The Abava is a river in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and the largest tributary of the Venta. It flows through

Tukums Tukums (; ; ) is a town in Latvia and serves as the administrative center of Tukums Municipality. It is located in the eastern part of the historical region of Courland, and with more than 16,000 inhabitants Tukums is the 13th largest settlem ...

Talsi Talsi (; , ) (population 11,371) is a town in the Courland region of Latvia. It is the administrative centre of Talsi Municipality. It is nicknamed the "green pearl of Courland". Etymology It is believed that the name is derived from an old Livo ...

and Kuldiga districts. Fifty percent of the Abava basin is covered by forests. Its valley was submitted for inclusion in the

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List.

Characteristics of the river

The river begins at the Lestenes-Ēnavas marsh, on the eastern side of the Eastern Courland Highlands at an elevation of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The upper Abava is straightened, and flows in a northerly direction. At Kandava, it turns westward and follows a winding course. It descends through a height of . The river has a number of dolomite rapids with a velocity of . The second largest waterfall in Latvia, the Abava Waterfall (Latvian: Abavas rumba), is on this river. The Abava is crossed by an unusual "Bridge to Nowhere" (Tilts uz nekurieni) in Irlava parish, near Sāti. Built in 1940 as part of a planned railway between Tukums and Kuldiga, it was completed but the railway linkage construction was halted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During their occupation of Latvia, the Germans made initial plans to complete the railroad, but were unsuccessful in carrying the plans to completion. The concrete span is 55 meters in length.''Bridge to Nowhere - Irlavas Pagasts, Latvia'' (Atlas Obscura, accessed 6 February 2020)
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References

External links

Rivers of Latvia Venta River basin {{Latvia-river-stub