Dnieper–Bug Canal

Dnieper–Bug Canal Belarusian: Дняпроўска-Бугскі канал
Specifications
Length	105 km (65 miles)
Locks	20
Status	Open
History
Construction began	1775
Date completed	1784
Geography
Start point	Bug River near Brest, Belarus
End point	Pripyat River near Sapotskin, Belarus

Dnieper–Bug Canal (alternately spelled Dnepr-Bug Canal), or the Dneprovsko-Bugsky Canal is the longest inland ship canal in Belarus that connects the Mukhavets River, a tributary of the Bug River, and the Pina River, a tributary of the Pripyat River.

Originally the canal was named the Royal Canal (Polish: Kanał Królewski), after the King of Poland Stanisław August Poniatowski, since he was the initiator of the project. It is an important part of the transportation artery linking the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. The total length of the canal system from Brest to Pinsk is 196 km (122 mi), including the artificial waterway 105 km (65 mi) long. The canal system comprises the western slope from Brest to Kobrin, a 64 km (40 mi) stretch of the Mukhavets River with regulated water level, a 58 km (36 mi) summit pound, the eastern slope, 47 km (29 mi) stretch of the canal, a 27 km (17 mi) stretch of the Pina River with regulated water level. The drainage area of the canal system totals 8.5 thousand km² (3.3 thousand mi²).

Canal building flourished in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 18th century. Yet many of the early canals are no longer in active service, having been superseded by railroads and highways. The Dnieper–Bug Canal after several enlargements is still providing a convenient inland waterway. Till the 18th century there was a portage between Kobrin and Pinsk as it was a part of the important long-distance trade route from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. The names of the Voloka River and the village of Mukhovloki near Kobrin remind of the ancient portage. People settled along the portage route since ancient times (Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks).

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