Minija is a river in western Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

 and a tributary to Nemunas

Neman River

Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...

. It begins from small Lake Didovas, and hidrografically

Hydrography

Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...

 from lake Sydeklis, 14 km south of Telšiai

Telšiai

Telšiai , is a city in Lithuania with about 35,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Telšiai County and Samogitia region, and it is located on Lake Mastis.-Names:...

. The riverlet that flows out of Sydeklis here is called Mava, in between Lake Ilgis and Lake Pluotinalis - Kliurkė and only after Lake Didovo it gets the Minija name.

It flows through Lakes Ilgis, Pluotinalis, Didovas, and Gargždai

Gargždai

Gargždai is a city in western Lithuania located in Klaipėda County. The Minija River flows through the city. Gargždai Stadium is its main sports venue.Gargždai is the Lithuanian name of the city...

, Priekulė

Priekule

Priekule is a town in southwestern Latvia.-History:Priekule is first mentioned as a fortified manor in 1483 but only began to grow as a town after 1871 when the Liepaja - Vilnius railway was built through Priekule. It was granted town rights in 1928 by the Latvian government.-References:...

 towns before reaching the Atmata distributary

Distributary

A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. They are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary...

 of the Nemunas delta

Nemunas Delta

Nemunas Delta is the Lithuanian name for the Neman River Delta, in Lithuania.When it reaches the Baltic Sea, the Neman splits into a maze of river branches and canals, forming polders and wetlands that make it a very attractive destination for eco-tourism. The four main distributaries are Atmata,...

.

In 1873 a channel, called "Vilhelmo kanalas" was built that connected Minija directly with Klaipėda

Klaipeda

Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....

port.

Tributary rivers

• Left: Pala, Alantas, Žvelsa, Agluona, Veiviržas, Tenenys
• Right: Sausdaravas, babrungas, Mišupė, Salnatas