The Širvinta is a river in 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...

. Stretching for 129 km, it is the longest tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Šventoji River

Šventoji River

The Šventoji River is the longest river that flows entirely within Lithuania and the largest tributary of the Neris River. It originates from the Lake Samanis in the Gražutė Regional Park and flows into Neris near Jonava. The longest tributary of the Šventoji is the Širvinta River.The Šventoji...

. Its source is in the hinterlands of the Širvintos district

Širvintos district municipality

Širvintos district municipality is a municipality in Lithuania, it is in territory of Vilniaus Apskritis and its capital is Širvintos.-Geography:...

. After it passes through the city of Širvintos

Širvintos

Širvintos is a city in Vilnius County in the eastern part of Lithuania. It is the administrative center of the Širvintos district municipality.The word Širvintos is the plural form of the name of the Širvinta River, which flows through the city....

, where a low head dam

Weir

A weir is a small overflow dam used to alter the flow characteristics of a river or stream. In most cases weirs take the form of a barrier across the river that causes water to pool behind the structure , but allows water to flow over the top...

 has been built, it continues through the Ukmergė district, and borders the Jonava district. It ends

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...

 when it flows into the Šventoji River between Upninkai

Upninkai

Upninkai is the largest village in Jonava district, Lithuania. It is situated 8 km southwest of Vepriai on the left bank of the Šventoji River. According to the 2001 census, it had population of 1019.-History:...

 and Vepriai

Vepriai

Vepriai is the largest town in Ukmergė district, Lithuania, situated south-west of Ukmergė with population of about 1,000 . The capital of Vepriai elderate.-History:Vepriai was founded on a hill near Vepriai Lake and south of Šventoji River...

.

The Širvinta is distinctive for its rapid flow and winding rocky bed

Stream bed

A stream bed is the channel bottom of a stream, river or creek; the physical confine of the normal water flow. The lateral confines or channel margins, during all but flood stage, are known as the stream banks or river banks. In fact, a flood occurs when a stream overflows its banks and flows onto...

, which is enjoyed by kayak

Recreational kayak

A Recreational Kayak is a type of kayak that is designed for the casual paddler interested in recreational activities on a lake or flatwater stream; they presently make up the largest segment of kayak sales...

 enthusiasts. The Širvinta Landscape Reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

, encompassing the picturesque river banks and escarpment

Escarpment

An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...

s of the Širvinta, was established in 1992 to protect the channel's unique landscape. Some of the loam

Loam

Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...

y scarps near Upninkai reach as high as 40 metres.

The name of the river is probably derived from the Baltic

Baltic languages

The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe...

 adjective

Adjective

In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....

širmas/širvas, meaning brown.