Pripyat River

Infobox River | river_name = Pripyat River

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caption =
origin = Ukraine
mouth = Dnieper
basin_countries = Ukraine, Belarus
length = 710 km (441 mi)
elevation =
discharge =
watershed = The Pripyat River ( _uk. Прип’ять, IPA2|'prɨpjatʲ; _be. Прыпяць, Prypiać, IPA2|'prɨpʲatsʲ; _pl. Prypeć, IPA2|'prɨpɛtsʲ; _ru. Припять, IPA2|'pripjatʲ) is a river in Eastern Europe, of approximately 710 km (441 mi.) length. It flows east through Ukraine, Belarus, and Ukraine again, draining into the Dnieper.

The Pripyat passes through the Zone of alienation around the Chernobyl reactor, where the nuclear disaster happened. Therefore it transported and still transports radionuclides downstream. The concentration of caesium-137 is still increasing in dredges and has not been reduced in the river sediments.

The city of Prypiat, Ukraine (population 45,000) was completely evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster.

Name etymology

The river's name is of the following origin: The part of the word "Pri" literally means "near" which in the local context translates to being "near the river's mouth", as well as "pyat" means "5", derieved from the Russian language. This river has a confluence with 5 other rivers. Source: Soviet Video Archive from www.pripyat.com.

Please check your source: This does not mean that: The river's name is of uncertain origin and meaning. It might derive from the local word "pripech" used for a sandy bank rivercite book | first= Adam | last= Room | title= Placenames of the World | publisher= McFarland | location= Jefferson, North Carolina | year= 1997] or perhaps from a Western-Baltic name "Preipente" "the river at (till) the spurs"Fact|date=January 2008, the Pripyat river being very shallow in the area inhabited by Western Balts.

References

See also

* Prypiat Marshes

External links

* [http://www.grida.no/enrin/htmls/belarus/water2003en/Text/ch2-3.htm Pripyat: Radioactive pollution, 2003]