The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided hair. Around 57 kilometres (35 mi) of the river flows through western Belarus.
Etymology
The name of the river is from a Proto-Indo-European root *nr primarily associated with water (compare Neretva, Neris, Ner and Nur) or from a Lithuanian language verb nerti associated primarily with diving 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 1.6× longer, drains a 1.4× larger basin, and has a slightly greater 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 of the Bug.
On December 27, 1962, Prime Minister Józef Cyrankiewicz abolished the name Bugonarew soon after the Zegrze Reservoir was constructed. Since then the river Bug has officially been considered part of the river Narew's system, with the Bug being a left tributary of the Narew (by this classification, the River Narew is a right tributary of the River Vistula). The name Bugonarew however is still used in some areas along its course, 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 – Białoruskie (English: Plateau of Podlasie and Belarus) located within the Podlaskie Voivodeship and Masovian Voivodeship of Poland and the Hrodna Voblast of Belarus.
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