With its “Rostov Mountains” and “sea coast of Belarus”, on p. An even more cheerful generation is coming.

According to the results of a 2014 survey, less than 60% of students at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University were able to confidently say where the Volga flows. Students went through options from the Azov and Black Seas to the North and Baltic Seas; at the Higher School of Economics they suggested that the Volga flows into Baikal, Oka, Pacific Ocean, and Moscow State University - to the Moscow River, Yenisei, Ob. Some students decided that “The Volga does not flow anywhere.”

A total of 151 students of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University were interviewed, 84 students High school economics and 35 MGIMO students in approximately equal numbers from all courses. Students were not offered answer options. Candidates were selected randomly. Not a single student could answer all the questions; 15 people could not answer any question at all. You can test yourself by taking a simple test created based on questions asked to students.

Modern it is quite enough to know the truism “The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea” for general development. But those who want to understand history must keep in mind that this statement is essentially false and first understand hydrological concepts.

Firstly, it would be more correct to talk about the river flowing into the Caspian Lake, because parts of the World Ocean are called seas, and the Caspian Sea is an endorheic lake that has no connection with the World Ocean and is called a sea by tradition, apparently due to its salty water and large size.

In other words, the Volga river basin with the Caspian Sea-lake isan inland waterway system completely isolated from the World Ocean. And this circumstance must be taken into account when studying the history of civilization, which spread mainly along the seas and waterways.

For example, there are only three “entry points” into the Volga basin from different seas, so that their historical significance is clear.

1. From the Baltic Sea, the first route is along the Neva - Volkhov - Msta - Tvertsa rivers, that is, the cities of St. Petersburg-Veliky Novgorod - Tver. That is why the capital of the Russian Empire, St. Petersburg, was founded here, and not somewhere else.

2. From the Black Sea along the Dnieper through the island of Khortitsa (the base of the Zaporozhye Cossacks) and Kyiv in the upper reaches of the Dnieper there is the iconic “key city” Smolensk, then on the tributary of the Dnieper the junction city of Vyazma, from where one could get to the upper reaches of the Oka and Volga basins.

3. From the Sea of ​​Azov along the Don, then along the Tsimlya tributary (in the place of this river there is now the Tsimlyansk Reservoir) and along the Volga near modern Volgograd. TO anal Volga-Don approximately corresponds to bthe former land portage and it is not at all accidental that it was there in the settlement of Dubok that the administrative center of the Volga Cossacks was located, and not in the area of ​​the river mouth like all the other river Cossacks. Yes, that’s right, each Cossack army initially controlled its own river, the Cossacks were initially waterfowl and only at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries switched to horses.

Secondly, it is not the Volga that flows into the Caspian Sea-lake, but the Kama. According to one of the main hydrological criteria - full flow, at the confluence of the Volga and Kama, the latter is fuller + the additional criterion of a direct channel at the confluence, the Volga should be considered a tributary of the Kama, and not vice versa, and then it is the Kama that flows into the Caspian Sea. Therefore, the ancient authors are not at all mistaken when they write that the Ra (Volga) river flows from the Riphean/Ripean(Ural) mountains.

River basins can be compared to trees standing nearby, their crowns closing. Like trees by their trunks, all rivers are uniquely identified from the mouth, and further up the river for transport purposes it is necessary to determine the main watercourse, which is not always obvious.

For example, at the confluence of the Volga and Oka, the latter was fuller and according to this criterion could be considered the main watercourse, in which case it would be considered that the Volga flows into the Oka. But in this place the Volga has a straight channel and, with approximately equal visual estimates of its full flow, it wins over the Oka the right to be called the main watercourse.

In other words, the name of the river used to apply to the watercourse starting from the mouth and upstream, based on practical purposes of navigation. In the 19th century, this principle was reversed, designating “one of the branches of the tree crown” as the source of the river - this is simpler, but has no practical meaning; navigable distances in many places are still measured from the mouths of rivers.

So the answer tosurvey "Where does the Volga flow?"the majority considers it generally known, primitive only because ofa modern view of rivers from top to bottom, from source to mouth andclear familiaritycertainty of the main watercourse.

Despite the fact that there are many different beautiful rivers in Russia, nevertheless, the Volga is the most valuable for it, the population of the country calls it majestic, based on the fact that the Volga is like the queen of all Russian rivers. Scientists geologists determine from sediments in the earth's crust that over the immeasurably long history of the Earth, significant areas of the present Volga region have more than once turned into the seabed. One of the seas slowly retreated to the south about twenty million years ago, and then the Volga River flowed in its wake. The Volga began not in Valdai, but near Ural mountains. It seemed to cut a corner, taking the direction towards Zhiguli from there, and then carried the waters much further to the east than now. Movements earth's crust, the formation of new hills and depressions, sharp fluctuations in the level of the Caspian Sea and other reasons forced the Volga River to change direction.

Origin of the river's name

From the facts of ancient history it is known that the then famous Greek scientist named Ptolemy in his “Geography” called the Volga River by the name “Ra”. Despite the fact that he lived far from the Volga, on the coast of Africa, in the city of Alexandria, rumors about this great river reached there too. This was in the 2nd century AD. Later, in the Middle Ages, the Volga was known as Itil.

According to one version modern name The Volga acquired the ancient Mari name of the river Volgydo or, which translated meant “bright”. According to another version, the name of the Volga comes from the Finno-Ugric word Volkea, meaning “light” or “white”. There is also a version that the name Volga comes from the name Bulga, associated with the Volga Bulgarians who lived on its banks. But the Bulgarians themselves (the ancestors of modern Tatars) called the reuk “Itil”, a word that means “river” (there is, however, another version that the meanings of the hydronyms Volga and Itil then did not coincide with modern ones), it is believed that the most likely origin of the ethnonym “Volga” "from the Proto-Slavic word meaning volgly - vologa - moisture, thus the possible meaning of the name Volga is as “water” or “moisture”, so to speak, “big water” is also suitable, due to the enormous size of the river. The Slavic version of the origin of the name is evidenced by the presence of the Vlga rivers in the Czech Republic and Vilga in Poland.

Source of the Volga

The source of the Volga is a spring near the village of Volgoverkhovye in the Tver region. In the upper reaches, within the Valdai Upland, the Volga passes through small lakes - Maloe and Bolshoye Verkhity, then through a system of large lakes known as the Upper Volga lakes: Sterzh, Vselug, Peno and Volgo, united into the Upper Volga Reservoir.

Geographical location of the river

The Volga originates on the Valdai Hills (at an altitude of 229 m) and flows into the Caspian Sea. The length of the Volga is 3530 kilometers. The mouth lies 28 m below sea level. The total fall is 256 m. The Volga is the world's largest river of internal flow, that is, not flowing into the world ocean. The source of the Volga is a spring near the village of Volgoverkhovye in the Tver region. In the upper reaches, within the Valdai Upland, the Volga passes through small lakes - Maloe and Bolshoye Verkhity, then through a system of large lakes known as the Upper Volga lakes: Sterzh, Vselug, Peno and Volgo, united into the so-called Upper Volga reservoir.


The river can be divided into three main parts:

Upper Volga, the largest tributaries of the Upper Volga are Selizharovka, Tma, Tvertsa, Mologa, Sheksna and Unzha. After the Volga passed through the system of Verkhnevolzhsky lakes in 1843, a dam (Verkhnevolzhsky Beishlot) was built to regulate water flow and maintain navigable depths during low water periods. Between the cities of Tver and Rybinsk on the Volga, the Ivankovo ​​Reservoir (the so-called Moscow Sea) with a dam and a hydroelectric power station near the city of Dubna, the Uglich Reservoir (HPP near Uglich), and the Rybinsk Reservoir (HPP near Rybinsk) were created. In the Rybinsk-Yaroslavl region and below Kostroma, the river flows in a narrow valley among high banks, crossing the Uglich-Danilovskaya and Galich-Chukhloma uplands. Further, the Volga flows along the Unzhenskaya and Balakhninskaya lowlands. Near Gorodets (above Nizhny Novgorod), the Volga, blocked by the dam of the Gorky hydroelectric station, forms the Gorky reservoir.

The middle Volga, in the middle reaches, below the confluence of the Oka, the Volga becomes even more full-flowing. It flows along the northern edge of the Volga Upland. The right bank of the river is high, the left is low. The Cheboksary Hydroelectric Power Station was built near Cheboksary, above the dam of which the Cheboksary Reservoir is located. The largest tributaries of the Volga in its middle reaches are the Oka, Sura, Vetluga and Sviyaga.


The Lower Volga, where in the lower reaches, after the confluence of the Kama, the Volga becomes a mighty river. It flows here along the Volga Upland. Near Togliatti, above the Samara Luka, which is formed by the Volga, skirting the Zhigulevsky Mountains, the Zhigulevskaya Hydroelectric Power Station dam was built; Above the dam lies the Kuibyshev Reservoir. On the Volga near the city of Balakovo, the Saratov hydroelectric power station dam was erected. The Lower Volga receives relatively small tributaries - Sok, Samara, Bolshoi Irgiz, Eruslan. 21 km above Volgograd, the left branch, Akhtuba (length 537 km), separates from the Volga, which flows parallel to the main channel. The vast space between the Volga and Akhtuba, crossed by numerous channels and old rivers, is called the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain; The width of the floods within this floodplain previously reached 20-30 km. The Volzhskaya Hydroelectric Power Station was built on the Volga between the beginning of Akhtuba and Volgograd; Above the dam lies the Volgograd Reservoir.

The Volga Delta begins at the point where Akhtuba separates from its channel (in the Volgograd area) and is one of the largest in Russia. There are up to 500 branches, channels and small rivers in the delta. The main branches are Bakhtemir, Kamyzyak, Old Volga, Bolda, Buzan, Akhtuba (of which Bakhtemir is maintained in navigable condition, forming the Volga-Caspian Canal).

Territorial division of the river

Geographically, the Volga basin includes Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Moscow, Smolensk, Tver, Vladimir, Kaluga, Oryol, Ryazan, Vologda, Kirov, Penza, Tambov regions, Perm region, Udmurtia, Mari El, Mordovia, Chuvashia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Kalmykia, Komi, Moscow, and some others.

The Volga is connected to the Baltic Sea by the Volga-Baltic waterway, the Vyshnevolotsk and Tikhvin systems; with the White Sea - through the Severodvinsk system and through the White Sea-Baltic Canal; with the Azov and Black Seas - through the Volga-Don Canal.


The Volga River is mainly fed by external meltwater. Rains, which fall mainly in summer, and groundwater, from which the river lives in winter, play a lesser role in its nutrition. In accordance with this, the annual level of the river is distinguished by: high and prolonged spring floods, fairly stable summer low water and low winter low water. The duration of the flood is on average 72 days. The maximum water rise usually occurs in the first half of May, half a month after the spring ice drift. From the beginning of June to October - November, summer low water sets in. Thus, most of the navigation period when the Volga River is ice-free (on average 200 days) coincides with a period of low low water levels (2 - 3 m).

History of the Volga River

It is believed that the first mention of the Volga is found in the works of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BC). In the story about the campaign of the Persian king Darius against the Scythians, Herodotus reports that Darius, pursuing the Scythians across the Tanais (Don) River, stopped at the Oar River. They are trying to identify the Oar River with the Volga, although Herodotus also reported that the Oar flows into Maeotis (the Sea of ​​Azov). Sometimes they also see the Volga in another river, which was mentioned in the 1st century. BC e. reported Diodorus Siculus.

At first the Scythians lived in very small numbers near the Araks River and were despised for their ignominy. But even in ancient times, under the control of one warlike king distinguished by his strategic abilities, they acquired a country in the mountains up to the Caucasus, and in the lowlands of the coast of the Ocean and Lake Meotia - and other areas up to the Tanais River.


In written ancient Roman sources of the 2nd-4th centuries, the Volga is geographically identified as the river Ra - generous, in Arabic sources of the 9th century it is called Athel - the river of rivers, great river. In the earliest ancient Russian chronicle, “The Tale of Bygone Years,” it is said: “From that Volokovo forest the Volga will flow to the east and flow... into the Khvalisskoye Sea.” Volokovsky Forest is the ancient name of the Valdai Hills. Khvalissky was the name given to the Caspian Sea.

The geographical position of the Volga and its large tributaries has already determined VIII century its importance as a trade route between East and West. It was along the Volga route that the flow of Arab silver poured into the Scandinavian countries. Fabrics and metals were exported from the Arab Caliphate; slaves, furs, wax, and honey were exported from the Slavic lands. In the 9th-10th centuries, a significant role in trade was played by such centers as the Khazar Itil at the mouth, the Bulgar Bulgar in the Middle Volga, the Russian Rostov, Suzdal, Murom in the Upper Volga region. Since the 11th century, trade has weakened, and in the 13th century, the Mongol-Tatar invasion disrupted economic ties, except for the upper Volga basin, where Novgorod, Tver and the cities of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' played an active role. Since the 15th century, the importance of the trade route has been restored, and the role of such centers as Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Astrakhan has grown. The conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates by Ivan the Terrible in the mid-16th century led to the unification of the entire Volga river system in Russian hands, which contributed to the flourishing of Volga trade in the 17th century. New ones are emerging big cities- Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsyn; Yaroslavl, Kostroma, and Nizhny Novgorod play a major role. Large caravans of ships (up to 500) sail along the Volga. In the 18th century, the main trade routes moved to the West, and economic development the lower Volga is constrained by weak population and raids by nomads. The Volga basin in the 17th-18th centuries was the main area of ​​action for the rebel peasants and Cossacks during peasant wars under the leadership of S.T. Razin and E.I. Pugacheva.

In the 19th century, there was a significant development of the Volga trade route after the Mariinsky river system connected the Volga and Neva basins (1808); a large river fleet(in 1820 - the first steamship), a huge army of barge haulers (up to 300 thousand people) works on the Volga. Large shipments of bread, salt, fish, and later oil and cotton are carried out.


The development of the Civil War of 1917-22 in Russia is largely connected with the establishment in 1918 of the power of the Committee of the Constituent Assembly in a number of cities of the Volga region. The restoration of Bolshevik control over the Volga is considered an important turning point in the Civil War, as control over the Volga provided access to grain resources and Baku oil. An important role in Civil War played a role in the defense of Tsaritsyn, in which I.V. Stalin played an active role, which was the reason for renaming Tsaritsyn to Stalingrad.

During the years of socialist construction, in connection with the industrialization of the entire country, the importance of the Volga Route increased. Since the late 30s of the 20th century, the Volga has also begun to be used as a source of hydropower. During the Great Patriotic War 1941-45 the largest Battle of Stalingrad, which preserved the name of the Volga in the history of the liberated region. In the post-war period, the economic role of the Volga increased significantly, especially after the creation of a number of large reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations.

Natural world of the Volga

In the Upper Volga basin there are large forest areas; in the Middle and partly in the Lower Volga region, large areas are occupied by grain and industrial crops. Melon growing and gardening are developed. The Volga-Ural region has rich oil and gas deposits. Near Solikamsk - large deposits potassium salts. In the Lower Volga region (Lake Baskunchak, Elton) - table salt.

In terms of fish diversity, the Volga is one of the richest rivers. The Volga River basin is home to 76 different species of fish and 47 subspecies of fish. The following fish enter the Volga from the Caspian Sea: lamprey, beluga, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, thorn, white fish, anadromous Volga herring or common herring; semi-anadromous: carp, bream, pike perch, roach, etc. The following fish constantly live in the Volga: sterlet, carp, bream, pike perch, ide, pike, burbot, catfish, perch, ruff, asp. Beluga is the most legendary fish of the Caspian basin. Its age reaches 100 years, and its weight is 1.5 tons. At the beginning of the century, belugas weighing over a ton lived in the Volga; the weight of caviar in females was up to 15% of the total body weight. Red fish is the glory of the Astrakhan region. Five species of sturgeon fish live here - Russian sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, beluga, thorn and sterlet. The first four species are anadromous, and sterlet is a freshwater fish. Farms also breed a hybrid of beluga and sterlet - bester. Herring-like fish are represented by Caspian shad, common sprat and blackback and Volga herring.


Among the salmon-like fish, the whitefish is found, the only representative of the pike-like fish is the pike. The carp fish of the lower reaches of the Volga include bream, carp, roach, rudd, gold and silver crucian carp, asp, silver bream, gudgeon, grass carp, white and bighead carp.

Perch fish in the Volga are represented by river perch, ruffe, as well as pike perch and bersh. In the stagnant, shallow freshwater reservoirs of the lower Volga, the only representative of the stickleback order, the southern stickleback, is found everywhere.

The influence of the Volga in creativity

In the figurative perception of the essence of the Russian people, the Volga plays an exceptional and central role; it is the root and core of the entire Russian people, a figurative ideal. It is always animated, human qualities are attributed to it, and the ideal Russian person must correspond to the image of this river. The Volga is not found very often in literature and art, but truly cult works are associated with its image. In the culture of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the most “folk” representatives of culture are associated with the Volga: N.A. Nekrasov, Maxim Gorky, F. I. Chaliapin. Soviet art made full use of the image of the Volga created by democratic art pre-revolutionary Russia. The Volga is identified with the Motherland, it is a symbol of freedom, space, breadth and greatness of spirit Soviet man. The central role in the construction of this image was played by the film “Volga-Volga” and the song “The Volga Flows” performed by Lyudmila Zykina.


Volga Delta

The Volga Delta is the place where the first biosphere reserve in Russia was created in 1919. Five years ago, another federal state nature reserve appeared in the Astrakhan region - Bogdinsko-Baskunchaksky. We understand that nature reserves constantly face many problems, the solution of which cannot be postponed, therefore the financing of their activities is largely the responsibility of the regional budget. Astrakhan residents are proud that last year Maly Zhemchuzhny Island received the status of a federal natural monument. This is one of the most valuable natural reserves of the Northern Caspian Sea. In addition, 800 thousand hectares of the delta have the status of a wetland of international importance. In our region there are four state natural reserves of regional significance.

The Volga Delta is recognized as the most environmentally friendly delta in Europe. Our task, despite the fact that the territory for economic use is highly valued here, is to expand the boundaries of natural reserves. Now, for example, the idea of ​​​​creating so-called biosphere testing grounds in the region is being explored. We are one of the first to do this in Russia. 300 thousand hectares of the Northern Caspian Sea and the Volga delta are to be reserved for them. In these spaces, mainly water, will be tested modern methods economic activity, which will not harm the unique environment. We are for openness of environmental information and always promptly respond to any signals about emergencies and problems.


The largest river valley in Europe, the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain and the Volga River delta, as well as the surrounding desert, have always attracted the attention of botanists. The first studies mainly concerned the species composition of the flora. IN different time The region was visited by: P. S. Pallas, K. K. Klaus, E. A. Eversmann, I. K. Pachosky, A. I Gordyagin and many other outstanding travelers and botanists. At the end of the 20s of this century, more attention began to be paid to floodplain habitats. To one of the first researchers of the vegetation cover of the Lower Volga valley - S. I. Korzhinsky (in 1888) - the floristic composition of its meadows and swamps initially seemed rather monotonous, but later these ideas began to change.A. G. Ramensky (in 1931) noted a change in the composition of herbaceous communities of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain and delta as they moved downstream of the river.

Story

Until the 30s. In the twentieth century, the Volga was practically used only as a transport route and a fishing basin. The main organic disadvantages of the Volga trade route for many centuries were the lack of water connections with the World Ocean and the stepwise nature of the depths. They once tried to overcome the first disadvantage by organizing portages. But only very small vessels could be transported across watersheds. Peter I organized work to connect the Volga with the Don and the Baltic Sea. However, due to the lack of equipment corresponding to the scale of the work, the efforts expended to connect the Volga with the Don were not crowned with success. The fate of the work on the Upper Volga was different. In 1703 they began and in 1709 completed the construction of the Vyshnevolotsk system. Through the rivers Tvertsa, Tsna, Meta, Volkhov, Ladoga lake and Niva, cargo transported along the Volga gained access to the Baltic Sea. The limited capacity of this water system forced us to look for other ways to develop water connections between the Volga basin and the Baltic.

In 1810, the Mariinsk water system came into operation, connecting the Volga with the Baltic through the rivers Sheksna, Vyterga, Lake Onega, and the river. Svir, Lake Ladoga and Neva, and in 1811 - the Tikhvin water system, which did the same through the rivers Mologa, Chagodoma, Syas and the Ladoga Canal.

In 1828, the construction of the Württemberg (North Dvina) system was completed, connecting the Volga basin through the Shekenu River, the Toporninsky Canal, lakes Siverskoye and Kubenskoye with the river. Sukhona, Northern Dvina and White Sea. In the first half of the 19th century. Work began to actively develop to overcome another major drawback of the Volga transport route - the stepped depths.


Along with shipping great importance Since ancient times, there has been fishing in the Volga basin. The Volga has always been abundant in aquatic, semi-anadromous and migratory fish. Sharp fluctuations in catches in the Volga basin were also noted in those times when the influence of human economic activity was practically insignificant. Mills were built on small tributaries of the Volga even in pre-Petrine times. During the time of Peter I, water energy began to be used for metallurgical plants created in the Urals.

At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. it became clear that the exceptionally favorable position of the Volga in the very center of the European part of Russia, the richest land, water and mineral resources, the enormous fish wealth of the Volga basin, the presence of qualified workers in the industrial regions - Moscow, Ivanovo, Nizhny Novgorod, Ural - cannot be fully used without the development of an adequate energy base.

Significance of the Volga River

Nowadays, the river plays a significant role in the Russian economy, since it is located a large number of hydroelectric power stations, while the river itself is necessary for various maritime cargo transportation, which is now successfully carried out.

In addition, the Volga is the main artery of the country, supplying it water resources, it is also worth adding that many reservoirs have been created on the Volga. And for local residents of the village located near the Volga River, it gives them the opportunity to feel like tourists, swimming along the river, and just admire the beautiful landscape, taking one more look at it.

There is no such density of tourist facilities as in the Bakhchisarai region anywhere in the world! Mountains and sea, rare landscapes and cave cities, lakes and waterfalls, secrets of nature and mysteries of history. Discovery and the spirit of adventure... Mountain tourism here is not at all difficult, but any trail delights with clean springs and lakes.

Adygea, Crimea. Mountains, waterfalls, herbs of alpine meadows, healing mountain air, absolute silence, snowfields in the middle of summer, the murmur of mountain streams and rivers, stunning landscapes, songs around the fires, the spirit of romance and adventure, the wind of freedom await you! And at the end of the route are the gentle waves of the Black Sea.

Volga - a river flowing in the European part of Russia on the territory of 11 regions and 4 republics. Refers to a swimming pool.

In the upper reaches, the Volga River flows from northwest to southeast, then from the city of Kazan the direction of the river changes to the south. Near Volgograd, the river bed turns to the southwest.
The Volga River begins on the Valdai Hills from a spring in the village of Volgoverkhovye, Ostashkovsky district, Tver region. The Volga Delta begins near the city of Volgograd, Vogograd Region. And 60 km from the city of Astrakhan, Astrakhan region, the Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea.

The Volga River is one of the largest rivers on Earth and the largest in Europe. It is in 16th place in length among the world's rivers and in 4th place. The Volga is also the largest river in the world that flows into an inland body of water.

The name of the Volga River comes from the Old Slavonic word - vologa, moisture.

Settlements.
The Volga River is the central water artery of Russia. The river is located in the European part of the country.

The Volga River flows through the territory of many regions Russian Federation: in the Tver region, in the Moscow region, in the Yaroslavl region, in the Kostroma region, in the Ivanovo region, in Nizhny Novgorod region, in the Republic of Chuvashia, in the Republic of Mari El, in the Republic of Tatarstan, in the Ulyanovsk region, in the Samara region, in Saratov region, in the Volgograd region, in the Astrakhan region, in the Republic of Kalmykia.

On the Volga River, from source to mouth, there are four millionaire cities:
- the city of Nizhny Novgorod - is the administrative center of the Nizhny Novgorod region of Russia and the largest city of the Volga region federal district. It is located in the middle of the East European Plain at the confluence of the Oka River and the Volga River. The Oka divides Nizhny Novgorod into 2 parts: the upper part on the Dyatlov Mountains; the lower part is on the left bank of the Oka. Until 1990, the city was named Gorky in honor of the writer M. Gorky.

— the city of Kazan is the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, a large port on the left bank of the Volga River. It is the largest scientific, educational, economically developed, cultural and sports center in Russia. The Kazan Kremlin is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

— the city of Samara is a city located in the middle Volga region of Russia. It is the administrative center of the Samara region, forming the municipal entity “city district of Samara”. It is the sixth most populous city in Russia with a population of 1.17 million people as of 2012. Samara is a major transport, economic, scientific and educational center. The main industries are: oil refining, mechanical engineering and food industry.

— the city of Volgograd is a city located in the southeast of the European part of Russia, and is the administrative center of the Volgograd region. It is located on the western bank of the Volga River in its lower reaches. Together with the cities of Volzhsky and Krasnoslobodsk located on the eastern bank, it is part of the Volgograd agglomeration. The population of the city is 1,018,739 people. Volgograd was called Tsaritsyn from 1589 to 1925, and Stalingrad from 1925 to 1961.

The largest cities on the Volga: Rzhev, Tver, Dubna, Kimry, Kalyazin, Uglich, Myshkin, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Kineshma, Yuryevets, Kozmodemyansk, Cheboksary, Zvenigovo, Volzhsk, Tetyushi, Ulyanovsk, Novoulyanovsk, Sengiley, Tolyatti, Zhigulevsk, Syzran, Khvalynsk, Balakovo, Volsk, Marks, Saratov, Engelsk, Kamyshin, Nikolaevsk, Akhtubinsk, Kharabali, Narimanov, Astrakhan, Kamyzyak.

The rest of the settlements located on the banks of the Volga River from its source to its mouth can be viewed

Routes (access roads).
Due to the fact that the banks of the Volga River are dotted with many settlements, there are many railway and road access routes to the river, so travelers and tourists usually do not have a question about how to get to the river.

The Volga River is connected to the Baltic Sea by the Volga-Baltic waterway, as well as the Vyshnevolotsk and Tikhvin systems. The Volga River is connected to the White Sea through the White Sea-Baltic Canal and through the Severodvinsk system. The Volga River is connected to the Black and Azov Seas through the Volga-Don Canal.

There are also inland waterways along the Volga River: from the city of Rzhev to the Kolkhoznik pier (589 km); from the Kolkhoznik pier to the village of Krasnye Barrikady (2604 km), as well as a 40-kilometer section in the river delta.

There are 1,450 marinas and ports on the river. The largest of them are from the source of the Volga to its mouth - in Selizharovo, in Rzhev, in Zubtsovo, in Staritsa, Tver river port, in Konakovo, in Dubna, in Kimry, in Kalyazin, in Uglich, in Myshkin, in Rybinsk, in Tutaev , in Yaroslavl, in Kostroma, in the city of Ples, in Kineshma, in Chkalovsk, in the city of Gorodets, in Balakhin, in Nizhny Novgorod, in Kozmodemyansk, in Cheboksary, in Novocheboksarsk, in Zvenigovo, Volzhsk, Kazan river port, port Bolgar, port in Tetyushi, Ulyanovsk river port, in Novoulyanovsk, in Sengilei, in Tolyatti, Samara river port, in Syzran, in Khvalynsk, in Balakovo, in Volsk, in Saratov, in Kamyshin, in Volgograd, in Narimanov, Astrakhan river port.

Automobile access roads to the Volga River can be viewed
You can see the bridges built across the Volga River

Main tributaries and reservoirs.
The river system of the Volga basin includes 151 thousand. watercourses are streams, rivers and temporary watercourses, total length of which is 574,000 km. The Volga receives about 200 tributaries. There are more left tributaries and they are richer than the right ones. After the city of Kamyshin ( Volgograd region) there are no significant tributaries.

The largest tributaries of the Volga River are the Kama and Oka rivers.
— river – length 1805 km, basin area 507,000 km²; left tributary.
- - length 1498.6 km, basin area 245,000 km²; right tributary.

In addition to many tributaries, there are several reservoirs on the river:
— Upper Volga Reservoir – length 85 km, width 6 km, area 183 km².
— Ivankovskoye Reservoir – length about 120 km, width of the reservoir 2-5 km, area 327 km², volume 1.12 km³, greatest depth 19 m, average depth 4 m.
— Uglich reservoir – length 146 km, width 0.4-5 km, area 249 km², volume 1.24 km³, greatest depth 22 m, average depth 5 m.
— Rybinsk Reservoir – length 140 km, width 70 km, area 4580 km², volume 25.4 km³, greatest depth 25-30 m, average depth 5.5 m.
— Gorky Reservoir – length 427 km, width 3 km, area 1590 km², volume 8.71 km³, maximum depth 22 m.
— Samara (Kuibyshev) reservoir – length 600 km, width up to 40 km, area 6.5 thousand km², volume 58 km³, greatest depth 41 m, average depth 8 m.
— Cheboksary Reservoir – length 341 km, width 16 km, area 2190 km², volume 13.85 km³, maximum depth 35 m, average depth 6 m.
— Volgograd Reservoir – length 540 km, width up to 17 km, area 3117 km², volume 31.5 km³, average depth 10.1 m.

More detailed information about the tributaries of the Volga River can be read

Relief and soils.
The Volga River is a typical lowland river. The area of ​​the Volga basin occupies about 1/3 of the European part of Russia and extends along the Russian Plain from the Valdai and Central Russian Uplands in the west and to the Urals in the east. Due to the very large length of the river, the composition of the soils in the Volga basin is very diverse.

Vegetation.
The Upper Volga from its source to the city of Nizhny Novgorod and the city of Kazan is located in a forest zone. The middle part of the river to the cities of Samara and Saratov is located in the forest-steppe zone. The lower part of the river is located in the steppe zone up to the city of Volgograd, and a little further south lies in the semi-desert zone.
In the upper reaches of the Volga there are large forests; in the middle part and partly in the Lower Volga region, large areas of the territory are occupied by grain and industrial crops. Gardening and melon growing are also developed.

Hydrological regime.
The Volga is conventionally divided into three parts: the upper part of the Volga - from the source of the Volga River to the confluence of the Oka into it, the middle part of the Volga - from the confluence of the Oka (Nizhny Novgorod) to the confluence of the Kama River into the Volga (Nizhnekamsk) and the lower part Volga - from the confluence of the Kama River to the mouth of the Volga.

The length of the Volga River from source to mouth is approximately 3530 km (even before the construction of reservoirs it was 3690 km long). The drainage basin area is 1,361,000 km². Water flow near the city of Volgograd is 8060 m³/s. The height of the source is 228 meters above sea level. The height at the mouth is 28 meters below sea level. The river slope is 0.07 m/km. The total drop is 256 m. The average speed of water flow in the channel is low - from 2 to 6 km/h. The average depth is 9 m, the depth in summer and during winter low water is about 3 m.
The river is fed a little by rainwater (10%), a little more by groundwater (30%) and mainly by snowwater (60% of the annual runoff). Spring flood in April-June. Low water levels are observed in summer and during winter low water. There are autumn floods in October as a result of prolonged rains.
The average annual water flow at the Upper Volga dam is 29 m³/s, near the city of Tver - 182 m³/s, near the city of Yaroslavl - 1,110 m³/s, near the city of N. Novgorod - 2,970 m³/s, near the city of Samara - 7,720 m³/s s, near the city of Volgograd - 8,060 m³/s. Below the city of Volgograd, the river loses about 2% of its water flow to evaporation.
The water temperature in the Volga River in July reaches 20-25 °C. The river near Astrakhan breaks up from ice in mid-March. In the first half of April, the opening occurs on the upper Volga and below the city of Kamyshin; throughout the rest of the river, the opening occurs in mid-April. The Volga freezes in the upper and middle parts of its course at the end of November; in the lower part - in early December. The Volga remains free from freezing for about 200 days a year, and near Astrakhan about 260 days. With the creation of reservoirs on the river, the thermal regime of the Volga changed: on the upper dams the duration of ice phenomena increased, and on the lower dams it became shorter.
The bottom of the Volga is sandy, silty-sandy and silty; on the riffles the soil is gristly or pebbly.

Ichthyofauna.
In terms of its diversity of fish, the Volga is considered one of the richest rivers in Russia. Its waters are home to 76 species of fish and 47 subspecies. Grayling is found in the upper reaches of the Volga. Constantly found in the Volga are: carp, sterlet, bream, ide, pike-perch, pike, burbot, bleak, perch, catfish, dace, ruffe, bluegill, chub, roach, white-eye, podust, silver bream, asp, etc. Among the migratory fish that enter the river from the Caspian Sea: beluga, lamprey, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, white fish, thorn, Volga and common herring. Among the semi-anadromous fish that live in the river are: bream, carp, pike-perch, bershi, catfish, asp, sabrefish, etc. The smallest species of fish in the Volga is the granular puglovka, its length is only 2.5 cm. In appearance, it resembles a tadpole. And the largest fish of the Volga River is beluga, its length can reach 4 meters.

Water quality.
The Volga River experiences enormous anthropogenic pressure from numerous sources of pollution located along its banks, as well as directly in the mouth.
Russia's great industrial potential is concentrated in the Volga basin, which is represented by giant chemical enterprises, oil refineries, large engineering associations and thermal power plants. Cargo and passenger ships sail along the Volga River and its tributaries. Hydrocarbon raw materials (coal, gas, oil) are being extracted in this area. Hundreds and thousands of organizations have their interests in the Volga region. Some of them are river polluters.
The Volga accounts for more than a third of the country's total wastewater discharge. Active wastewater treatment plants provide effective water purification of only 8% of contaminated waters. A large number of pollutants enter the Volga with water from the Oka River and the Kama River, as well as their tributaries. The largest volumes of contaminated wastewater occur in cities such as: Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Saratov, Samara, Balakhna, Volgograd, Togliatti, Cherepovets, Ulyanovsk, Ivanovo, Naberezhnye Chelny.
Inorganic and organic pollutants include petroleum products, compounds heavy metals, pesticides (pesticides), phenols, synthetic detergents, etc. These substances enter the river water with waste from industry, agricultural and domestic waste. Many of them are in aquatic environment either decompose very slowly or do not decompose at all.

Use, tourism and recreation.
The Volga River is used by people for a wide variety of purposes. First of all, it has an important economic importance as a transport route. Bread, salt, fish, vegetables, oil, petroleum products, cement, gravel, coal, metal, etc. are supplied up the Volga; Lumber, timber, mineral and construction cargo, and industrial materials are floated downstream.
Passenger transportation and excursions on motor ships are also carried out on the river.
The river is a source of water supply for agricultural facilities, as well as plants, factories and other industrial enterprises.
A number of dams and hydroelectric power stations have been built on the river to generate electricity for human needs.
Economic, recreational and sport fishing is carried out on the river. Many people use the Volga for travel and outdoor activities.

Reference Information.

Length: 3530 km.
Basin area: 1,361,000 km².
Pool: Caspian Sea.
Source: Valdai Upland
Location: Volgoverkhovye village, Ostashkovsky district, Tver region of Russia.
Coordinates: 57°15′7.51″ N. latitude, 32°28′12.62″ e. d.
Mouth: Caspian Sea.
Location: 60 km from the city of Astrakhan, Astrakhan region of Russia.
Coordinates: 45°53′14.98″ N. latitude, 48°31′1.3″ e. d.

Everyone knows that the Angara flows into the Yenisei, and the Kama is the largest tributary of the Volga. But if you look at this issue from a scientific point of view, it turns out that this statement is not entirely true. Moreover, there are quite a large number of rivers on our planet, the relationship of which with their tributaries does not always correspond to reality. More large river often flows into a less full-flowing one, or inferior to it in other parameters. But due to the established historical tradition, no one is in a hurry to rename the Ob to the Irtysh or the Volga to the Kama.

How do you determine which river is the main one? Of course, in most cases this is visible visually: the tributary, as a rule, has a smaller channel width and less full-flowing compared to the main river. But there are exceptions to this rule when the rivers look equal. And in this case, scientists come to the rescue who can evaluate the river according to its parameters, of which in our case the most important are water flow, basin area, river order, and structural features of the river valley.

Volga River Basin

Let's compare the rivers Kama and Volga . According to most hydrological parameters, the Kama is the main river, and the Volga acts as its major tributary. The Kama river valley is more ancient, and during the glaciation era it was the Kama River that flowed into the Caspian Sea, while the Volga was a tributary of the Don River. And the modern lower reaches of the Volga River, according to most scientists, is a continuation of the river valley of the Kama River. If you look at the map, you can clearly see a picture that is unusual for a tributary and the main river: the Kama practically does not change its direction after the confluence with the Volga, while the bed of the Volga sharply turns by 90º, which is more typical for tributaries.


If we compare it in length and depth at the time of its confluence, then here too the Kama surpasses the Volga. The water flow in the Kama at the confluence of two rivers is 4300 m³/s, and the water flow in the Volga is only 3100 m³/s. The length of the Kama at the time of the meeting was 2030 kilometers (excluding the construction of a reservoir, which reduced its length to 1882 kilometers), and the Volga was only 1390 kilometers. Despite all the obviousness of the superiority of the Kama, no one is in a hurry to change the names and redo the maps: this has happened historically, and there is little point in renaming the river downstream. In addition, this will lead to a number of misunderstandings: the city of Volgograd will be on the Kama River, and all related objects, such as the Volgograd Reservoir or the Volga-Don Canal, will also have to be renamed.


The confluence of the Yenisei and Angara: judging by this photo, it is not entirely clear why the Angara is a tributary of the Yenisei, and not vice versa

An even stranger situation with rivers Yenisei and Angara . The Angara at the confluence with the Yenisei is longer and deeper, and its water flow is 4,530 m³/s, while the Yenisei has only 3,350 m³/s. But it just so happened that the development and study of Siberia went from west to east, therefore, the Angara flows into the Yenisei, and not vice versa.


Ob River Basin

Things are a little different with the river Ob and its largest tributary - the river Irtysh . The length of the Irtysh is 4248 kilometers, and the length of the Ob from the source to the confluence of the two rivers is only 3150 kilometers. The catchment area of ​​the Irtysh is also larger than that of the Ob: 1640 thousand square meters. km versus 1000 thousand sq. km. But due to the fact that the Irtysh flows most of the way through arid steppes and its waters are taken in large volumes for irrigation and water supply major cities, by the time it merges with the Ob, it is inferior to it in water consumption: 3,000 m³/s - at the Irtysh and 8,000 m³/s - at the Ob.


IN North America also has its own “river injustice” - these are a couple of rivers Mississippi-Missouri . The length of the Missouri, the largest tributary of the Mississippi, is 3,767 kilometers, while the length of the Mississippi from its source to the point where the Missouri flows into it in the city of St. Louis does not exceed 2,500 kilometers. Missouri also has a larger drainage basin than Mississippi. But the Mississippi at the confluence of the rivers is deeper than the Missouri, and it is considered the main river and symbol of the USA.

P.s.: On the screensaver, if someone is not very clear, there is a fragment of an illustration to the Bashkir* legend about Baikal, his daughter the beautiful Angara and her fiancé the mighty Yenisei (* - and in general, there, in Siberia, similar legends in different variations exist in the epic many peoples traditionally living in those parts...)

If you remembered the Caspian Sea, then this post is for you!
In fact, the Kama flows into the Caspian Sea. According to all hydrological criteria, it is larger than the Volga!
And it even existed for a long time - in those millennia when the Volga was not in sight.
The relationship between the rivers is clearly visible even on the map (and the Volga flows almost at a right angle):

The Volga to its confluence with the Kama is only 1390 km long, but the Kama was 2030 km long! True, the reservoirs straightened the geographical path, if you count it on the map, but it still remained longer - 1882 km.
Almost seven thousand more rivers flow into the Kama than into the Volga.
And they carry an average of 4300 m³/s, while the Volga carries only 3100 m³/s.

But that is not all!
If you go upstream and continue the debate about “who is more important,” you will find that the Oka flows into the Kama, not the Volga.
Anyone who has been to Nizhny Novgorod has seen mostly the Oka, not the Volga:

Even if you look at Strelka from below - in all honesty - can you easily choose the main river (Oka flows into the photo on the left, Volga on the right)?

What does the universal reference book tell us about this?
The basins of the Volga (before the confluence) and Oka are approximately the same, and the water flow at the confluence is the same.
But Oka is longer: 1500 km versus 905 km. True, there are conflicting data here - some say that the difference is about 600 km, while others say only 187. I believe that the first difference corresponds to the current situation, when reservoirs have greatly straightened the waterway. But even before the construction of the Volga Cascade, the Oka still turned out to be longer!

Now comes the fun part. Namely: where does all this water come from?

If you say that it comes from underground (everyone has seen the springs!), then this will be incorrect.
In order for a spring to flow out of the ground, water must get there from somewhere.
And the only way for this in the depths of the continents is precipitation - rain and snow.

I had more information about river nutrition and floods, but here I’ll tell you about the Volga and Kama. They are still different!
The Volga is fed mainly by snow: 60-70% of the annual runoff occurs during the spring flood.
And near the Kama, the flow is more even: in spring - snow, in summer and autumn - rivers from the Urals carry glacial waters, plus rain.

But the Kama is a bit far from us, so the Volga is our main focus.

I have long been interested in what the real Volga flow graph (hydrograph) looks like in our area.
For example, I dug up this picture - the change in the regime of the Volga near Yaroslavl after the construction of the Rybinsk reservoir:

Here you can clearly see why reservoirs are needed!
Instead of low water followed by a sharp peak of high water, we now have an almost even flow - this is also convenient for water transport, and for agriculture.
And this doesn’t even take into account the fact that hydroelectric power stations generate electricity (see the role of the mentioned Rybinsk hydroelectric power station during the Great Patriotic War).

What about Cheboksary?
Let me remind you that today anyone can observe the condition of the reservoirs of the entire Volga-Kama cascade and a number of others every day on the RusHydro website.
So I wasn’t too lazy and built graphs of the most interesting spring months over several years:

The picture speaks for itself and does not require much explanation.
For the last five years we have been lucky - there have been no floods. But in 1999, 2012 and especially in 2005, already, which is located below the Cheboksary hydroelectric station and takes on the “first wave” of the flood, which the Cheboksary reservoir cannot cope with due to its non-design level:


(photo provided by the RusHydro press service)

This year, a warm February threatened the most unpleasant forecasts, but then came a cold March and a completely wintry April, and:


April 23 (!!!) 2017

So. What did we say about the rains? On Far East they produce large summer-autumn floods!

Well, let's look at the Cheboksary hydroelectric station:
2017.07.09 inflow - 3460 m3/s, total flow - 4320 m3/s
2017.07.10 inflow - 5660 m3/s, total flow - 3740 m3/s
Still, much less than in the spring flood - two to three times less.
However, not so little compared to the same dates last year - almost twice as much:
2016.07.09 inflow - 2440 m3/s, total flow - 2380 m3/s
2016.07.10 inflow - 2420 m3/s, total flow - 2080 m3/s

So the rains affect us, they do.
Either our new bridge will be washed away, then the dam will collapse, then the pontoon bridge will sink... a natural disaster multiplied by the residual principle of financing...

But floods are still not expected on the Volga. From the rain.
And from the snow? What will happen next spring?