At 1,362 km in length, it is the second longest river in Ukraine after the Dnipro and the ninth longest in Europe. It flows into the Black Sea, forming the Dniester Estuary.
The Dniester originates in the Carpathian Mountains and flows through three countries: Ukraine, Moldova, and partly Poland. Most of its basin lies within Ukraine, where the river passes through seven regions: Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia, and Odesa. The Ukrainian stretch of the river is 925 km long.
Between the towns of Halych and Khotyn, the river forms the Dniester Canyon — one of the largest in Europe, which was included in the list of the Seven Natural Wonders of Ukraine in 2008.
In its middle course, the Dniester serves as a historical border between Bukovina and Halychyna, and in the middle and lower parts — between Podillia and Bessarabia.
The Dniester was first mentioned by Herodotus in the 5th century BC under the name Tyras. An ancient Greek city at the river’s mouth also bore this name. Later, Strabo and Ptolemy also used it. The term comes from an Iranian adjective meaning "swift," or in Kurdish, "wild, untamed".
