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Dniester

The '''Dniester''' ( Romanization of Ukrainian|translit. ''Dnister''; ) is a river in Eastern Europe.

Geography

It rises in Ukraine, near Drohobych close to the border with Poland, and flows toward the Black Sea. For a short while it marks the border of Ukraine and Moldova, after which it flows through Moldova for , separating the bulk of its territory from Transnistria. It later forms an additional part of the Moldova-Ukraine border, then flows through Ukraine to the Black Sea, where its estuary forms the Dniester Liman. In its lower half, the western bank is high and hilly while the eastern one is low and flat. The river represents the de facto end of the Asian Steppe. Its most important tributaries are Răut and Bîc River|Bîc.

History

In antiquity, the river was considered one of the principal rivers of European Sarmatia, and mentioned by many Classical geographers and historians. According to Herodotus (iv. 51) it rose in a large lake, whilst Ptolemy (iii. 5. § 17, 8. § 1, &c.) places its sources in Mount Carpates (the modern Carpathian Mountains, and Strabo (ii.) says that they are unknown. It ran in an easterly direction parallel with the Ister (lower Danube), and formed part of the boundary between Dacia and Sarmatia. It fell into the Pontus Euxinus to the northeast of the mouth of the Ister; the distance between them being, according to Strabo, 900 stadia (Strab. vii.), and, according to Pliny the Elder|Pliny (iv. 12. s. 26), (from the ''Pseudostoma''). Scymnus (Fr. 51) describes it as of easy navigation, and abounding in fish. Ovid (''ex Pont.'' iv. 10. 50) speaks of its rapid course. Greek authors referred to the river as '''Tyras''' (, Strab. ii.). At a later period it obtained the name of '''Danastris''' or '''Danastus''' (Amm. Marc. xxxi. 3. § 3; Jornand. Get. 5; Const. Porphyr. de Adm. Imp. 8), whence its modern name of Dniester (Neister), though the Turks still called it '''Tural''' during the 19th century. (Cf. Herod. iv. 11, 47, 82; Scylax, p. 29; Strab. i. p. 14; Mela, ii. 1, etc.; also Schaffarik, ''Slav. Alterth.'' i. p. 505.) The form is sometimes found. (Stephanus of Byzantium|Steph. B. p. 671; Suid. ''s. v.'' and .) Between the World Wars, the Dniester formed part of the boundary between Romania and the Soviet Union. During the World War II|second, battles were fought on the left bank of the river between German and Romanian forces against Soviet troops. After the Moldova|Republic of Moldova declared its independence in 1991, the small area to the east of the Dniester that had been part of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic|Moldavian SSR, refused to participate, and declared itself the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic or Transnistria, with its capital at Tiraspol on the river.

Tributaries

The Stryi River is one of its Tributary|tributaries. Tributaries on the right side are the Reut River, the Ikel River, the Byk River, and the Botna River. Tributaries on the left side are Zolota Lypa River (), Koropets River, Dzhuryn River, Seret River (), Zbruch River (), Smotrych River (), Ushytsia River (), Kalius River, Liadova River, Murafa River (), Rusava River, Yahorlyk River (), and the Kuchurhan River ().Encyclopedia of Ukraine - Dniester River

Names

The name ''Dniester'' derives from Sarmatian Iranic *''Dānu nazdya'' "the close river".Mallory, J.P. and Victor H. Mair. ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West''. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. p. 106 (By contrast, the Dnieper River derives from the same Sarmatian Iranic, "the river on the far side".) The older name, ''Tyras'', is from Scythian Iranic *''tûra'', meaning "rapid". In Russian language|Russian, it is known as Днестр, Romanization of Russian|translit. ''Dnestr'', in Romanian language|Romanian ''Nistru'', in Yiddish language|Yiddish: ''Nester'' - נעסטער; in Turkish language|Turkish, ''Turla'' and during antiquity, it was called ''Tyras'' in Latin and ''Danastris'' in Greek language|Greek. Classical authors have also referred to it as ''Danaster''.

References

External links

- Dniester watershed resource maps (PDF) - Land cover and use variables, basin indicators, biodiversity information and indicators.
- Dniester.org: a transboundary Dniester river project
- eco-tiras.org
- Dniester photo gallery Category:Rivers of Ukraine Category:Rivers of Moldova Category:International rivers

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Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL

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