Neman River is the primary feed into the Curonian Lagoon at the Baltic Sea. It's the main reason the sea lagoon is freshwater. The largest river in Lithuania and navigable for long stretches, in ancient times it's among Europe's most important travel routes.
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Neman (also Niemen, Nyoman, Nemunas or Memel) springs from a source in central Belarus. The river flows through Lithuania and creates the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia's western exclave.
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It drains into the Curonian Lagoon, narrowly connected to the Baltic Sea. Most of the lagoon's water comes from the watershed of the Neman, making the lagoon fresh at the south coast and fresh to brackish at the northern spit where seawater spills over the dunes.
At 937 km (582 mi) long Neman is an important Eastern European river for thousands of years. It's a Neolithic highway and easygoing route to the south when rivers are the only roads.
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Neman begins from two small headwaters merging about 15 km (9 mi) southwest of the medieval town of Uzda, central Belarus. For 17 km (11 mi), it forms the Belarus - Lithuania border.
Then, the river makes a remarkable set of loops along a minor tectonic fault. The drainage basin of Neman stabilizes in the late Quaternary Period (c. 25,000 to 22,000 ya). The river forms along the edge of the last glacial ice sheet in Europe.
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Neman varies in depth from 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in the upper courses to 5 meters (16 ft) in the lower basin. Tumultuous floods happen every 12 - 15 years on the lower part of the river, often taking out bridges.
Its valley is now up to 60 meters (200 ft) deep and 5 km (3 mi) broad. The Nemunas (Neman) basin in Lithuania drains more than 20,000 rivers and streams covering almost 75% of the country.
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The Nemunas Loops in Lithuania are part of the river's unique geologic structure. Nemunas Loops Regional Park is established in 1992 to preserve the natural loops (Lithuanian: vingis) the river makes in the Punia forest.
The forest, or pinewood of Punia, is surrounded by the 19 km (12 mi) Nemunas loop. The loop almost completes itself as a circle, coming within 1.2 km (0.75) of reuniting. The Nemunas flows along the double bend between Balbieriškis and Birštonas for 48 km (30 mi)
It surrounds one of the most valuable forests in Lithuania. Visits are restricted due to emphasis on preservation of a unique and vulnerable natural biosystem. Unlike regular river meanders, the loops follow tectonic formations, giving rise to natural mineral springs.
The resort areas Birštonas and Punia are within its borders. On the site of the former village Smalinyčia is a sculpture park with entrance gate of two carved snakes. In the center of the square, a stone altar is guarded by Perkūnas, the ancient Lithuanian thunder god.
Historically the castles of the region are fortresses, used in battling the 1409 invasions of the first wave of Teutonic knights, who want to establish control of the southern regions to solidity their position. In 1252, the Teutonic knights build a castle at the Baltic Sea coast.
Many fish species inhabit the river, including perch, northern pike, zander, roach, tench, bream, rudd, ruffe, and bleak. In its tributaries one can find stone loach, three-spined stickleback, minnows, trout, sculpins, gudgeon, dace and chub.
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Atlantic salmon migrate upstream to spawn in fall, but this has depleted their numbers due to 20th century dams, outdated sewage treatment technology, and lack of environmental action.
Some dams such as at Kaunas in Lithuania, built 1959, do not provide fish ladders. Pollution in the river ranges from "moderately polluted" to "polluted." In Lithuania, the Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant barrage affects the riparian ecosystem.
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Issues in the Kaliningrad section include high concentrations of BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) lignosulfates and nitrogen. These cause algal blooms, depleting oxygen. Blooms already happen in Curonian Lagoon but international cooperation is a problem.
Algal blooms are not always devastating to the ecosystem, depending on the type of algae and concentration of growth. They can block out sunlight, killing off other plants. They can deprive water of oxygen, killing fish, other aquatic life and those who depend on them.
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The largest cities on the Neman are Grodno in Belarus, Alytus and Kaunas in Lithuania, and Sovetsk in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. The river basin population is 5.4 million. The Augustów Canal, built 1823 - 39, connects the Neman to the Vistula River.
The Canal connects Poland to Belarus. It's built as a way to circumnavigate high Prussian taxes on trade. With 18 locks, the Canal uses natural earth formations and integrates into the landscape. Two hundred years later It's still considered a marvel of engineering.
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Neman also describes a Neolithic culture once inhabiting its shores. In German, the river as it flows through historic Prussia is called die Memel since c. 1250. Around 1252 Teutonic Knights build Memelburg castle and the town of Memel at Curonian Lagoon and Baltic Sea.
The coin (reverse view) shows the "God of the Niemen". This is to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Tilsit (2 treaties). Napoleon and the Russian Emperor meet in the middle of the Neman to sign the first.
A folk tale describes the meeting of the Neris and Nemunas Rivers in south central Lithuania. At the beginning of creation Neris is young and knows not which way to flow. She runs toward one river and another. Mother Nature wants her to turn to Daugava.
Neris feels great love in her heart for Nemunas, and begs to flow to him instead. Mother Nature finally agrees. Neris runs to Nemunas in joy. She puts a hand upon his leg and where they touch, flowers grow.