Despite its modest length of 74 kilometres (46 mi), it is the fourth-largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge (after the Volga, the Danube and the Rhine).

It is the site of many major historical events, including the Battle of the Neva in 1240 which gave Alexander Nevsky his name, the founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703, and the Siege of Leningrad by the German army during World War II.

However, the local place names with such influence coincide with Scandinavian traders and Slavs' first main settlement in the region, in the 8th century AD.

There are three sharp turns: the Ivanovskye rapids, at Nevsky Forest Park of the Ust-Slavyanka region (the so-called "Crooked Knee"), and near the Smolny Institute, below the mouth of the river Okhta.

The widest places, at 1,000 to 1,250 metres (3,280 to 4,100 ft), are in the delta, near the gates of the marine trading port, at the end of the Ivanovskye rapids near the confluence of the river Tosna, and near the island Fabrinchny near the source.

Of the total ice volume of Lake Ladoga, 10.6 cubic kilometres (2.5 cu mi), less than 5 percent enters the Neva.

The main tributaries are Mga, Tosna, Izhora, Slavyanka and Murzinka on the left, and Okhta and Chyornaya Rechka on the right side of Neva.

Before construction of the Obvodny Canal, the left tributary of that area was the Volkovka; its part at the confluence is now called Monastyrka.

Extensive damage was caused during World War II: in Saint Petersburg, the forests were reduced completely, and in the upper reaches down to 40 to 50 percent.

The shrubs include barberry, lilac, jasmine, hazel, honeysuckle, hawthorn, rose hip, viburnum, juniper, elder, shadbush and many others.

[10] Because of the rapid flow, cold water and lack of quiet pools and aquatic vegetation the diversity of fish species in Neva is small.

[20] The Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia classifies the Neva as a "heavily polluted" river.

The biggest polluters in the Leningrad Oblast are the cities of Shlisselburg, Kirovsk and Otradnoye, as well as the Kirov thermal power station.

It is believed that around twelve thousand years BC, Finnic people (Votes and Izhorians) moved to this area from the Ural Mountains.

[25] In the 8th and 9th centuries AD, the area was inhabited by the East Slavs who were mainly engaged in slash and burn agriculture, hunting and fishing.

The Russian army, led by the 20-year-old Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, aimed to stop the planned Swedish invasion.

The Swedish army was defeated; the prince showed personal courage in combat and received the honorary name of "Nevsky".

[28][29] As a result of the Russian defeat in the Ingrian War of 1610–17 and the concomitant Treaty of Stolbovo, the area of the Neva River became part of Swedish Ingria.

Because of financial and religious oppression, much of the Orthodox population left the Neva region, emptying 60 percent of the villages by 1620.

[6] From 1727 to 1916, the temporary Isaakievsky pontoon bridge was early constructed between the modern Saint Isaac's Square and Vasilievsky Island.

A similar, but much longer Trinity pontoon bridge, which spanned 500 metres (1,600 ft), was brought from the Summer Garden to Petrogradsky Island.

[6] Every winter from 1895 to 1910, electric tramways were laid on the ice of the river, connecting the Senate Square, Vasilievsky island, Palace Embankment and other parts of the city.

Neva is part of the major Volga–Baltic Waterway and White Sea – Baltic Canal, however it has relatively low transport capacity because of its width, depth and bridges.

Major transported goods include timber from Arkhangelsk and Vologda; apatite, granite and diabase from Kola Peninsula; cast iron and steel from Cherepovets; coal from Donetsk and Kuznetsk; pyrite from Ural; potassium chloride from Solikamsk; oil from Volga region.

From 26 June 2009, St. Petersburg started processing the drinking water with ultraviolet light, abandoning the use of chlorine for disinfection.

They include the fortress Oreshek, which was built in 1323 on the Orekhovy Island at the source of Neva River, south-west of the Petrokrepost Bay, near the city of Shlisselburg.

On 21 August 1963, a Soviet twinjet Tu-124 airliner performed an emergency water landing on the Neva near the Finland Railway Bridge.

The plane took off from Tallinn-Ülemiste Airport (TLL) at 08:55 on 21 August 1963 with 45 passengers and seven crew on board and was scheduled to land at Moscow-Vnukovo (VKO).

After liftoff, the crew noticed that the nose gear undercarriage did not retract, and the ground control diverted the flight to Leningrad (LED) because of fog at Tallinn.

The crew performed an emergency landing on the Neva River, barely missing some of its bridges and an 1898-built steam tugboat.