Niagara - a river in America with unique waterfalls

Niagara is a river, which is one of the major water streams of North America. Her beauty can be envied. After all, it is not easy channel, flowing through the area. The uniqueness of the river is that it has a lot of waterfalls. They are known throughout the world. A lot of people are eager to come here at least once to see this unearthly beauty personally.

Description of Niagara (briefly)

Many are interested in exactly where and from what lake the Niagara River flows. Its origin is from Erie Lake. The river is the geographical boundary between the United States of America and Canada. In the United States, Niagara flows in the state of New York, and in Canada its banks are on the border of the province of Ontario. The length of the river is 56 km, the current is directed mainly to the north, the volume of water is 665 thousand square meters. Km. But what river does the Niagara River flow into? As can be understood from the above information, the water flow ends its journey in Canada. He falls into Lake Ontario.

Hydronym

The name of the river came to us from the Indians living in this territory. In the language of the Iroquois it was called Ongiara, in a literal translation "the ground in half." Basically it was the fact that in the upper Niagara is divided into two branches, due to which the islands were formed. Some of them belong to the territory of the USA (the island of Grand Island) and one belongs to Canada (Navi Island).

A bit of history

Niagara is a river, the age of which is more than 6 000 years old. Its history can be called uniquely. During this time, many significant events occurred. The activity of the last ice sheet in North America formed the Great Lakes and the Niagara River. The glacier, descending from the top, moved apart the stone blocks, forming furrows. Thus, these water bodies arose. When the last period ended, the stream moved along these furrows and buried itself in the rapids, forming a system of waterfalls under the force of water.

Niagara Falls

Niagara - the river is special, if only because it has waterfalls. Thanks to the connection of the riverbed, you can enjoy these beauties. Niagara Falls is considered to be one of the most beautiful on the planet. It has a complex system of thresholds, therefore, bypassing the artificially constructed canal - Welland.

"Niagara miracle" - this is not the only site, but a complex consisting of several places, where river water drastically decreases from a sufficiently high altitude. Together they form a single wide system of waterfalls. The height of the cliffs varies considerably. The highest points of these waterfalls are more than 50 m (located behind the Canadian border), and the height of those that are on the territory of America is 21 m. This difference is due to the fact that in the 50s of the last century there was a break in the place of American waterfalls, Formed at the foot of a stone pile.

The importance of waterfalls for countries

This complex consists of three waterfalls - American, Canadian "Horseshoe" and a site called "Fata". In their width, they are located more than 1,000 meters, and the power of the stream allows it to be used to generate hydroelectric power. Due to the fact that Niagara is a river with a character, several significant hydroelectric power stations were built under its waterfalls.

As a source of energy, the water of the river was first used at the end of the XVIII century. Small farmers and entrepreneurs carried out small channels and supplied their enterprises with electricity. But already in large volumes, a strong water flow began to be used at the end of the 19th century after Tesla's invention of an alternator. At the present time, at the foot of the waterfalls, factories and enterprises have been built that successfully use the energy of water.

The value of Niagara's water flow

Understanding where the Niagara River is located is very important, as several cities are located on its deep-water shores:

• Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Lewis - in the US.
• Fort Erie and Niagra Falls - off the coast of Canada.

The river together with the waterfalls is of tremendous economic value for these two countries. And also this place is popular with tourists, which brings considerable income to the coffers of the states.

Shipping

The Niagara River is deep-water, suitable for heavy navigable ships. But because of the waterfall the path is interrupted. To solve the problem, a special canal was built to bypass the cliff, which allowed ships from the 1960s to travel along the river from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes and back. Now, annually the total amount of cargoes crossing this route reaches 40 million tons.

The canal has a modern equipment system, is equipped with 8 navigable locks, which can control the water level and provide a comfortable transition from one water basin to another.

Tourism

Undoubtedly, waterfalls in the tourist aspect are very popular.
Every year millions of tourists from all corners of the globe come to see the miracle of nature. For this, a powerful infrastructure is developed here. Tourists have the opportunity to tour the waterfall on a cable car, a helicopter or a balloon. A large number of observation platforms and towers were built here. Even at night, excursions are conducted, when waterfalls are shimmered with colored lights, searchlights.

The most popular attraction at Niagara Falls is a walk under falling waters on special boats.

Niagara Falls is one of the oldest nature reserves in the United States.
Not only lovers of beauty are bursting here on an excursion, but also people who are hungry for extreme things. So, in 1901, an ordinary teacher of lower grades, Mrs. Taylor, decided on her 63rd birthday to jump from a waterfall in a wooden barrel. Later, her act was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

Now the laws of Canada and the US are forbidden to go down the waterfall by any means, but this does not stop the daredevils.