Neman River
Encyclopedia
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an river
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...
rising in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
and flowing through 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...
before draining into the Curonian Lagoon
Curonian Lagoon
The Curonian Lagoon is separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surface area is . The Neman River supplies about 90% of its inflows; its watershed consists of about 100,450 square kilometers in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast.-Human history:In the 13th century, the area around...
and then into 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...
at Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast
Kaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
in its lower reaches. It also very briefly forms part of the border between Lithuania and Belarus. The 14th largest river in Europe, the largest in Lithuania and the 3rd largest in Belarus, it is navigable for most of its 900-kilometer length.
The Neman River basin was formed during the Quaternary
Quaternary
The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...
period, and is located roughly along the edge of the last glacial sheet, dating from about 25, 000 – 22 ,000 years BP (Before Present
Before Present
Before Present years is a time scale used in archaeology, geology, and other scientific disciplines to specify when events in the past occurred. Because the "present" time changes, standard practice is to use AD 1950 as the origin of the age scale, reflecting the fact that radiocarbon...
). Its depth varies from one meter in its upper courses to five meters in the lower basin.
The largest settlements on the river
KlaipėdaKlaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
/Memel, Sovetsk
Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
Sovetsk , known by its historical German name of Tilsit in East Prussia before 1946, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River. Population: -History of Tilsit:...
/Tilsit, Masty
Masty, Belarus
Masty or Mosty is a city in Hrodna Voblast, Belarus, the administrative center of the Masty district....
, Hrodna
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
/Grodno, Druskininkai
Druskininkai
Druskininkai is a spa town on the Neman River in southern Lithuania, close to the borders of Belarus and Poland. The city of Druskininkai has a population of 18,233 and dates back as a spa resort to the 19th century.-Names:...
, Alytus
Alytus
Alytus is a city with municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the capital of Alytus County. Its population in 2007 was 68,835. Alytus is the historical centre of the Dzūkija region. The city lies on the banks of the Nemunas River. The major highways linking Vilnius, Kaunas, Lazdijai, and...
, Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
/Kovno, Neman/Ragnit
Neman (town)
Neman is a town and the administrative center of Nemansky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the historic Prussia region, east of the town of Sovetsk, on the steep southern bank of the Neman River, where it currently forms the border with the Klaipėda Region in...
.
The Neman by numbers
- The total length of the Neman is 937 kilometers (582 miles). It is the 14th largest river in EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the 4th largest in the Baltic SeaBaltic SeaThe 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...
basin. Over its entire length, 459 km (285 miles) flows in BelarusBelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
and 359 km (223.1 mi) in Lithuania. A 116 - kilometer stretch is the border between LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , 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 RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's Kaliningrad oblastKaliningrad OblastKaliningrad Oblast is a federal subject of Russia situated on the Baltic coast. It has a population of The oblast forms the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, but it has no land connection to the rest of Russia. Since its creation it has been an exclave of the Russian SFSR and then the...
. - Its greatest depth is five meters (16.4 ft), and at its widest it extends about 500 meters (1640 feet).
- The Neman is a slow river; it flows at about one to two meters/second.
- During floods, water discharge can increase up to 11-fold, to more than 6,800 m³/s. Severe floods occur on the lower reaches of the river about every 12 – 15 years, which sometimes wash out bridges.
- The Neman is an old river, dating back to the last glacial period. Its valley is now up to 60 meters deep and five kilometers broad.
- The Neman has about 105 first-class tributaries, the largest being the rivers NerisNerisNeris is a river rising in Belarus, flowing through Vilnius and becoming a tributary of the Neman River at Kaunas...
(Viliya) (510 km/317 miles), the Shchara (325 km/202 miles), and the Šešupė (298 km/185 miles). Fifteen of the tributaries are longer than 100 km (62.1 mi). - In the Neman basin there are tributaries extending to the 11th order.
- The Neman basin in Lithuania drains more than 20,000 rivers and rivulets and covers 72% of Lithuania's territory.
- The total area of the Neman basin is 97,863 square kilometers; the Lithuanian portion of this basin is 46,695 square kilometers.
Importance of the river in culture
The river has lent its name to a NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
subculture; originally based on hunting, fishing, and gathering, its inhabitants gradually adopted domesticated plants and animals.
In German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, the river has been called die Memel at least since about 1250, when Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
erected Memelburg castle and the town of Memel at the mouth of the Curonian Lagoon, baptizing it after the indigenous name of the river, Memel. The city of Memel, now in Lithuania, is known today as Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
. On German road maps and in German lexika, only the 112 km section within Prussia (starting at Schmalleningken http://www.landkartenarchiv.de/cgi-bin/shell1939.pl?nr=shell5_1939&gr=3&nord=1.728571&ost=1.812500) was named Memel http://susi.e-technik.uni-ulm.de:8080/Meyers2/seite/werk/meyers/band/11/seite/0455/meyers_b11_s0455.html; the part outside Germany was labelled Niemen http://susi.e-technik.uni-ulm.de:8080/Meyers2/seite/werk/meyers/band/12/seite/0166/meyers_b12_s0166.html.
The border between the Teutonic Order state and Lithuania was fixed in 1422 by the Treaty of Lake Melno and remained stable for centuries. The Treaty of Tilsit between Napoleon and Czar Alexander I
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
was signed on a raft in the river in 1807. Napoleon's crossing at the outset of the 1812 French invasion of Russia
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
is described in War and Peace
War and Peace
War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
. In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
made the river the border separating the Memel Territory from German East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
as of 1920. At that time, Germany's Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
adopted the Deutschlandlied as its official national anthem
National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
. In the first stanza of the song, written in 1841, the river is mentioned as the eastern border of a (then politically yet-to-be united) Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
:
| German lyrics | Approximate English translation |
| Von der Maas bis an die Memel, Von der Etsch bis an den Belt |
From the Meuse Meuse River The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea... to the Memel, From the Adige Adige The Adige is a river with its source in the Alpine province of South Tyrol near the Italian border with Austria and Switzerland. At in length, it is the second longest river in Italy, after the River Po with .... to the Belt Little Belt The Little Belt is a strait between the Danish island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula.The belt is about 50 km long and 800m to 28 km wide, the maximum depth is approximately 75 m, and contains numerous small Danish islands.... |
Lithuanians refer to the Neman as "the father of rivers" (Nemunas is a masculine noun in Lithuania). Countless companies and organizations in Lithuania have "Nemunas" in their name, including a folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
ensemble, a weekly magazine about art and culture, a sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
, and numerous guest houses and hotels. Lithuanian and Polish literature often mention the Nemunas. One of the most famous poems by Maironis
Maironis
Maironis is one of the most famous Lithuanian romantic poets. He was born in Pasandravys, Raseiniai district municipality, Lithuania. Maironis graduated from Kaunas high school and went on to study Literature at Kiev University. However, in 1884, after one year of studies at the university, he...
starts:
| Lithuanian lyrics | Approximate English translation |
| Kur bėga Šešupė, kur Nemunas teka | Where the Šešupė runs, where the Neman flows |
| Tai mūsų tėvynė, graži Lietuva | That's our homeland, beautiful Lithuania |
Almost every Lithuanian can recite these words from heart. It is so well known that it is sometimes thought to be an unofficial national anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
.
There are many other smaller rivers and rivulets in Lithuania with names that may have been derived from "Nemunas" - Nemunykštis, Nemuniukas, Nemunynas, Nemunėlis, Nemunaitis. The etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
of the name is disputed: some say that "Nemunas" is an old word meaning "a damp place," while other say that "Nemunas" was a god in Baltic mythology
Baltic mythology
Baltic mythology generally covers the pre-Christian mythology of the Latvians, Lithuanians and Old Prussians, which are thought to have at least some common roots....
. Art critics praised its depiction in the paintings by Michał Kulesza
Michał Kulesza
The Romantic painter Michał Kulesza was among the first lithographers in the area of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, ruled by Russia for almost all of his life. His frequent theme, sites linked to the Grand Duchy's history, reflected the growing Lithuanian and Polish ethnic activism in the area...
.
The Neman Loops
In 1992 Nemunas Loops Regional Park
Nemunas Loops Regional Park
Nemunas Loops Regional Park was established in 1992 to protect the historical, cultural, and natural character of the loops on the Neman River in central Lithuania....
was founded. Its goal is to preserve the spectacular loops (Lithuanian: vingis) that the Neman makes in the Punia
Punia
Punia can refer to:*Punia, Lithuania, town in Lithuania*Punia , gotra or clan of Jat people in India...
forest. Near Prienai
Prienai
Prienai is a city in Lithuania situated on the Neman River, south of Kaunas. In 2001 the city had 11,353 inhabitants. The name of the city is a derivative from a surname Prienas. Pociūnai Airport is associated with the city.-History:...
, the Neman makes a 17-km long loop (like a teardrop) coming within 1.2 km of completing the loop. The Neman flows along the double bend between Balbieriškis and Birštonas
Birštonas
Birštonas is a spa town in Lithuania situated south of Kaunas on the right bank of the Nemunas River. Birštonas received its city rights 1529, and was appointed a city in 1966.-Name:Birštonas is the Lithuanian name of the city...
for 48 kilometers and then moves in a northerly direction for only 4.5 kilometers. The loops are not conventional river meander
Meander
A meander in general is a bend in a sinuous watercourse. A meander is formed when the moving water in a stream erodes the outer banks and widens its valley. A stream of any volume may assume a meandering course, alternately eroding sediments from the outside of a bend and depositing them on the...
s; they follow underlying tectonic structures. The faults are the source of the mineral springs in the area. The area is historically and culturally significant. Its castles served as the first line of defense against forays by the Teutonic knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
.
The Neman Delta
At its deltaRiver delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
the Neman splits into a maze of river branches and canals mixing with polder
Polder
A polder is a low-lying tract of land enclosed by embankments known as dikes, that forms an artificial hydrological entity, meaning it has no connection with outside water other than through manually-operated devices...
s and wetlands and is a very attractive destination for eco-tourism. The four main distributaries
Distributary
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. They are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary...
are Atmata, Pakalnė, Skirvytė and Gilija. The river plays a crucial part in the ecosystem of the Curonian Lagoon
Curonian Lagoon
The Curonian Lagoon is separated from the Baltic Sea by the Curonian Spit. Its surface area is . The Neman River supplies about 90% of its inflows; its watershed consists of about 100,450 square kilometers in Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast.-Human history:In the 13th century, the area around...
. It provides the main water inflow to the lagoon and keeps the water almost fresh. This allows both fresh water and mixed water animals to survive there. As the Neman's delta expands, the lagoon shrinks. Since the delta is located in Lithuania, it is often referred to as Nemunas Delta. Nemunas Delta Regional Park
Nemunas Delta Regional Park
Nemunas Delta Regional Park, established in 1994, is located in Lithuania within the Nemunas Delta where the Nemunas flows into the Baltic Sea. The park covers 29,013 hectares....
was created in the delta in 1992.
The Neman tributaries
The Neman tributaries are:the rivers Neris
Neris
Neris is a river rising in Belarus, flowing through Vilnius and becoming a tributary of the Neman River at Kaunas...
(Viliya), the Shchara, and the Šešupė, Svisloch, Nevėžis River
Nevežis River
Nevėžis River is the sixth longest river in Lithuania and one of the main tributaries of the Neman River. Its length is , and it flows only within the geographical confines of Lithuania. It is the second longest river in Lithuania, after the Šventoji River, that flows exclusively within its borders...
, Dubysa
Dubysa
Dubysa, at 131 km, is the 15th longest river in Lithuania. It originates just a few kilometers from Lake Rėkyva near Šiauliai city. At first it flows south, but at Lyduvėnai turns southeast and near Ariogala - southwest. Dubysa is a Samogitian river...
, Jūra
Jura
-Mountains:*Jura mountains, on the French-Swiss-German border, the namesake of the Jurassic period of geology*Franconian Jura, a mountain range in southeastern Germany*Bernese Jura, a region in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland...
, Minija
Minija
Minija is a river in western Lithuania and a tributary to Nemunas. It begins from small Lake Didovas, and hidrografically from lake Sydeklis, 14 km south of Telšiai...
, Western Berezina
Western Berezina
Western Berezina or simply Berezina is a river in Belarus, a right tributary of Neman River.Length is 226 km, basin area is app. 4,000 km².The river rises near Maladechna. Its longest tributary is Islach River ....
, Zelvyanka
Zelvyanka River
Zelvyanka River , is a river in Belarus, a left tributary of Neman River.The river starts from a place between villages Lidzyany and Kulyavichy in Śvisłač district and further flows through Hrodna Voblast and Brest Voblast .Tributaries: Шчыба, Ружанка, Іванаўка, Сасва,...
, Molchad, Roś
Ros
-People and groups:* ROS,Video Director / Producer - Matatabi Records Tokyo Japan* Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale, the Anti-organized Crime Branch of the Italian Carabinieri* Reparti i Operacioneve Speciale, a former Albanian special forces unit...
, Servech, Losha, Gorodnichanka
Gorodnichanka
Haradničanka, Haradniсa - the river in Hrodna and Hrodna district, Belarus.The headwaters of the Haradničanka river are in the Kulbaki village to the North-West of Hrodna city, Belarus.The river has one branch - the Jurysdyka river....
and others.
Economic significance
The largest cities on the Neman are Hrodna
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
in Belarus, Alytus
Alytus
Alytus is a city with municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the capital of Alytus County. Its population in 2007 was 68,835. Alytus is the historical centre of the Dzūkija region. The city lies on the banks of the Nemunas River. The major highways linking Vilnius, Kaunas, Lazdijai, and...
and Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
in Lithuania, and Sovetsk
Sovetsk, Kaliningrad Oblast
Sovetsk , known by its historical German name of Tilsit in East Prussia before 1946, is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the south bank of the Neman River. Population: -History of Tilsit:...
in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. The river basin has a population of 5.4 million inhabitants. Industrial activities in the Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
ian section include metal processing, chemical industries, pulp and paper production, and manufacturing of building materials, as well as food-processing plants. In Lithuania the city of Kaunas, with about 400,000 inhabitants, is the country's principal user of the river; the local industries that impact the river are hydropower generation, machinery, chemical, wood processing and paper production, furniture production, textile and food-processing. In Kaliningrad, industrial centres near the river include Sovetsk and Neman, which have large pulp and paper production facilities.
Above Kaunas
Kaunas
Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the center of a powiat in Trakai Voivodeship of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1413. During Russian Empire occupation...
a dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
was built in 1959 to serve the Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant
Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant
The Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant, located on the Nemunas River about southeast of downtown Kaunas, Lithuania, was completed in 1960. Its dam created the Kaunas Reservoir. Owned by Lietuvos Energija, it operates in conjunction with the Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant.The plant, which has a...
. The resulting Kaunas Reservoir is the largest such lake in Lithuania. It occupies 63.5 km² (24.5 sq mi); its length is 93 km (57.8 mi); its greatest depth is 22 m (72 feet). The reservoir is a popular destination for Lithuanian yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
ing.
The Augustów Canal
Augustów Canal
The Augustów Canal is a cross-border canal built in the 19th century in the present-day Podlaskie Voivodeship of northeastern Poland and the Hrodna Voblast of north-western Belarus...
, built in the 19th century, connects the Neman to the Vistula River.
Biological communities
The following fish have been found in the Neman: perchEuropean perch
The European perch, Perca fluviatilis, is a predatory species of perch found in Europe and Asia. In some areas it is known as the redfin perch or English perch, and it is often known simply as perch. The species is a popular quarry for anglers and has been widely introduced beyond its native area,...
, pike
Northern Pike
The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...
, zander
Zander
Zander is a species of fish. The scientific name is Sander lucioperca , and it is closely allied to perch. Zander are often called pike-perch as they resemble the pike with their elongated body and head, and the perch with their spiny dorsal fin. Zander are not, as is commonly believed, a pike and...
, roach
Rutilus
Rutilus is a genus of fishes in the family Cyprinidae, commonly called roaches. Locally, the name "roach" without any further qualifiers is also used for particular species, particularly the Common Roach Rutilus (Latin for "shining, red, golden, auburn") is a genus of fishes in the family...
, tench
Tench
The tench or doctor fish is a freshwater and brackish water fish of the cyprinid family found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal...
, bream, rudd
Rudd
The common rudd Scardinius erythropthalmus is a bentho-pelagic freshwater fish, widely spread in Europe and middle Asia, around the basins of the North, Baltic, Black, Caspian and Aral seas.-Artificially introduced:...
, ruffe
Ruffe
The Eurasian Ruffe or simply Ruffe is a freshwater fish found in temperate regions of Europe and northern Asia. It has been introduced into the Great Lakes of North America, reportedly with unfortunate results...
, and bleak
Bleak
The common bleak is a small pelagic fish of the Cyprinid family. It is often referred to simply as a "bleak", though this term can refer to any species of Alburnus.-Description:...
. Its tribitaries also contain stone loach
Loach (fish)
Cobitidae is the family of the true loaches, which are Old World freshwater fish. They occur throughout Eurasia and in Morocco, and inhabit riverine ecosystems. Today, most "loaches" are placed in other families...
, the three-spined stickleback
Stickleback
The Gasterosteidae are a family of fish including the sticklebacks. FishBase currently recognises sixteen species in the family, grouped in five genera. However several of the species have a number of recognised subspecies, and the taxonomy of the family is thought to be in need of revision...
, minnow
Cyprinid
The family Cyprinidae, from the Ancient Greek kyprînos , consists of the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives . Commonly called the carp family or the minnow family, its members are also known as cyprinids...
s, trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
, sculpin
Sculpin
A Sculpin is a fish that belongs to the order Scorpaeniformes, suborder Cottoidei and superfamily Cottoidea, that contains 11 families, 149 genera, and 756 species...
s, gudgeon
Gudgeon (fish)
Gudgeon is a common name for a number of small freshwater fishes of the families Cyprinidae, Eleotridae or Ptereleotridae. Most gudgeons are elongate, bottom-dwelling fish, many of which live in rapids and other fast moving water....
, dace
Common dace
The common dace , also known as the dace or the Eurasian dace, is a fresh- or brackish-water fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae. It is an inhabitant of the rivers and streams of Europe north of the Alps as well as in Asia. It is most abundant in France and Germany, and has also spread to...
and chub
European chub
The European chub , sometimes called the round chub, fat chub, chevin, pollard or simply "the" chub, is a freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae...
.
Atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
formerly migrated upstream to spawn; the dam constructions on the river, most of which took place during the 20th century, reduced their numbers considerably. The dam at Kaunas does not provide fish ladders. The spawning season took place in the fall; ethnographic studies of the time report that night fishing, using torches and harpoon
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long spear-like instrument used in fishing to catch fish or large marine mammals such as whales. It accomplishes this task by impaling the target animal, allowing the fishermen to use a rope or chain attached to the butt of the projectile to catch the animal...
s, was a common technique.
Environmental issues
Nitrate
The nitrate ion is a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO and a molecular mass of 62.0049 g/mol. It is the conjugate base of nitric acid, consisting of one central nitrogen atom surrounded by three identically-bonded oxygen atoms in a trigonal planar arrangement. The nitrate ion carries a...
s and phosphate
Phosphate
A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
s occur in different parts of the river. Environmental issues include water quality (eutrophication
Eutrophication
Eutrophication or more precisely hypertrophication, is the movement of a body of water′s trophic status in the direction of increasing plant biomass, by the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system...
and pollutants), changes in the hydrological regime, and flooding control. The environmental problems in each of the countries that make up the basin are slightly different. In Belarus the main problems are oil products as well as nitrogen and BOD
Biochemical oxygen demand
Biochemical oxygen demand or B.O.D. is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms in a body of water to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. The term also refers to a chemical procedure for...
(biological oxygen demand). The environmental issues in the Kaliningrad section include high concentrations of BOD, lignosulphates, and nitrogen
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N, atomic number of 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78.08% by volume of Earth's atmosphere...
. In Lithuania, the operations of the Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant
Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant
The Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant, located on the Nemunas River about southeast of downtown Kaunas, Lithuania, was completed in 1960. Its dam created the Kaunas Reservoir. Owned by Lietuvos Energija, it operates in conjunction with the Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant.The plant, which has a...
cause changes of the water level that affect the riparian ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. Old wastewater treatment facilities along the entire river also contribute to pollution.
The co-operation necessary to ensure the health of the river is complicated by the political divisions in the basin - its territory is shared among Russia, Belarus and the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
country of Lithuania. Several co-operation initiatives are underway to address the environmental issues of the river.
See also
- List of rivers of Europe
- Normandie-NiemenNormandie-NiemenThe Normandie-Niemen Regiment was a fighter squadron, later regiment of the French Air Force. It served on the Eastern Front of the European Theatre of World War II with the 1st Air Army...
- Memelland
- East PrussiaEast PrussiaEast Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
