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The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Ukrainian territory again.
Along the lower half of the Dniester, the western bank is high and hilly while the eastern one is low and flat. The river represents the ''de facto'' end of the Eurasian Steppe. Its most important tributaries are Răut and Bîc.
During the Neolithic, the Dniester River was the centre of one of the most advanced civilizations on earth at the time. The Cucuteni–Trypillian culture flourished in this area from roughly 5300 to 2600 BC, leaving behind thousands of archeological sites. Their settlements had up to 15,000 inhabitants, making them among the first large farming communities in the world.
In antiquity, the river was considered one of the principal rivers of European Sarmatia, and it was 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 900 stadia – approximately – according to Strabo (vii.), while (from the ''Pseudostoma'') according to Pliny the Elder, Pliny (iv. 12. s. 26). 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'' (). At a later period it obtained the name of ''Danastris'' or ''Danastus'', whence its modern name of Dniester (Niester), though the Turks still called it ''Turla'' during the 19th century. The form is sometimes found.
According to Constantine VII, the Varangians used boats on their trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, along Dniester and Dnieper and along the Black Sea shore. The navigation near the western shore of Black Sea contained stops at Aspron (at the mouth of Dniester), then Conopa, Constantia (localities today in Romania) and Messembria (today in Bulgaria).
From the 14th century to 1812, part of the Dniester formed the eastern boundary of the Moldavia, Principality of Moldavia.
Between the World Wars, the Dniester formed part of the boundary between Romania and the Soviet Union. In 1919, on Easter Sunday, the bridge was blown up by the French Army to protect Bender, Moldova, Bender from the Bolsheviks. During World War II, German and Romanian forces battled Soviet troops on the western bank of the river.
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.
Dnister River
Encyclopedia of Ukraine, accessed 15 December 2022
Dnister River in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).
Dniester.org: a trans-boundary Dniester river project
eco-tiras.org
{{Authority control Dniester, Dniester basin, Moldova–Ukraine border Ottoman Empire–Russian Empire border Ramsar sites in Moldova Ramsar sites in Ukraine Rivers of Transnistria Rivers of Lviv Oblast Rivers of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Rivers of Ternopil Oblast Rivers of Chernivtsi Oblast Rivers of Khmelnytskyi Oblast Rivers of Vinnytsia Oblast Rivers of Odesa Oblast Romania–Soviet Union border
Names
The name ''Dniester'' derives from Sarmatian language, Sarmatian ''dānu nazdya'' "the close river." (The Dnieper, also of Sarmatian origin, derives from the opposite meaning, "the river on the far side".) Alternatively, according to Vasily Abaev ''Dniester'' would be a blend of Scythian language, Scythian ''dānu'' "river" and Thracian language, Thracian ''Ister'', the previous name of the river, literally Dān-Ister (River Ister). The Ancient Greek name of Dniester, ''Tyras'' (Τύρας), is from Scythian language, Scythian ''tūra'', meaning "rapid." The names of the Don River (Russia), Don and Danube are also from the same Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian word ''*dānu'' "river". Classical authors have also referred to it as ''Danaster.'' These early forms, without -''i''- but with -''a''-, contradict Abaev's hypothesis. Edward Gibbon refers to the river both as the Niester and Dniester in his ''History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire''. In Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, it is known as (Romanization of Ukrainian, translit. ''Dnister''), and in Romanian as . In Russian language, Russian, it is known as (Romanization of Russian, translit. ''Dnestr''), in Yiddish language, Yiddish: ''Nester'' נעסטער; in Turkish language, Turkish, ''Turla''; and in Lithuanian language, Lithuanian as ''Dniestras''.
Geography
The Dniester rises in Ukraine, near the city of Drohobych, close to the border with Poland, and flows toward the Black Sea. Its course marks part of the border of Ukraine and Moldova, after which it flows through Moldova for , separating the main territory of Moldova from its breakaway region 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.
Along the lower half of the Dniester, the western bank is high and hilly while the eastern one is low and flat. The river represents the ''de facto'' end of the Eurasian Steppe. Its most important tributaries are Răut and Bîc.
History
During the Neolithic, the Dniester River was the centre of one of the most advanced civilizations on earth at the time. The Cucuteni–Trypillian culture flourished in this area from roughly 5300 to 2600 BC, leaving behind thousands of archeological sites. Their settlements had up to 15,000 inhabitants, making them among the first large farming communities in the world.
In antiquity, the river was considered one of the principal rivers of European Sarmatia, and it was 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 900 stadia – approximately – according to Strabo (vii.), while (from the ''Pseudostoma'') according to Pliny the Elder, Pliny (iv. 12. s. 26). 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'' (). At a later period it obtained the name of ''Danastris'' or ''Danastus'', whence its modern name of Dniester (Niester), though the Turks still called it ''Turla'' during the 19th century. The form is sometimes found.
According to Constantine VII, the Varangians used boats on their trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, along Dniester and Dnieper and along the Black Sea shore. The navigation near the western shore of Black Sea contained stops at Aspron (at the mouth of Dniester), then Conopa, Constantia (localities today in Romania) and Messembria (today in Bulgaria).
From the 14th century to 1812, part of the Dniester formed the eastern boundary of the Moldavia, Principality of Moldavia.
Between the World Wars, the Dniester formed part of the boundary between Romania and the Soviet Union. In 1919, on Easter Sunday, the bridge was blown up by the French Army to protect Bender, Moldova, Bender from the Bolsheviks. During World War II, German and Romanian forces battled Soviet troops on the western bank of the river.
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
From source to mouth, right Tributary, tributaries, i.e. on the southwest side, are the Stryi (river), Stryi (), (), (), Bystrytsia (river), Bystrytsia (101 km), Răut (), (), Bîc (), and Botna (). Left tributaries, on the northeast side, are the Strwiąż (), Zubra, Hnyla Lypa (), Zolota Lypa (), (), Strypa (), Seret (river), Seret (), Zbruch (), Smotrych (river), Smotrych (), (), (), (), Murafa (), (), (), and Kuchurhan (river), Kuchurhan ().Encyclopedia of Ukraine, accessed 15 December 2022
See also
* Dniester Canyon * Dniester Pumped Storage Power Station * Euroregion DniesterNotes
References
General
*External links
* * Volodymyr Kubiyovych, Volodymyr Kubijovyč, Ivan TesliaDnister River in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).
Dniester.org: a trans-boundary Dniester river project
eco-tiras.org
{{Authority control Dniester, Dniester basin, Moldova–Ukraine border Ottoman Empire–Russian Empire border Ramsar sites in Moldova Ramsar sites in Ukraine Rivers of Transnistria Rivers of Lviv Oblast Rivers of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Rivers of Ternopil Oblast Rivers of Chernivtsi Oblast Rivers of Khmelnytskyi Oblast Rivers of Vinnytsia Oblast Rivers of Odesa Oblast Romania–Soviet Union border