The New International Encyclopædia/Neva

NEVA, nē′vȧ, Russ. pron. nyĕ-vä′. The outlet of Lake Ladoga (q.v.) in Northwestern Russia (Map: Russia, D 2). It leaves the lake at its southwestern end and flows westward for 45 miles, emptying through several mouths into the Gulf of Finland. The city of Saint Petersburg is built on the islands of its delta. It is the last link in the great waterway which through the Volga River and the Ladoga Canal system connects the Caspian Sea with the Baltic. Though the volume of water flowing through the Neva is very great, and the river is in places more than half a mile wide, its navigation has been made possible only by extensive engineering works, and an artificial channel, running through the shallow Bay of Neva, connects its mouth with the harbor of Kronstadt. During continued west winds the waters of the bay are piled up in the delta of the river, causing destructive inundations.