flowing out of Lake Ladoga (at Shlisselburgskaya lips) Neva River has a total length of 74 km (32 of which are within the city of St. Petersburg).River flows into the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea (in front of the gates of the sea port of St. Petersburg near the Neva Bay).
Neva begins with two arms, a small elongated envelope Nut Island, famous for the fact that it is Shlisselburg Fortress.Besides it, there are two river islands (excluding Delta): Factory - at Shlisselburg and Glavryba - in the region of Ivanovo rapids (between flowing into the Neva and Mgoy Tosna).Ria has 101 island, and lots of hoses and ducts forms a delta, which has a total area of about 50 square kilometersThe river runs 26 small rivers, the largest of which - Mga, Izhora, Tosna, Ohta.The banks of the Neva River, especially the left, densely populated.Throughout the river there are four cities (St. Petersburg, Shlisselburg, Kirovsk Otradnoe), as well as about thirty smaller settlements.
Neva - river deepest and relatively quick, suitable for navigation along its entire length.The average width of the river is 400 to 600 meters.At its narrowest point (at the beginning of the Ivanovsky rapids in front of Cape Svyatka), its width is only 210 meters, and in the delta - more than a kilometer.Throughout its length the river Neva has a depth in the range of 8-10 meters.The deepest point (24 m) - in St. Petersburg, near the right bank, opposite the street.Arsenal.Most small (4 m.) - Near Ivanovo rapids.Despite the relatively small difference of about five meters, the flow of the river is quite fast (5-8 km / h).Neva freezes in mid-December, and free of ice at about the middle of April.And after the first drifting ice on the river takes a second - the movement of ice from Lake Ladoga, tend to form ice jams.
is believed that its name from the River Neva received the Finnish word «Nevajoki» («swampy river"), for the reason that of its banks, especially in the mouth, there were many swamps.The second option - the origin of the Sami word «nawe» («rapids", "Mezhozernaya flow").In this and in another case the description of the river and its name are the same.
On its banks there have been many historical events: in July 1240 there was a famous battle with the Swedes Russian troops under the command of Alexander Nevski (later nicknamed Nevsky) here in May 1703, Peter I decided to build the future capital of the Russian Empirehere there were bloody battles in breaking the siege of Leningrad during World War II.
At all times, Neva had great economic importance.Nowadays it is used as a source of water supply in St. Petersburg.Since ancient times, the Neva River is the major waterway - with travel time "from the Vikings to the Greeks" to this day, being the most important element of the water system that connects the central regions of the European part of Russia to the northern lands.Especially its importance increased after 1964 was put into operation Volga-Baltic Waterway.Neva even began to call him "Nevsky Prospect".
