Russia occupies a huge area. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that a huge number of rivers, streams and streams are located on its territory. In total - at least three million watercourses! Some of these rivers played a significant role in the development of the vast Russian expanses. And which river is the largest in Russia? Volga, Ob, Yenisei or some other? You will find the answer to this question in our article.
Rivers of Russia
If you look at the physical map of the country, you can see that it is clearly divided into two parts - European and Asian. The ridge of the Ural Mountains, which stretches almost two thousand kilometers in the meridional direction, serves as the boundary line.
Almost all the rivers of the European part of Russia flow into the Black, Baltic, White and Caspian Seas. Watercourses flowing from the Asian part of the country feed numerous seas of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.
In general, a large number of mighty rivers flow through the territory of Russia. But the dimensions of some of them are truly impressive. This is the Volga, Ob, Yenisei, Lena and Amur. But which river is the largest in Russia? You will learn more about this later.
The largest river in Russia is …
If you ask such a question, then many, perhaps, will call the Volga. This river really has great historical, symbolic, sacred significance for the Russian nation. But to consider it the largest in Russia will be a mistake.
The largest river in Russia is the Ob. And in almost all respects: in length, maximum width, catchment area. Its total length is 3650 kilometers (or 5410 km, if you count from the source of the Irtysh). In the spring seasons, the Ob channel can spread up to 60 kilometers wide! No other watercourse in the country can boast of such indicators. If we talk about the Volga, then it is the largest river in the European part of Russia, and nothing more.
An interesting point: the basins of the above-mentioned river systems (Ob and Volga), one way or another, go beyond the borders of the Russian Federation (albeit slightly). And if we talk about “purely Russian” watercourses, then the Lena River will become the absolute record holder for the length and area of the catchment.
Ob River: Record Collector
In addition to the record length and width, the Ob also has the largest pool in Russia. The river collects its waters from a vast territory equal to almost 3 million square kilometers. It is larger than the area of Argentina and slightly smaller than the size of India.
However, in terms of water availability, the Ob loses to the other two rivers of Russia - the Lena and the Yenisei. In one second, 12700 cubic meters of water passes through its mouth. What else can be said about the largest river in Russia?
The first written mention of the Ob dates from the 15th century. The name of the river is found in the ancient Russian annals - the legend "On the unknowable people in the eastern country." But Europeans learned about it from the Austrian ambassador, in the same year, when Christopher Columbus discovered America to the world.
Ob River: from source to mouth
The source of the Ob is considered to be the confluence of two rivers in the Altai mountains (near the city of Biysk). These are the Biya and Katun rivers (see map fragment below). The color of the water in these two rivers is very different (in Biya it is dull greenish, and in Katun it is dirty gray). Therefore, in the upper reaches, the Ob channel often has an unusual striped appearance.
The Ob River crosses several climatic zones (semi-desert, taiga, tundra). On its long journey, it receives a huge number of tributaries. The largest of them are: Irtysh, Vasyugan, Tom, Chulym and Ket.
The Ob Valley is asymmetric: the right bank is steep and steep, and the left one is low and gentle. The river flows into the Kara Sea, forming the Ob Bay, enormous in length (estuary). Below, the Ob river system is schematically shown on a map of Russia.
Etymology of the name
The peoples living on the banks of this river called it differently. Nenets - Salya Yam, Mansi and Khanty - As, Tatars - Umor. All these names have a similar translation: "big river".
The origin of the generally accepted name is not known to scientists for certain. According to one version, the word "ob" comes from the Komi language and translates as "snowdrift of snow." Another hypothesis is that the name was given to the river by the steppe peoples of Central Asia (for example, the word "o" in Tajik is water).
Power and Mode
The largest river in Russia is fed mainly by snowmelt. That is why the bulk of the annual runoff of the Ob falls at the end of spring and the beginning of summer. The flood phase lasts from late April to mid July. As a result of intense and short-term water level rises in the Ob, in some of its tributaries the reverse direction of the flow can be observed. In the autumn, small rain floods are also observed on the river.
By the nature of the current Ob is divided into three sections:
- From the confluence of Biya and Katun to the mouth of Tom.
- From the mouth of Tomi to the mouth of Irtysh.
- From the mouth of the Irtysh to the Gulf of Ob.
The average speed of the water flow in the Ob channel is 6 km / h in the spring-summer period and 2-3 km / h in the low-water period (in winter).
Ichthyofauna and economic use
From ancient times, the Ob River was famous for its fish. Back in the 19th century, pike, perch, nelma, roach, and sterlet were actively caught here. Currently, there are up to 50 species of bone fish in the waters of the river. About half of them have industrial value. The main objects of fishing today are zander, ide, burbot, bream, roach and pike. Narrow-crayfish live in the Ob. Toads, frogs and newts are widespread on the banks of the river. From mammals, otters and beavers are found.
In the upper reaches of the river in the middle of the last century, the Novosibirsk reservoir was formed (as a result of the construction of the hydroelectric power station of the same name), which the locals also call the "Ob Sea". A huge number of resorts, campsites and recreation centers are concentrated on the coast of the reservoir. The Ob Sea is ideal for summer vacations, swimming and fishing.
The Ob River is navigable along its entire length. In the Gulf of Ob, a maritime regime of shipping is possible. On the banks of the river there are a number of large cities. The largest of them (listed from source to mouth):
- Biysk.
- Barnaul.
- Novosibirsk
- Nizhnevartovsk.
- Surgut
- Nefteyugansk.
- Salekhard.
In total, 14 bridges were built on the Ob (including the metro bridge in Novosibirsk). The largest of them is Ugra, located in Surgut. This is a cable-stayed bridge with a length of 2.1 kilometers. It was opened in September 2000.
Interesting facts about the river
And finally, 7 interesting facts about the Ob:
- Already from the middle of the 19th century, steamboats walked along the river and its main tributaries.
- On average, for about six months a year, the Ob channel is hidden under ice (180-220 days depending on the severity of a particular winter).
- The largest bridge in Siberia was built precisely on this river (Ugra bridge in the Tyumen region).
- The Ob flows from south to north, which is atypical for most of the Russian rivers.
- In summer, in the upper reaches of the Ob, the water warms up to + 25 … 27 degrees.
- On the banks of the Ob, a total of about 30 million people live. But here in the river basin there are many "white spots" - those places where, probably, a person’s foot has never yet set foot.
- At the end of the 19th century, the Ob-Yenisei Canal was built on the border of Tomsk Region and Krasnoyarsk Territory, connecting two neighboring river systems. The channel is currently abandoned and not in use.
