Donets

Donets
View of the Donets and Sviatohirsk Lavra, the Holy Mountains.
Country	Ukraine
Cities	Belgorod, Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk
Source
- location	Prokhorovsky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia
- elevation	200 m (656 ft)
- coordinates	50°57′52″N 36°54′9″E / 50.96444°N 36.90250°E / 50.96444; 36.90250
Mouth	Don River
- location	Rostov Oblast, Russia
- elevation	5.5 m (18 ft)
- coordinates	47°36′1″N 40°53′48″E / 47.60028°N 40.89667°E / 47.60028; 40.89667Coordinates: 47°36′1″N 40°53′48″E / 47.60028°N 40.89667°E / 47.60028; 40.89667
Length	1,053 km (654 mi)
Basin	98,900 km2 (38,186 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	159 m3/s (5,615 cu ft/s)
Map of the Donets basin

The Siverskyi Donets (Ukrainian: Сіверський Донець) or Seversky Donets (Russian: Северский Донец), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts) and then again through Russia (Rostov Oblast) to join the Don River, about 100 km (62 mi) from the Sea of Azov. The Donets is the fourth longest river in Ukraine and the biggest in the Eastern Ukraine. It is an important source of fresh water in the east of the country. It gives its name to the Donets Basin, known commonly as the Donbass, an important coal mining region in Ukraine.

The name Don and its diminutive, Donet are derived from Iranic, Sarmatian Dānu "the river". According to V. Abaev (expert on Scytho-Sarmatian languages) the name Don derives from Iranic, Scythian-Sarmatian Dānu (river) Scytho-Sarmatians inhabited the areas to the north of the Black Sea from 1100 BC into the early medieval times.