Dvina, Western

River in the Russian Federation, Belarus, and Latvia, which rises in the Valdai Hills near the sources of the Volga and Dnieper, and flows west into the Gulf of Riga; length 1,020 km/634 mi; basin area 87,900 sq km/33,938 sq mi. The chief ports on its course are Vitebsk (Belarus), Daugavpils, and Riga (both in Latvia).

Navigation on the Western Dvina is limited by frequent shallows, but a canal system links it to other, less treacherous, rivers. The river was of great importance in the Middle Ages as part of the trade route from Scandinavia to Byzantium.