the fall because of excessive rains. In the eastern Lithuania rivers tend to discharge a constant amount of water because they are regulated by flow-through lakes and sandy soil, which quickly absorbs any excess rain or snow water.

During the Soviet times (1945-1990) rivers suffered much damage because of drainage. Many swamps were drained and now they cannot feed the rivers anymore. Other smaller rivers were straightened and turned into drainage canals.

Lithuania counts around 29 thousand watercourses, longer than 0.25 km. The total length of all these watercourses would be around 65,000 km. The number of rivers and rivulets longer than 3 km has been calculated very precisely – 4,418. 758[2] rivers are longer than 10 km. Lithuania has 21 rivers longer than 100 km (62 mi):

Longest rivers

# Name Length (km) Mouth Source Most important cities
TotalIn Lithuania
1Nemunas 937 475Curonian LagoonHrodna, Druskininkai, Alytus, Kaunas, Sovetsk
2Neris 510 235NemunasVilnius, Kernavė, Jonava, Kaunas
3Venta 346 161Baltic SeaVenta, Kuldīga, Ventspils
4Šešupė 298 209NemunasMarijampolė, Kudirkos Naumiestis, Krasnoznamensk
5Šventoji 246 246NerisAnykščiai, Kavarskas, Ukmergė
6Nevėžis 209 209NemunasPanevėžys, Kėdainiai
7Merkys 203 190NemunasBaltoji Vokė, Merkinė
8Minija 202 202Nemunas DeltaSalantai, Gargždai, Priekulė
9Nemunėlis 199 160LielupeBauska
10Dysna 173 58Daugava
11Jūra 172 172NemunasRietavas, Tauragė
12Mūša 157 140LielupeBauska
13Lėvuo 145 145Mūša
14Šušvė 135 135Nevėžis
15Dubysa 131 131NemunasŠiauliai, Ariogala
16Širvinta 129 129Šventoji RiverŠirvintos
17Švėtė 118 50LielupeŽagarė
18Šešuvis 115 115Jūra
19Kotra River 109 24Nemunas
20Mituva 102 102NemunasJurbarkas
21Bartuva 101 55Baltic SeaSkuodas

The Virvyčia (99.7 km) is just shy of the 100 km limit. The length of the Žeimena is an object of discussion; it could be up to 114 km.

Note: length in Lithuania also includes the length of rivers when they serve as borders with neighboring countries.

See also

Footnotes

  1. The Republic of Lithuania, Fishery Country Profile, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, May 2005. Accessed June 9, 2006.
  2. Stasys Vaitiekūnas, Elena Valančienė, Lietuvos geografija (Geography of Lithuania), Alma littera, 2004, page 65. ISBN 9955-08-534-7

References

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