Great Rivers of the World “D...-”
for social studies and science educators and home schoolers.

Danube
Don

Dordogne

Dnieper

The Danube, the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga, is the joining together of two smaller rivers rising in the Black Forest of Germany.

The Danube plays an important role in European history as it flows eastward through the major European cities of Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade and the countries of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, emptying into the Black Sea at the border of Romania and Ukraine.

The Proto-Indo European root “danu” means river or stream.

In 1866 composer Johann Strauss II composed the Blue Danube waltz, which has become an unofficial national anthem for Austria.

The Don River flows from near Moscow to the Sea of Azov, 1200 miles to the south. In antiquity, the river was viewed as the border between Europe and Asia by some ancient Greek geographers.

Nobel Laureate Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov features the Don River in his works.

The Dordogne and its tributaries in southwestern France are home to the cave systems that contain wonderous painting by prehistoric hominids. Sites such as Lascaux have been designated World Heritage sites by UNESCO.

The Dordogne which flows from Massif Central (the highest mountain in central France) to the shared Garonne estuary on the Atlantic Coast, has what is known as a tidal bore, where the incoming tide forms a wave(s) against the current.

The Dnieper River flows from Russia, through Belarus and Ukraine, to the Black Sea.

It is an important navigable waterway with a history going back to the Amber Road trade route; it is also a source of hydroelectric power.

The Dnieper flows through Kiev.