Biebrza
Encyclopedia
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in north-eastern Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, a tributary of the Narew
Narew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
river (near Wizna
Wizna
Wizna is a village in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. The Biebrza River flows through town. Wizna is also known for the battle of Wizna which took place in its vicinity during the 1939 Invasion of Poland. At present, farming and food production are the primary...
), with a length of 155 kilometres (28th longest) and the basin area of 7,057 km2. (7,051 in Poland).
Larger towns in the area:
- LipskLipskLipsk , , is a town in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,520 inhabitants ....
- SztabinSztabinSztabin , is a village in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Sztabin. It lies approximately south-east of Augustów and north of the regional capital Białystok....
- GoniądzGoniadzGoniądz is a town in Poland, located at the Biebrza river, in Mońki county in Podlaskie Voivodeship in northeastern Poland. 80% of the town was destroyed in World War II...
- Osowiec-TwierdzaOsowiec-TwierdzaOsowiec-Twierdza is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Goniądz, in Mońki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south of Goniądz, north-west of Mońki, and north-west of the regional capital Białystok...
- RadzilowRadzilówRadziłów is a village in Grajewo County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina, an administrative district called Gmina Radziłów. It lies approximately south of Grajewo and north-west of the regional capital Białystok...
- WiznaWiznaWizna is a village in Łomża County of Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. The Biebrza River flows through town. Wizna is also known for the battle of Wizna which took place in its vicinity during the 1939 Invasion of Poland. At present, farming and food production are the primary...
The region is usually being divided into lower, central and upper basin areas, each with its own different characteristics.
Natural environment
Today the river is best known for the vivid wildlife in the peatbogs and marshes in its flooding areas.History
Historically, the borderland regions of Masovia and Lithuania, the area retains much of its cultural diversity today.Cultural and linguistic environment
The basin of Biebrza river is inhabited not only by hundreds of rare and endangered sorts of birds, but also by people representing diverse cultures, languages and religions. While most of the population of the region speaks standard Polish, some people in the upper river basin (municipalities of LipskLipsk
Lipsk , , is a town in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,520 inhabitants ....
, Dąbrowa Białostocka and partly Sztabin
Sztabin
Sztabin , is a village in Augustów County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Sztabin. It lies approximately south-east of Augustów and north of the regional capital Białystok....
) speak a local dialect of Belarusian
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
(called by them prosty jazyk - "the simple language"). The people there belong to the Orthodox or Roman Catholic church. On the north bank of the upper Biebrza there are also a few villages where so called "old-believers" live, who speak an archaic dialect of Russian. Some of these communities preserved much of their traditional culture in spite of a long lasting communist government policies aimed at assimilation of non-Polish cultural and linguistic minorities.