Neman

The Neman, Niemen, Nioman, Nemunas or Memel is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains into the Curonian Lagoon, narrowly connected to the Baltic Sea. It flows about , so is considered a major Eastern European river. It flows generally west to Grodno within of the Polish border, north to Kaunas, then westward again to the sea. The largest river in Lithuania, and the third-largest in Belarus, it is navigable for most of its length. It starts from two small headwaters merging about southwest of the town of Uzda – about southwest of capital city Minsk. Only , an eastward meander, contributes to the Belarus–Lithuania border. Thereafter the river includes notable loops along a minor tectonic fault. Its drainage basin settled in the late Quaternary to be roughly along the edge of the last glacial sheet so dates to about 25,000 to 22,000 years BC. Its depth varies from in its upper courses to in the lower basin. The total length of the Nioman/Nemunas/Neman is . It is the 4th longest river in the Baltic Sea basin. Over its entire length, flows in Belarus and in Lithuania. A stretch is the border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad oblast. Its greatest depth is , and at its widest it extends about . The Nioman/Nemunas/Neman is a slow river; it flows at about . During floods, water discharge can increase up to 11-fold, to more than . Severe floods occur on the lower reaches of the river about every 12 – 15 years, which sometimes wash out bridges. The Nioman/Nemunas/Neman is an old river, dating back to the last glacial period. Its valley is now up to deep and broad. It has about 105 first-class tributaries, the largest being the rivers Neris (Viliya) (), Shchara (), and Šešupė (). Fifteen of the tributaries are longer than . In the complete Nioman/Nemunas/Neman basin, there are tributaries extending to the 11th order.