Nemunėlis

Nemunėlis is a river in northern Lithuania and southern Latvia. It originates 6 km south of Rokiškis. It is 191 kilometres long before its confluence with the Mūša, near Bauska, forming the Lielupe.

Names

This river does not belong to the basin of the larger river Neman, but the two rivers' names are related in several languages:

in Lithuanian, "Nemunėlis" is a diminutive form of "Nemunas"
in German, "Memel" is used for both the Neman River and the city of Klaipėda, and "Memele" is its diminutive form
in Latvian, the river is called "Mēmele", possibly derived from German, or directly from Old Prussian in which it is thought to mean "surrounded by water"
in Estonian, it is called "Memele jõgi"

The European Union gave 100,000 euros to establish tourist routes along the Nemunėlis. It is expected that the Latvian and Lithuanian initiative will be completed in 2007, as new kayak and boat rental businesses open and new campsites, tourist guides, and information signs are prepared.