Don

Navigable river in the western Russian Federation; length 1,870 km/1,162 mi; basin covers 422,000 sq km/163,000 sq mi. The Don rises in the central Russian uplands near the city of Tula, flows southeast towards the Volga near Volgograd, then turns southwest to empty into the northeast of the Sea of Azov. In its lower reaches the Don is 1.5 km/1 mi wide, and for about four months of the year it is closed by ice. It has long been a major traffic artery linking inland European Russia with the Black Sea. Its chief tributaries are the Donets, Voronezh, Khoper, and Medveditsa, and it is linked to the Volga by the Volga–Don Canal. The main port is Rostov-on-Don, which lies near the river's mouth.

From the 16th century, the Don basin was colonized by Cossacks, and remained their principal settlement area until the Russian Civil War.

During World War II, Soviet forces gained valuable bridgeheads on the river, from which they were able to mount a counteroffensive to the German invasion, swinging south to cut off the German 6th Army at Stalingrad in November 1942. The expansion of this Soviet front forced those German units capable of escaping to cross the river and reorganize well to the west.

Don

River in northeast England, a tributary of the Ouse; length 115 km/71 mi. It rises in the Pennines and flows through Sheffield and Doncaster to join the Ouse at Goole, East Yorkshire.

Don

River in Aberdeenshire unitary authority, Scotland, rising in the Ladder Hills and flowing 133 km/83 mi east to the North Sea near Aberdeen.

Don

One of two short rivers (the other being the Humber) crucial to the development of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is formed in East York by East and West branches, and enters Lake Ontario at Toronto Harbour. The river has been a source of timber, later pulp, and waterpower.

The Don Valley Parkway, a major traffic artery into Toronto, parallels the river's lower course. Much of metropolitan Toronto's parkland is along the river.