Editing Smolensk (section)

== Etymology ==
The name of the city is derived from the name of the Smolnya River. Smolnya river flows through Karelian and Murmansk areas of north-western Russia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Государственный водный реестр: река Смольная|url=http://textual.ru/gvr/index.php?card=156856|access-date=13 February 2022|website=textual.ru|archive-date=25 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225071954/http://textual.ru/gvr/index.php?card=156856|url-status=live}}</ref> The origin of the river's name is less clear. One possibility is the old [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] word {{lang|sla|смоль}} ({{lang|sla-Latn|smol'}}) for [[chernozem|black soil]], which might have colored the waters of the Smolnya. An alternative origin could be the [[Russian language|Russian]] word {{lang|ru|смола}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|smola}}), which means [[resin]], [[tar]], or [[pitch (resin)|pitch]]. [[Pine]] trees grow in the area, and the city was once a center of resin processing and trade. The [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] emperor [[Constantine VII]] (r. 913–959) recorded its name as {{lang|grc|Μιλινισκα}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|Miliniska}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://faculty.uml.edu/ethan_spanier/Teaching/documents/CP21DeAdministrandoImperio.pdf |title=Byzantine Relations with Northern Peoples in the Tenth Century |author=Paul Stephenson |date=21 April 2000 |access-date=16 April 2012 |archive-date=13 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813164022/http://faculty.uml.edu/ethan_spanier/Teaching/documents/CP21DeAdministrandoImperio.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>