Dnieper

In the languages of the three countries it flows through it has essentially the same name, albeit with different pronunciations:

• Russian: Днепр, tr. Dnepr, IPA: [ˈd^jn^jepr]; formerly spelled Днѣпръ;[7]
• Belarusian: Дняпро, romanized: Dnyapro, [dn^jaˈprɔ], or Днепр Dnyepr,[8] [ˈdn^jɛpr];
• Ukrainian: Дніпро, romanized: Dnipro, IPA: [d^(j)n^(j)iˈprɔ] (listen); poetic Дніпр, Dnipr; formerly Дніпер[9] Dniper, [ˈd^(j)n^(j)iper], or older Днѣпръ (Dnipr, [ˈd^(j)n^(j)ipr]).

Pre-1918 photo with the old spelling of Dnieper (Днѣпръ)

• The late Greek and Roman authors called it Δάναπρις – Danapris and Danaper respectively
• Old East Slavic name used at the time of Kievan Rus' was Slavuta or Slavutych
• The Huns called it Var,[10]
• Bulgars – Buri-Chai.
• Its former name in the Tatar language is Üze, from Kipchak Uzeu.
• The name in Crimean Tatar: Özü,[11] hence Ochakiv (formerly Özü-cale, Dnieper fortress)
• In Romanian, it is called "Nipru".

The river is mentioned both by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC as Borysthenes (Βορυσθένης).[12]

Belarus section of the Dnieper river

The Dnieper has many tributaries (up to 32,000) with 89 being rivers of 100+ km.[19] The main ones are, from its source to its mouth:

Dnieper basin showing peoples in the ninth century

Many small direct tributaries also exist, such as, in the Kyiv area, the Syrets (right bank) in the north of the city, the historically significant Lybid (right bank) passing west of the centre, and the Borshahivka (right bank) to the south.

The water resources of the Dnieper basin compose around 80% out of all Ukraine.[19]

Rapids at Dnieper in 1915

Tractus Borysthenis or Dnieper (from Bovzin city to Chortyca island) in 1662

Dnieper Rapids were part of trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, first mentioned in the Kyiv Chronicle. The route was probably established in the late eighth and early ninth centuries and gained significant importance from the tenth until the first third of the eleventh century. On the Dnieper the Varangians had to portage their ships round seven rapids, where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads.

Along this middle flow of the Dnieper, there were nine major rapids (although some sources cite a fewer number of them), obstructing almost the whole width of the river, about 30–40 smaller rapids, obstructing only part of the river, and about 60 islands and islets.

After the Dnieper hydroelectric station was built in 1932, they were inundated by Dnieper Reservoir.

There are a number of canals connected to the Dnieper:

• The Dnieper–Donbas Canal;
• The Dnieper–Kryvyi Rih Canal;
• The Kakhovka Canal (southeast of the Kherson region);
• The Krasnoznamianka Irrigation System in the southwest of the Kherson region;
• The North Crimean Canal—will largely solve the water problem of the peninsula, especially in the arid northern and eastern Crimea;
• The Inhulets Irrigation System.

The river is part of the quagga mussel's native range.[20] The mussel has been accidentally introduced around the world, where it has become an invasive species.[20]

Satellite images of the Dnieper estuary, captured 8 August 2015

The city of Kherson is nearest to the Dnieper estuary. It has no large port facilities.

• The Dnieper River in different regions
• 
  The Dnieper River in Kyiv, Ukraine
• 
  The Dnieper River in Dorogobuzh, Russian Empire, before 1917
• 
  The Dnieper River in Kremenchuk, Ukraine

Major cities, over 100,000 in population, are in bold script. Cities and towns located on the Dnieper are listed in order from the river's source (in Russia) to its mouth (in Ukraine):

Arheimar, a capital of the Goths, was located on the Dnieper, according to the Hervarar saga.[24]

The River Dnieper has been a subject of chapter X of a story by Nikolai Gogol A Terrible Vengeance (1831, published in 1832 as a part of the Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka short stories collection). It is considered as a classical example of description of the nature in Russian literature. The river was also described in the works of Taras Shevchenko.

The River Dnieper has been a subject for artists, great and minor, over the centuries. Major artists with works based on the Dnieper are Arkhip Kuindzhi and Ivan Aivazovsky.

The River Dnieper makes an appearance in the 1964 Hungarian drama film The Sons of the Stone-Hearted Man (based on the novel of the same name by Mór Jókai), where it appears when two characters are leaving Saint Petersburg but get attacked by wolves.

• The river is one of the symbols of the Ukrainian nation[25] and is mentioned in the national anthem of Ukraine.
• There are several names that connect the name of the river with Ukraine: Overdnieper Ukraine, Right-bank Ukraine, Left-bank Ukraine, and others. Some of the cities on its banks — Dnipro, Dniprorudne, Kamianka-Dniprovska — are named after the river.
• The Zaporozhian Cossacks lived on the lower Dnieper and their name refers to their location "beyond the rapids".[26]
• The river is referred to as Dnipro, in the song "Hey, Dnipro, Dnipro".
• The folk metal band Turisas have a song called "The Dnieper Rapids" on their 2007 album The Varangian Way.[27]
• Leon Bolier featured a track called "Dnipro" in his debut 2-CD album Pictures. The track is said to be inspired by his visit to Kyiv in May 2008.
• Roberto Bolaño's novel 2666 features the Dnieper as a significant feature of the village of Hans Reiter.
• Beat laureate Spencer Hash spent childhood summers observing tide patterns in the Dnieper. It provides the backdrop for most of his 1998 novel Embassy.