Length 1,020 km | Basin area 87,900 km² | |
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Other name(s) Western Dvina, Russian: Западная Двина (Západnaya Dviná), Belarusian: Заходняя Дзвіна ([zaˈxodnʲaja dzʲvʲiˈna]), German: Düna Basin size 87,900 km (33,900 sq mi) Discharge Average rate:678 m/s (23,900 cu ft/s) Bridges Vanšu Bridge, Railway Bridge, Riga, Southern Bridge | ||
Travel latvia 2013 riga the daugava river boat trip
The River Daugava or Western Dvina is a river rising in the Valdai Hills, Russia, flowing through Russia, Belarus, and Latvia and into the Gulf of Riga. The total length of the river is 1,020 km (630 mi): 325 km (202 mi) in Russia, 338 km (210 mi) in Belarus, and 352 km (219 mi) in Latvia.
Contents
- Travel latvia 2013 riga the daugava river boat trip
- Map of Daugava River
- 4k riga daugava river and south bridge ultra hd
- Geography
- Etymology
- Environment
- Russia
- Belarus
- Latvia
- History
- Water quality
- References
Map of Daugava River
Within Latvia it flows through Latgale, Zemgale, Vidzeme and Riga, before flowing into the Gulf of Riga.
4k riga daugava river and south bridge ultra hd
Geography
The total catchment area of the river is 87,900 km2 (33,900 sq mi), 33,150 km2 (12,800 sq mi) of which are within Belarus.
Etymology
According to the Max Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary, the toponym Dvina clearly cannot stem from a Uralic language, and it possibly comes from Indo-European word which used to mean river or stream.
Environment
The river began experiencing environmental deterioration in the era of Soviet collective agriculture (producing considerable adverse water pollution runoff) and a wave of hydroelectric power projects.
Russia
Andreapol, Zapadnaya Dvina and Velizh.
Belarus
Ruba, Vitebsk, Beshankovichy, Polotsk with Boris stones strewn in the vicinity, Navapolatsk, Dzisna, Verkhnedvinsk, and Druya.
Latvia
Krāslava, Daugavpils, Līvāni, Jēkabpils, Pļaviņas, Aizkraukle, Jaunjelgava, Lielvārde, Kegums, Ogre, Ikšķile, Salaspils and Riga.
History
For millennia, the mouth of the Daugava and other shores of the Gulf of Riga were settlement locations of early humans, carrying out an initial hunter-gatherer subsistence, and utilizing the waters of the Daugava estuary as fishing and gathering areas for aquatic biota. Beginning around the sixth century AD, Viking explorers crossed the Baltic Sea and entered the Daugava River, navigating upriver into the Baltic interior.
In medieval times the Daugava was an important navigation trading route for transport of furs from the north and Byzantine silver. The Riga area was a key element of settlement and defence of the mouth of the Daugava at least as early as the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the now destroyed fort at Torņakalns on the west bank of the Daugava at present day Riga. Since the Late Middle Ages the western part of the basin has come under various national rule; for example the Latvian town of Daugavpils, located on the western Daugava, has variously been under papal rule as well as Slavonic, Polish, German and Russian sway until Latvian independence at the end of the Cold War.
Water quality
Upstream of the Latvian town of Jekabpils the pH has a characteristic value of about 7.8; in this reach the calcium ion has a typical concentration of around 43 milligrams per liter; nitrate has a concentration of about 0.82 milligrams per liter (as nitrogen); phosphate ion is measured at 0.038 milligrams per liter; and oxygen saturation was measured at eighty percent. The high nitrate and phosphate load of the Daugava is instrumental to the buildup of extensive phytoplankton biomass in the Baltic Sea; other European rivers contributing to such high nutrient loading of the Baltic are the Oder and Vistula Rivers.
In Belarus, water pollution of the Daugava is considered moderately severe, with the chief sources being treated wastewater, fish-farming and agricultural chemical runoff (e.g. herbicides, pesticides, nitrate and phosphate).