Lielupe

The Lielupe is a river in central Latvia. Its length is , or if the Mēmele River is counted as part of it. The surface area of its drainage basin is . The average fall of the Lielupe is about and its average flow is , although a maximum of has been reached during floods.

== Physical geography == thumb|left|200px|Lielupe near Jelgava, [[Latvia.]] The Lielupe begins at the confluence of the Mēmele and Mūsa rivers near Bauska. For the upper part of its course, the river flows through a dolomite valley with a few small rapids, until it reaches Mežotne, where it widens and deepens over the flat Zemgale Plain. For many years the Lielupe would frequently overflow its shallow banks and flood surrounding fields and villages, particularly during the spring thaw. Today many parts of the Lielupe's banks are contained with earthen dikes to prevent disastrous floods. Much of the Lielupe is covered in river grasses. At its lower reaches, the river flows parallel to the coastline of the Gulf of Riga; the city of Jūrmala stretches for almost between the river and the sea. Eventually the Lielupe flows into the Baltic Sea, while the Buļļupe branch () flows into the Daugava River. The modern mouth of the river appeared in 1755. Before then the Buļļupe was the Lielupe's main channel.