Pripyat River

The '''Pripyat River''' or '''Prypiat River''' ({{lang-uk|Прип’ять}}, {{IPA-uk|ˈprɪpjɑtʲ|pron}}; {{lang-be|Прыпяць, Prypiać}}, {{IPA-be|ˈprɨpʲatsʲ|}}; {{lang-pl|Prypeć}}, {{IPA-pl|ˈprɨpɛtɕ|}}; {{lang-ru|Припять}}, {{IPA-ru|ˈprʲipʲɪtʲ|}}) is a river in [[Eastern Europe]], approximately {{convert|710|km|mi|abbr=on}} long. 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, site of the [[Chernobyl disaster|nuclear disaster]]. It is polluted with [[radionuclide]]s. The concentration of [[caesium-137]] in river sediments continues to increase.{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} The city of [[Prypiat, Ukraine]] (population 45,000) was completely evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster. [[Image:Mazyr4.JPG|thumb|250px|Pripyat River at Mazyr, Belarus]] ==Name etymology== [[File:Bo-map.png|thumb|left|225px|Map displaying the passage of the river through southern [[Belarus]] through the cities of [[Mazyr]], [[Pinsk]] and [[Brest, Belarus|Brest]].]] At least three etymologies have been proposed for the name:- * In Slavic languages, the component "'''pri'''" means "near", and the component "'''pyat'''" means "5". This river has a confluence with five other rivers. {{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} * It might derive from the local word ''pripech'' used for a river with sandy banks. * From a [[Baltic languages|Western-Baltic]] name ''Preipente'' "the river at (till) the spurs"{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}, the Pripyat river being very shallow in the area inhabited by Western [[Balts]]. ==Tributaries== * [[Horyn River]] (''659 km; 22,700 km²'') ** [[SSluch River (Ukraine)|Sluch]] (''451 km; 13,800 km²'') == External links == {{Commons category|Prypyat River}} * [http://www.grida.no/enrin/htmls/belarus/water2003en/Text/ch2-3.htm Pripyat: Radioactive pollution, 2003] ==Books== *(in Russian, English and Polish) Ye.N.Meshechko, A.A.Gorbatsky (2005) ''Belarusian Polesye: Tourist Transeuropean Water Mains'', Minsk, [[Four Quarters]], *(in Belorussian, Russian and English) T.A.Khvagina (2005) ''POLESYE from the Bug to the Ubort'', Minsk [[Vysheysha shkola]], ISBN 985-06-1153-7. {{Dnieper}} {{coord missing|Ukraine}}