The nameDniester derives fromSarmatiandānu nazdya "the close river".[7] (TheDnieper, also of Sarmatian origin, derives from the opposite meaning, "the river on the far side".) Alternatively, according toVasily AbaevDniester would be a blend ofScythiandānu "river" andThracianIster, the previous name of the river, literally Dān-Ister (River Ister).[8] TheAncient Greek name of Dniester,Tyras (Τύρας), is fromScythiantūra, meaning "rapid".[citation needed]
The Dniester rises inUkraine, near the city ofTurka, close to the border with Poland, and flows toward theBlack Sea. Its course marks part of the border of Ukraine andMoldova, after which it flows through Moldova for 398 kilometres (247 mi), separating the main territory of Moldova from its breakaway regionTransnistria. It later forms an additional part of the Moldova-Ukraine border, then flows through Ukraine to the Black Sea, where itsestuary forms theDniester Liman.
Along the lower half of the Dniester, the western bank is high and hilly while the eastern one is low and flat. The river represents thede facto end of theEurasian Steppe. Its most important tributaries areRăut andBîc.
History
The Dniester inKhotyn (western Ukraine). Another Moldavianfortress and an Orthodox church seen on foreground.
During theNeolithic, the Dniester River was the centre of one of the most advanced civilizations on earth at the time. TheCucuteni–Trypillian culture flourished in this area from roughly 5300 to 2600 BC, leaving behind thousands of archeological sites. Their settlements had up to 15,000 inhabitants, making them among the first large farming communities in the world.[10]
In antiquity, the river was considered one of the principal rivers of EuropeanSarmatia, and it was mentioned by many Classical geographers and historians. According toHerodotus (iv.51) it rose in a large lake, whilstPtolemy (iii.5.17, 8.1 &c.) places its sources in Mount Carpates (the modernCarpathian Mountains), andStrabo (ii) says that they are unknown. It ran in an easterly direction parallel with the Ister (lowerDanube), and formed part of the boundary betweenDacia and Sarmatia. It fell into thePontus Euxinus to the northeast of the mouth of the Ister, the distance between them being 900 stadia – approximately 210 km (130 mi) – according to Strabo (vii.), while 210 km (130 mi) (from thePseudostoma) according toPliny (iv. 12. s. 26).Scymnus (Fr. 51) describes it as of easy navigation, and abounding in fish.Ovid (ex Pont. iv.10.50) speaks of its rapid course.
Greek authors referred to the river asTyras (Greek:ὁ Τύρας).[11] At a later period it obtained the name ofDanastris orDanastus,[12] whence its modern name of Dniester (Niester), though the Turks still called itTurla during the 19th century.[13] The formΤύρις is sometimes found.[14]
According toConstantine VII, theVarangians used boats on theirtrade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, along Dniester and Dnieper and along the Black Sea shore. The navigation near the western shore of Black Sea contained stops at Aspron (at the mouth of Dniester), then Conopa, Constantia (localities today inRomania) and Messembria (today in Bulgaria).
From the 14th century to 1812, part of the Dniester formed the eastern boundary of thePrincipality of Moldavia.
Between the World Wars, the Dniester formed part of the boundary between Romania and theSoviet Union. In 1919, onEaster Sunday, the bridge was blown up by theFrench Army to protectBender from theBolsheviks.[15] During World War II, German and Romanian forces battled Soviet troops on the western bank of the river.
After theRepublic of Moldova declared its independence in 1991, the small area to the east of the Dniester that had been part of theMoldavian SSR refused to participate and declared itself the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, orTransnistria, with its capital atTiraspol on the river.
In Moldova, the Dniester Day (Romanian:Ziua Nistrului) is celebrated every year in the last Sunday of May.[16]
From source to mouth, righttributaries, i.e. on the southwest side, are theStryi (231 km or 144 mi),Svicha [uk] (107 km or 66 mi),Limnytsia [de] (122 km or 76 mi),Bystrytsia (101 km),Răut (283 km or 176 mi),Ichel [ro] (101 km or 63 mi),Bîc (155 km or 96 mi), andBotna (152 km or 94 mi).
^Mallory, J.P. and Victor H. Mair.The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. London: Thames & Hudson, 2000. p. 106
