Narew

The Narew (;  Naraŭ; Lithuanian: Narevas), in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a right tributary of the Vistula River.  The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided hair.

Etymology
The name of the river comes from a Proto-Indo-European root *nr primarily associated with water (compare Narva, Neretva, Neris, Ner and Nur) or from a Lithuanian language verb nerti primarily associated with dive and flood.

Name of the lower portion
The portion of the river between the junctions with the Western Bug and the Vistula is also known as the Bugonarew, Narwio-Bug, Narwo-Bug, Bugo-Narew, Narwiobug or Narwobug. At the confluence near Zegrze the Bug is 1.6x longer, drains a 1.4x larger basin, and has a slightly higher average discharge (158 m³/s at Wyszków vs 146 m³/s at Pułtusk for the Narew, both ~25 km above the junction). Thus the Bugonarew was often considered part of the Bug river and the Narew a right tributary.

On December 27, 1962, Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz abolished the name Bugonarew soon after the Zegrze Reservoir had been constructed. Since then the river is officially part of the Narew, and the Bug became a left tributary. The name Bugonarew however is continued to be used, especially by the inhabitants of local towns, such as Pułtusk.

Geography
The Narew flows through the geographical region of Europe known as the Wysoczyzny Podlasko – Bialoruskie (English: Podlasie and Belarus Plateau) located within the Podlaskie Voivodeship and Masovian Voivodeship of Poland and the Hrodna Voblast of Belarus.

The Narew is the fifth longest Polish river.

Cities and towns

Tributaries

History 
On August 23, 1939, the Soviet Union and Germany signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, agreeing to divide Poland along the Narew, Vistula (Wisła), and San rivers.

On September 6, 1939, Polish military forces attempted to use the Narew as a defense line against German attack during the German invasion of Poland. This was abandoned the next day in favor of the Bug as German forces had already penetrated the defenses.

The Battle of Wizna was fought along the banks of the river between September 7 and September 10, 1939, between the forces of Poland and Germany during the initial stages of Invasion of Poland. Because it consisted of a small force holding a piece of fortified territory against a vastly larger invasion for three days at great cost before being annihilated with no known survivors, Wizna is sometimes referred to as a Polish Thermopylae in Polish culture.

On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland.  By 28 September, the Soviet Army had reached the line of the rivers Narew, Bug River, Vistula and San – completing the division of Poland as negotiated in advance.

See also 

 Narew National Park
 Narew Landscape Park
 Rivers of Poland
 Geography of Poland

References

External links 
 Natural tourism (birdwatching) in Narew National Park

Category:Rivers of Poland
 
Category:Rivers of Grodno Region
Category:Rivers of Podlaskie Voivodeship
Category:Rivers of Masovian Voivodeship
Category:International rivers of Europe
Category:Rivers of Belarus