Bartuva also named Bārta (in Latvian) and Bartów (in Polish), is a river in western Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 and Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. It originates in the Plungė district, 3 km to north of Lake Plateliai

Lake Plateliai

Lake Plateliai is the biggest lake in Samogitia and 9th biggest in Lithuania. It is the central attraction in the Žemaitija National Park. It covers about 12 km² and reaches up to 47 m in depth. It has seven islands, one of them housed a castle and now is called Castle Island...

. The Bartuva flows in a northwesterly direction, passing through the Skuodas district and the city of Skuodas

Skuodas

Skuodas is a city located in Klaipeda County, in northwestern Lithuania, on the border with Latvia. The Bartuva river flows through the town....

, before entering Latvia. The Bartuva flows into Liepāja lake

Liepaja lake

Lake of Liepāja — the fifth-largest lake in Latvia, located near Liepāja in Liepāja district.Total area of the lake - 37,15 km2, length - 16.2 km, average depth - 2.0 m, coastal line length - 44.6 km....

, which is connected with the Baltic Sea

Baltic Sea

The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...

. In its upper courses the valley formed by the Bartuva is deep and narrow, while in its lower courses it is much wider.

Bartuva's main tributaries are the Eiškūnas, Erla, Luoba, Apšė

Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...

, Vārtāja.