Pinsk Marshes

Pinsk Marshes Pripet Marshes Пінскія балоты / Прыпяцкія балоты
Natural region
View of the marshy areas bounding the Pripyat River
The Pinsk Marshes (Marais de Pinsk) in a 1888 French map by Pierre Foncin
Countries	Belarus and Ukraine
Elevation	135 m (443 ft)

The Pinsk Marshes (Belarusian: Пінскія балоты, Pinskiya baloty), also known as the Pripet Marshes (Belarusian: Прыпяцкія балоты, Prypiackija baloty) and the Rokitno Marshes, are a vast natural region of wetlands along the forested basin of the Pripyat River and its tributaries from Brest to the west to Mogilev to the northeast and Kiev to the southeast. It is one of the largest wetland areas of Europe. The city of Pinsk is one of the most important in the area.

The Pinsk Marshes mostly lie within the Polesian Lowland and occupy most of the southern part of Belarus and the north-west of Ukraine. They cover roughly 104,000 square miles (269,400 km²) surrounding the sandy lowlands of the dense network of rivers and rivulets forming on both sides of the Pripyat River, one of the main tributaries of the Dnieper. Dense woods are interspersed with numerous swamps, moors, ponds and streams extending 300 miles (480 km) west to east and 140 miles (225 km) north to south. The marshes undergo substantial changes in size during the year, with melting snows in springtime and autumn rainfall causing extensive flooding as the river overflows. Drainage of the eastern portion began in 1870, and significant areas have been cleared for pasture and farmland.

Historically, during most of the year, the marshes were virtually impassable to major military forces, thus influencing strategic planning of all military operations in the region. The Roman historian Procopius related a story that the early Slavs hid out from predators in the Pripet Marshes by breathing through reeds. (Procopius, Wars of Justinian, Volume VII)