Dnieper Rapids (Ukraine)

The Dnieper rapids (Ukrainian: Дніпрові пороги, romanized: Dniprovi porohy), also known as cataracts of the Dnieper, were the historical rapids on the Dnieper river in Ukraine, caused by outcrops of granites, gneisses and other types of bedrock of the Ukrainian Shield. The rapids began below the present-day city of Dnipro (formerly Kodak Fortress, Katerynoslav/Yekaterinoslav), where the river turns to the south, and dropped 50 meters in 66 kilometers, ending before the present-day city of Zaporizhzhia (whose name literally means "beyond the rapids"). There were nine major rapids (some sources give a smaller number), about 30–40 smaller rapids and 60 islands and islets. The rapids almost totally obstructed the navigation of the river. After the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station was built at Zaporizhzhia in 1932, the rapids were inundated by the Dnieper Reservoir.