The Narew is a river in Poland (Podlaskie, Mazowieckie Voivodeship) with sources in Belarus (Brest Oblast). It is a right tributary of the Vistula. Its length is 484 km (of which 448 km in Poland). Its catchment area is 75,200 km².
The course of the flow
The Narew River rises in the northeast of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha Forest in Belarus, in the part called the Wild Mud. It flows through a forested and mostly muddy and swampy plain often in several equal channels.
Tributaries of the Narew
The tributaries are Biebrza, Bug, Gać, Narewka, Niewodnica, Omulew, Orlanka, Orz, Orzyc, Pisa, Rozoga, Ruž, Ślina, Supraśl, Szkwa, Wkra.
Etymologies
The name of the river derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *nr associated primarily with water (cf. Neretva, Neris, Ner and Nur) or from the Lithuanian verb nerti associated primarily with diving and flooding.
Settlement
The Narew flows through the towns and villages of Suraż, Uhowo, Łapy, Tykocin, Wizna, Łomża, Nowogród, Ostrołęka, Różan, Pułtusk, Serock, Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, Modlin.
Water status
The water source is mostly snow. The average long-term flow at the mouth of the dam at the confluence with the Bug River (Zalew Zegrzyński) is 130 m³/s and at the mouth of the Vistula River 328 m³/s. It reaches its highest water level in spring and its lowest in summer. During floods, the level rises by 4 to 6 m. The Narew freezes in late December and thaws in mid-March. The average duration of the ice cover is 80 days.
Use of the Narew
The flow of the Narew River is regulated downstream by the Zalew Zegrzyński dam below its confluence with the Bug River. The river is navigable in the lower and middle reaches. Through its tributary the Biebrza and its tributary the Netta, the Augustów Canal and the Augustów Lakes, and the Czarna Hańcza River, it is connected to the Nemunas basin. Timber is floated down the river.
