Dnieper
Russian: Днепр (Dnepr) Belarusian: Дняпро (Dniapro) Ukrainian: Дніпро (Dnipro)
River
The Dnieper River seen from atop a hill in Kiev, Ukraine.
Countries	Russia, Belarus, Ukraine
Tributaries
- left	Sozh, Desna, Trubizh, Supiy, Sula, Psel, Vorskla, Samara, Konka, Bilozerka
- right	Drut, Berezina, Prypiat, Teteriv, Irpin, Stuhna, Ros, Tiasmyn, Bazavluk, Inhulets
Cities	Dorogobuzh, Smolensk, Mahilyow, Kiev, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk
Source
- location	Valdai Hills, Russia
- elevation	220 m (722 ft)
- coordinates	55°52′00″N 33°41′00″E / 55.8666667°N 33.6833333°E / 55.8666667; 33.6833333
Mouth	Dnieper Delta
- coordinates	46°30′00″N 32°20′00″E / 46.5°N 32.3333333°E / 46.5; 32.3333333
Length	2,290 km (1,423 mi)
Basin	516,300 km2 (199,345 sq mi)
Discharge	for Kherson
- average	1,670 m3/s (58,975 cu ft/s)
Dnieper River drainage basin

The Dnieper River /ˈniːpər/ is one of the major rivers of Europe (fourth by length) that flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea. The total length is 2,285 kilometres (1,420 mi) and has a drainage basin of 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi). The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations. The Dnieper is an important navigable waterway for the economy of Ukraine and is connected via the Dnieper-Bug Canal to other waterways in Europe.

In antiquity, the river was known to the Greeks as the Borysthenes and was part of the Amber Road. Arheimar, a capital of the Goths, was located on the Dnieper, according to the Hervarar saga.

Etymology[link]

The name Dnieper is derived from Iranic Sarmatian Dānu apara "the river on the far side".^[1] (By contrast, the Dniester derives from "the close river".)

In the three countries through which it flows it has essentially the same name, albeit pronounced differently:

• Russian: Днепр (Dnepr, [dnʲɛpr])
• Belarusian: Дняпро (Dniapro, [dnʲaˈpro])
• Ukrainian: Днiпро (Dnipro, [dnʲiˈpro])

The Dnieper River in Kherson, Ukraine.

The river is mentioned by the Ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC as Borysthenes (Βορυσθένης), as well as by Strabo; this name is Scythian (cf. Iranian *varu-stāna) and meant "wide land", referring most likely to the Ukrainian steppe.^{[citation needed]} The late Greek and Roman authors called it Δάναπρις - Danapris and Danaper respectively - (dana in Old Persian meant "river"); The name Dnieper probably derives from that Greek word.^{[citation needed]} Its Old East Slavic name used at the time of Kievan Rus' was Slavuta or Slavutych, the Huns called it Var,^[2] and Bulgars - Buri-Chai.^{[citation needed]} The name in Crimean Tatar: Özü.^[3]

Geography[link]

The total length of the river is 2,285 kilometres (1,420 mi), of which 485 km (301 mi) is within Russia, 595 km (370 mi) is within Belarus, and 1,095 km (680 mi) is within Ukraine. Its basin covers 504,000 square kilometres (195,000 sq mi), of which 289,000 km² (112,000 sq mi) are within Ukraine.^[4]

The source of the Dnieper is the turf swamps of the Valdai Hills in central Russia, at an elevation of 220 m (720 ft).^[4] For 115 km (71 mi) of its length, it serves as the border between Belarus and Ukraine. It is connected with the Bug River by the Dnieper–Bug Canal. Its estuary, or liman, used to be defended by the strong fortress of Ochakiv.^{[citation needed]}

Tributaries of the Dnieper[link]

The Dnieper has many tributaries. The main ones, in orographic sequence, are:

Dnieper basin showing peoples in the ninth century

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

Fauna[link]

The river is part of the Quagga mussel's native range.^{[citation needed]} The mussel has been accidentally introduced around the world where it has become an invasive species.^{[citation needed]}

Reservoirs and hydroelectric power[link]

The river is noted for its dams and hydroelectric stations.

The most noted was the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station or (DniproHES) near Zaporizhia, built in 1927-1932 with an output of 558 MW.^{[citation needed]} It was destroyed during Second World War, and rebuilt in 1948 with an output of 750 MW.^{[citation needed]}

The others are: Kremenchuk (1954–60), Kiev (1960–64), Dniprodzerzhynsk (1956–64), Kaniv (1963–75).^{[citation needed]}

Those dams that used to generate hydroelectric power of ten percent of Ukraine's total electricity, form water reservoirs.

The reservoirs are Kiev (922 km² or 356 sq mi), Kaniv (675 km² or 261 sq mi), Kremenchuk (2,250 km² or 870 sq mi), Dniprodzerzhynsk (567 km² or 219 sq mi), Dnipro (420 km² or 160 sq mi), and Kakhovka (2,155 km² or 832 sq mi).^{[citation needed]}

Cities and towns on the Dnieper[link]

Satellite image of the Dnieper and its tributaries.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Navigation[link]

Ships on the Dnieper by Nicholas Roerich

The Dnieper is important for the transport and economy of Ukraine^{[citation needed]}: its reservoirs have large ship locks, allowing vessels of up to 270 by 18 metres (890 × 59 ft) to access as far as the port of Kiev and thus create an important transport corridor.^{[citation needed]} The river is used by passenger vessels as well. Inland cruises on the rivers Danube and Dnieper have been a growing market in recent decades.

Upstream from Kiev, the Dnieper receives the water of the Pripyat River. This navigable river connects to the Dnieper-Bug canal, the link with the Bug River river. Historically, a connection with the Western European waterways was possible, but a weir without a ship lock near the town of Brest has interrupted this international waterway. Poor political relations between Western Europe and Belarus mean there is little likelihood of re-opening this waterway in the near future.^[5]

Navigation is interrupted each year by freezing in winter, and severe winter storms.

Popular culture[link]

• The river is one of the symbols of Ukrainian statehood.^{[citation needed]}
• Some of the cities on its banks -- Dnipropetrovsk, Dniprorudne, Kamianka-Dniprovska -- are named after the river.
• The Zaporozhian Cossacks lived on the lower Dniepr and their name refers to their location "beyond the cataracts."^[6]
• Folk metal band Turisas have a song called "The Dnieper Rapids" on their 2007 album The Varangian Way.^{[citation needed]}
• Leon Bolier featured a track called "Dnipro" in his debut 2CD album Pictures. The track is said to be inspired by his visit to Kiev in May 2008.^{[citation needed]}
• The river is described in the works of Taras Shevchenko as Dnipro (He roars and groans the Dnipro wide) and mentioned in the National anthem of Ukraine.^{[citation needed]}
• The river is referred to as Dnipro, in the song Hey, Dnipro, Dnipro.^[7]
• Briefly mentioned in the Sci-Fi/Adventure novel The Crisis Pendant by Charlie Patterson.

See also[link]

The Dnieper River in Dorogobuzh, Russia, before 1917.

• Threat of the Dnieper reservoirs
• List of rivers of Russia
• List of rivers of Ukraine
• Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks

References and footnotes[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Dnieper River on Wikipedia's sister projects:
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	News stories from Wikinews
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v t e Dnieper River Tributaries1 Drut Berezina Sozh Pripyat Teteriv Irpin Desna Stuhna Trubizh Ros Tiasmyn Supiy Sula Pslo Vorskla Samara Konka Bilozerka Bazavluk Inhulets Zolotonoshka River Reservoirs Dnieper Dniprodzerzhynsk Kakhovka Kaniv Kiev Kremenchuk Hydroelectric stations Dnieper Dniprodzerzhynsk Kakhovka Kaniv Kiev Kremenchuk 1 Italics indicate left tributaries

vep:Dnepr

Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky (Russian: Алексей Осипович Ратманский, b. August 27, 1968, Leningrad) is a choreographer and former ballet dancer. He is artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre^[1] and the former director of the Bolshoi Ballet. Ratmansky trained under Pyotr Pestov and Anna Markeyeva at the Bolshoi Ballet School. Prior to his appointment as artistic director he was a principal dancer with the Ukrainian National Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet.

Alexei Ratmansky & Yuri Khanon, «The Middle Duo», Mariinsky theatre, 24 nov 1998

Ratmansky staged ballets for the Dutch National Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, and the State Ballet of Georgia, where his Dreams of Japan, choreographed for Nina Ananiashvili, earned the Golden Mask Award from the Theatre Union of Russia, in 1998. Ratmansky's 2003 staging of The Bright Stream (also translated as "The Limpid Stream") for the Bolshoi Ballet led to his appointment as artistic director of that company the following year. While there he also made a full-length production of The Bolt, in 2005, and re-staged Le Corsaire and the Flames of Paris, in 2007 and 2008. In 2011, his choreograpgy of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet was premiered by the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto. The Critics' Circle in London has named the Bolshoi "Best Foreign Company" under Ratmansky's direction, in 2005 and 2007, and he received its National Dance Award for The Bright Stream.

Ratmansky received the 2005 Prix Benois de la Danse for choreography for Anna Karenina, put on for the Royal Danish Ballet, and the 2007 Golden Mask Award for Best Choreographer for Jeu de Cartes choreographed for the Bolshoi Ballet. His ballets for the New York City Ballet include Russian Seasons and Concerto DSCH , and for the American Ballet Theatre, On the Dnieper and Seven Sonatas.

Selected Choreographed Works[link]

• 1994 : A Fairy's Kiss
• 1997 : The Charms of Mannerism, Capriccio
• 1998 : Dreams of Japan, A Poem of Ecstasy, The Middle Duo
• 2000 : Dream to music
• 2001 : The Nutcracker, Flight to Budapest, Lea to music
• 2003 : The Bright Stream
• 2004 : Anna Karenina
• 2005 : The Bolt, Jeu de Cartes

References[link]

External links[link]

• ABT website
• "Dance of Death" by Judith Mackrell, an article in The Guardian
• Archive film of Alexei Ratmansky's Charms of Mannerism in 1999 at Jacob's Pillow

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Matti Salminen

Matti Salminen (born 7 July 1945, in Turku) is a Finnish operatic bass singer, who has sung at all of the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival.^[1]

Salminen is distinguished by an imposing figure and height; an enormous, sonorous and dark voice; and an expressive face. According to one reviewer, in his prime Salminen was "... simply the largest bass voice in captivity. It is not just its roar in powering over Wagner's maximum orchestra, but the way he carves the sonority and forms the color."^[2]

He performed as Fafner and Hagen in the PBS video broadcast Ring Cycle from the Metropolitan Opera, for the largest viewing-audience of the Ring in history.

He sang in the premiere of Sallinen’s Kuningas Lear in 2000 (King Lear, title role),^[3] and Jukka Linkola's Robin Hood in 2011 (Sheriff).

Salminen has a contract at the Zurich Opera, and he also frequently performs in his native Finland. Most of all he has been admired in such Wagner roles as Daland (The Flying Dutchman), Gurnemanz and Titurel (Parsifal), King Marke (Tristan und Isolde), Fasolt and Fafner (Das Rheingold / Siegfried), Hunding (Die Walküre), and Hagen (Götterdämmerung).

At the Bayreuther Festival he first appeared in 1976 (Titurel (Parsifal), Hunding (Walküre), Fasolt (Rheingold) and continued until 1989 adding Fafner (Rheingold, Siegfried), Daland (Fliegender Holländer), King Mark (Tristan und Isolde), Heinrich (Lohengrin), Pogner (Meistersinger), Landgraf (Tannhäuser) and Hagen (Götterdämmerung) to his roles there.

Other important roles are King Philip II (Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi), the Grand Inquisitor in the same work, Seneca in L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and the title roles of Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina.

Salminen is also one of the most videotaped opera singers in history. At least three different performances as Hagen are available on DVD; also two performances as the Commendatore, and two as Daland.

In his youth he earned money for voice lessons by singing Finnish tangos in night clubs.^[4] He first caught public eye as a lucky understudy in the role of King Phillip II, which he continues performing (pirated recordings exist from as recently as 2008).

References[link]

External links[link]

• On video: Hagen's watch
• Dripping with fury as Hunding
• Matti Salminen on IMDB

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