Nemunėlis is a river in northern 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 southern 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 6 km south of Rokiškis

Rokiškis

Rokiškis is a city in northeastern Lithuania with population of about 16,000.-History:The legend of the founding of Rokiškis tells about a hunter called Rokas who had been hunting for hares . However, cities ending in "-kiškis" are quite popular in the region. The city was first mentioned in 1499...

. It is 191 kilometres long (75 km in Lithuania, 76 km on the Lithuanian-Latvian border and 40km in Latvia) before its confluence

Confluence (geography)

In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream...

 with the Mūša

Muša

Mūša is a river in Northern Lithuania and Southern Latvia , having its confluence with river Nemunėlis , in Latvia, near city Bauska. Mūša is a tributary of the river Lielupė. Mūša is 164 kilometres long....

, near Bauska

Bauska

Bauska is a town in Bauska municipality, in the Zemgale region of southern Latvia. The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Mūsa and Mēmele where they form the Lielupe River...

, forming the Lielupe

Lielupe

The Lielupe is a river in central Latvia. Its length is 119 km . The surface area of its basin is 17,600 km²...

.

This river does not belong to the basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of the larger river Neman

Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...

, but the two rivers' names are related in several languages:

• in Lithuanian
  Lithuanian language
  Lithuanian is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognized as one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.96 million native Lithuanian speakers in Lithuania and about 170,000 abroad. Lithuanian is a Baltic language, closely related to Latvian, although they...
  
  , "Nemunėlis" is a diminutive
  Diminutive
  In language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
  
   form of "Nemunas" (Neman River
  Neman River
  Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
  
  )
• 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....
  
  , "Memel" is used for both the Neman River and the city of 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....
  
  , and "Memele" is its diminutive form
• in Latvian
  Latvian language
  Latvian is the official state language of Latvia. It is also sometimes referred to as Lettish. There are about 1.4 million native Latvian speakers in Latvia and about 150,000 abroad. The Latvian language has a relatively large number of non-native speakers, atypical for a small language...
  
  , the river is called "Mēmele", possibly derived from German, or directly from Old Prussian
  Old Prussian language
  Prussian is an extinct Baltic language, once spoken by the inhabitants of the original territory of Prussia in an area of what later became East Prussia and eastern parts of...
  
   in which it is thought to mean "surrounded by water"
• in Estonian
  Estonian language
  Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...
  
  , it is called "Memele jõgi"

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...

 gave 100,000 euros

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

to establish tourist routes along the Nemunėlis. It is expected that the Latvian and Lithuanian initiative will be completed in 2007, as new kayak and boat rental businesses open and new campsites, tourist guides, and information signs are prepared.