The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (, , ) was a trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire. The route allowed traders along the route to establish a direct prosperous trade with Byzantium, and prompted some of them to settle in the territories of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. There was a long-distance waterway including the Baltic Sea, several rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea, and rivers of the Dnieper river system with portages on the drainage divides.