What are the largest rivers in Russia?

On the territory of Russia there is a huge number of rivers and rivulets - about two and a half million! Most of them are small. But there are those who deserve to take the corresponding place in the rating under the title "The largest rivers of Russia". So...

Northern Dvina

In the tenth place - the Northern Dvina, entering the White Sea basin. Its name, meaning "double river", it received because it was formed by the merger of two rivers - the South and Sukhan.

The Northern Dvina flows through the Arkhangelsk and Volgograd regions of Russia. Its length is 744 kilometers. And the pool area - 357 thousand square meters. Km. It was on the Northern Dvina that Russian shipbuilding was born.

Indigirka and Khatanga

The ninth and eighth place in the ranking are the largest rivers in Russia, such as Indigirka and Khatanga, respectively.

Indigirka flows through the lands of Yakutia (the Republic of Sakha). The water flow takes its beginning on the Khalkan ridge, where two rivers merge - Kuidusana and Omekona, and then it gets to the East Siberian Sea.

Khatanga flows in the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia, flows into the Khatansky Gulf of the Laptev Sea. It also formed in a place where the rivers Kotui and Heta merge.

The area of the Indigirka river basin reaches 360 thousand square meters. Km, and Khatanga - 364 thousand. To date, these rivers are one of the main water transport routes of North-Eastern Russia. Here, fishing and rafting are popular.

Don

In seventh place - Don. He bypasses all major rivers of Russia on the southern elevation. It begins in the Tula region, flows through the territories of the Voronezh, Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd regions. It flows into the Azov Sea (Taganrog Bay).

The name of the river was given to the Iranian peoples, who once settled in the territories of the Northern Black Sea Coast. From the Iranian Don it is translated as "the river".

The course of the waterway is divided into three sections: the Upper Don (from the source and to the place where the Tikhaya Pine River flows into it ), the Middle (up to the city of Kalach-na-Donu) and the Lower (from Tsimlyansk reservoir and to the river mouth).

The length of the river inspires respect - about 1870 km. And its area is 422 thousand square kilometers.

Kolyma

The next river on our list (6th place) is Kolyma. It surpasses all the major rivers in Russia, located in the Magadan region. Its length reaches 2513 km, and the area is 645 thousand square meters. Km. Kolyma is formed in the Okhotsk-Kolyma Highlands, by merging the rivers of Kula and Ayan-Yuryakh. The mouth of the water body under consideration is the East Siberian Sea, more precisely, the Kolyma Bay.

Kolyma was discovered by the Cossacks after the discovery of such large rivers of Russia as Indigirka (in 1638) and Alazeya (1639). In 1644, on its banks, the Cossack Mikhail Stadukhin founded the winter village of Nizhny-Kolyma and compiled the first information about the militant Chukchi from the North.

Volga

The fifth largest river is the Volga-Mother. It flows in the European part of Russia, and its lower sleeve captures the territory of Kazakhstan. The water artery originates from the key on the Valdai plateau (Tver region) and flows into the Caspian Sea.

By the area of the Volga basin, it traverses all the largest rivers in the European part of Russia. It occupies the fourth place in length. The Volga is recognized as the largest in Europe and the largest river in the world (from those that flow into inland water bodies).

The length of the water flow reaches 3530 km, and the area - 1 361 000 sq. Km. Km.

Cupid and Lena

The fourth and third places are respectively occupied by such large rivers of Russia as Amur and Lena.

The Amur-father flows through the territory of three countries at once (Mongolia, China and Russia). The name of the river came from the Tungus-Manchu word "amar", which translates as "a big river". The area of the basin is over 1.8 million sq. M. Km, and the length is 2824 km.

The source of the Lena - in the Siberian mountains, flows through the territory of Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk, Zabaikalsky and Khabarovsk Territory, as well as the Republic of Buryatia, and flows into the Laptev Sea. Length - 4480 km, and the area - 1.5 million square meters. Km, which gives it the right to be called the third river of Russia. Lena was discovered in the 17th century by the same Cossacks.

Yenisei

Yenisei on 90 thousand square meters. Km exceeds Lena by area (its basin is 2,580,000 sq. Km), and therefore takes the second place in the rating "The largest rivers of Russia".

Its name derives from the Evenk word "Ionessi", which translates as "big water", or from the ancient Kyrgyz "Ene-Sai" - "river mother". Its mouth is in the Small Yenisei. It flows through the vast territories of Russia and Mongolia, and ends its journey in the Arctic Ocean. The total path of the water flow is 4287 kilometers. Enisey is considered the seventh largest river in the world.

Ob

And finally, the largest river in Russia is the Ob. It was formed in the place where the two rivers - Katun and Biya - merged. The length of the waterway reaches 5410 km, and the area - almost 3 million square meters. Km! The Ob is situated on the lands of Western Siberia. The mouth of the river is the Obskaya Bay (the bay in the Kara Sea). The Ob is considered the second among the largest rivers in Asia. The first is the Chinese Yangtze.

All the tribes that have ever lived on the banks of the Ob have given it its name. So, Mansi and Khanty called her "Ace", which meant "big river", and the Nenets - "Salya-Yam", in translation "riverbed". In the language of the Selkups, the Ob sounded like "Eme", "Quai" or "Kwai", which meant "a steep river".

This water body has a huge industrial and economic importance for the whole of Russia. It is here that gas and oil are extracted. Most of all peat reserves in the CIS countries are stored in the Ob areas. In addition, there are the largest volumes of fish caught.