The largest river in the European territory of our country. The largest river in Europe. Rest on the rivers

The largest river in Europe located in Russia - it is a river Volga(3531 km) and this is not surprising, because the territory of the European part of Russia is 40% of the entire territory of Europe.

Many sources claim that the longest river in Western Europe is Danube(2860 km), however, it is worth noting that the Danube flows through the territories of such Eastern European countries as Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.

The Danube is divided into 3 parts:

• Upper (992 km) - from the source to the village of Gönyü;
• Sredny (860 km) - from Gonyu to the town of Drobeta-Turnu Severin;
• Lower (931 km) - from the town of Drobeta-Turnu-Severin to the confluence with the Black Sea.

Moreover, even a part of the upper Danube already flows through the territory of Slovakia, which means that in Western Europe the length of the Danube is less than 992 km.

Therefore, if we consider the west and east of the continent separately, then the largest river in Western Europe- this is Rhine 1233 km long, which flows through the territories of such Western European countries as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and Liechtenstein.

Well, the Danube can be considered as the longest river in the European Union.

List of the 20 longest rivers in Europe:

• Volga - 3531 km;
• Danube - 2860 km;
• Ural - 2428 km;
• Dnieper - 2201 km;
• Don - 1870 km;
• Pechora - 1809 km;
• Kama - 1805 km;
• Oka - 1498 km;
• White - 1430 km;
• Dniester - 1352 km;
• Vyatka - 1314 km;
• Rhine - 1233 km;
• Elba - 1165 km;
• Desna - 1153 km;
• Seversky Donets - 1053 km;
• Vistula - 1047 km;
• Western Dvina - 1020 km;
• The Loire - 1012 km - is the longest river in France;
• Tahoe (Tagus) - 1038 km - the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula;
• Mezen - 966 km.

16 longest European rivers flowing through the territory of Russia

• Volga - 3531 km;
• Ural - 2428 km;
• Dnieper - 2201 km;
• Don - 1870 km;
• Pechora - 1809 km;
• Kama - 1805 km;
• Oka - 1498 km;
• White - 1430 km;
• Vyatka - 1314 km;
• Desna - 1153 km;
• Seversky Donets - 1053 km;
• Western Dvina - 1020 km;
• Mezen - 966 km;
• Neman - 937 km;
• Kuban - 870 km.
• Northern Dvina - 744 km.

The Rhone is the longest (812 km) river in Europe that flows into the Mediterranean Sea

Volga

The Volga is a river in the European part of Russia, flows into the Caspian Sea. The part of the Russian territory adjacent to the Volga is called the Volga region. The length of the river is 3530 km, before the construction of reservoirs - 3690 km, the catchment area - 1360 thousand km².

Danube

The Danube is the second longest (2860 km) river in Europe, the longest river in the European Union. The source is located in the mountains of Germany. It flows through the territory or border of ten states: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova; passes through such capitals of Central and South-Eastern Europe as Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and Belgrade. It flows into the Black Sea, forming a delta on the border of Romania and Ukraine.

Ural

The Ural is a river in Eastern Europe, flows through the territory of Russia and Kazakhstan, flows into the Caspian Sea. It is the third longest river in Europe, length - 2,428 km, basin area - 231,000 km².

Dnieper

The Dnieper is a typical flat river with a slow and calm flow, the fourth longest river after the Volga, Danube, Ural and the third river in Europe in terms of basin area, has the longest channel within the borders of Ukraine. The length of the Dnieper in its natural state was 2285 km, after the construction of a cascade of reservoirs, when the fairway was straightened in many places - 2201 km; within Ukraine - 1121 km, within Belarus - 595 km (115 km are on the border territory of Belarus and Ukraine), within Russia - 485 km. The basin area is 504,000 km², of which within Ukraine - 291,400 km².

Don

The Don is a river in the European part of Russia, with a length of 1870 km and a catchment area of ​​422 thousand km². The source of the Don is located in the northern part of the Central Russian Upland, the mouth is the Taganrog Bay of the Azov Sea.

The rivers of Russia like a spider web have enveloped the entire territory of the country, because their total number from the smallest to the largest is more than 2.5 million. We will not recalculate all of them in this article. And just make a list of the largest, longest, largest rivers in Russia, their names. And we will try to describe each of them separately, especially fishing. After all, rivers are of great interest from the point of view of an angler, and there are a lot of them.

Top 10 longest flowing rivers in Russia under one name:

Top 10 Russian rivers in terms of total catchment area, thousand km2:

List of the largest rivers in Russia, and fishing on them:

Lena flows out of Lake Baikal, forms a bend and continues to move northward to the Laptev Sea, where it forms a large delta. The length of the river path is 4400 km, the basin area is 2490 thousand square meters. km., and the water consumption is 16,350 cubic meters / s. Lena ranks 11th in the world in length and is the longest river in Russia. The name comes from the language of the Evenki (“Yelyuene” - big river) or Yakuts (“Ulakhan-Yuryakh” - big water).

The Ob flows through Western Siberia for 3,650 km, flowing into the Kara Sea, where it forms a vast, up to 800 km long, bay called the Ob Bay. It is formed in Altai from the confluence of two rivers: Biya and Katun. It occupies the first place in terms of basin area, that is, the largest river in Russia (2990 thousand sq. Km) and the third in terms of water content (behind the Yenisei and Lena). Water consumption - 2300 m3 / s. The name of the river comes from the language of the Komi people, in which "ob" means "grandmother", "aunt", "respected elderly relative."

The Volga is one of the largest rivers on Earth and the largest river in Europe. Its length is 3531 km and it crosses 4 republics and 11 regions of Russia before it flows into the Caspian Sea. The river basin occupies 1,855 thousand square meters. km (one third of the European part of Russia) with a water flow rate of 8060 m3 / s. On the Volga there are 9 hydroelectric power plants with reservoirs and up to half of all Russian industry and agriculture are concentrated. The Yenisei crosses Russia and Mongolia for 4,287 kilometers (of which 3,487 kilometers pass through Russia) and flows into the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea. There is a division of the river into the Big and Small Yenisei (Biy-Khem and Kaa-Khem). The river has a basin area of ​​2580 thousand square meters. km (second place after Lena) and a water flow rate of 19800 cubic meters / s. Sayano-Shushenskaya, Krasnoyarsk and Mainskaya hydroelectric power stations block the waters of the Yenisei in three places. The origin of the name is associated with the distorted Tungus name "enesi" (big water) or the Kyrgyz "ene-Sai" (mother-river).

The Amur flows through the territory of Russia, Mongolia and China and flows into the Sea of ​​Okhotsk (Amur estuary). This Rossi river has a length of 2824 km, the basin area is 1855 thousand square meters. km and a water discharge equal to 10,900 cubic meters / s. The Amur crosses four physical and geographical zones: forest, forest-steppe, steppe and semi-desert, and up to thirty different peoples and nationalities live on the banks of the river. The origin of the name causes a lot of controversy, but the most common opinion derives it from "amar" or "damar" (Tungus-Manchu group of languages). On the territory of China, the Amur is called the Black Dragon River, and for Russia it is a symbol of Transbaikalia and the Far East.

Kolyma begins at the confluence of the Kulu and Ayan-Yuryakh (Yakutia) rivers and flows into the Kolyma Bay after 2,129 kilometers. The river basin covers an area of ​​643 thousand square meters. km, and the water consumption is 3800 cubic meters / s. In the Magadan region, this is the largest waterway.

The Don flows from the Central Russian Upland in the Tula Region for 1870 kilometers and flows into the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of ​​Azov. Being one of the largest rivers in the south of the Russian Plain, the Don has a basin area of ​​422 thousand square meters. km and a water flow rate of 680 cubic meters / s. According to scientists, some parts of the river bed are about 23 million years old. The ancient Greeks mentioned the Don under the name Tanais, and the modern name belongs to the Iranian peoples of the Northern Black Sea region and simply means "river". Khatanga is born from the confluence of the Kotuy and Kheta rivers (Krasnoyarsk Territory) and flows into the Laptev Sea, forming the Khatanga Bay. The length of the river is 1636 km with a basin area of ​​364 thousand square meters. km and a water flow rate of 3320 cubic meters / s. The first mentions of Khatanga were based on the reports of the Tungus and date back to the beginning of the 17th century.

Indigirka is formed from the rivers Tuora-Yuryakh and Taryn-Yuryakh (Khalkansky mountain range) and for 1726 kilometers it flows through the lands of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), flowing into the East Siberian Sea. The area of ​​its water basin is 360 thousand square meters. km, and the water consumption is 1570 cubic meters / s. The word "indigir" is of Evenk origin and means "people from the indi clan". The river is known for its attractions - the village of Oymyakon (the northern pole of cold) and the memorial city of Zashiversk, whose population was completely extinct from smallpox in the 19th century.

The Northern Dvina flows through the Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions from the south to the north and, up to the confluence in the form of a wide delta into the Dvina Bay (White Sea), passes the path for 744 km. Two rivers, the South and the Sukhona, give rise to it, so that later the river basin would occupy an area equal to 357 thousand square meters. km, and the water consumption was 3490 cubic meters / s. This is an important navigable artery that provides a water passage from Severodvinsk to Veliky Ustyug, as well as the historical center of the beginning of shipbuilding in Russia.

The Volga takes its origins in the Valdai Upland. This is one of the largest rivers in Europe, receiving up to one and a half hundred tributaries along its route, including the Kama and Oka, the largest of them. There are numerous reservoirs and hydroelectric power stations on the river. The water supply system connects the river with the Baltic, White, Black and Azov seas. Akhtuba is the longest of the Volga's sleeves. The total floodplain of these two rivers covers 7600 sq. km.

The Kama is considered the fifth river in Europe in terms of channel length - 2030 km, as well as an important river artery. As a tributary of the Volga, it also absorbs the waters of smaller rivers on its way, such as Vyatka, Vishera, Belaya, Chusovaya. There are more than two hundred large tributaries of the Kama alone. The Kama, Botkin and Nizhnekamsk hydroelectric power stations with reservoirs were built on the river.

The Oka is a tributary of the Volga (Nizhny Novgorod region). The river bed is characterized by differences in slope and width. Among the large tributaries are the Ugra, Moskva River, Klyazma and Moksha. Hydrological studies make it possible to divide the Oka route into three parts: upper (Aleksin - Shchurovo), middle (Shchurovo - Moksha mouth), lower (Moksha - Volga mouth).

Don - the river is calm and slow due to a slight slope along the entire route. Its largest tributaries are the Seversky Donets, Manych and Sal. The river is actively used for generating electricity, shipping and irrigation of adjacent lands. The Dnieper in the European part of Russia ranks third (behind the Volga and Kama) in terms of the size of the basin, with an area of ​​503 thousand square meters. km. On the way to 2285 km, the Dnieper follows from the source to the Black Sea (Dnieper-Bug estuary). It is a flat river with a wide floodplain and numerous branches and significant fluctuations in water level (up to 12 m in the Smolensk region). In ancient times, a section of the legendary route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" (10-12 centuries) passed along the Dnieper.

The Ural is one of the largest rivers in the European part of Russia and is located in the southeast of the Black Sea-Caspian slope. Its length is 2530 km from the source to the confluence with the Caspian Sea, and the basin area covers 220 thousand square meters. km. Due to the strong tortuosity of the channel, the Urals are usually divided into three parts: upper (source - Orsk), middle (Orsk - Uralsk) and lower (Uralsk - mouth). In the Urals, a network of reservoirs has been built to supply water to the city and regional enterprises.

The Yenisei belongs to the largest rivers of the Earth in terms of the length of the channel and the area of ​​the water basin. On the territory of Russia, the Yenisei basin unites up to two hundred thousand rivers and up to one and a half thousand lakes. The channel width varies from 800 meters at the headwaters (Angara region) to 2-5 kilometers in the Ust-Port and Dudinka regions, and the river valley width varies from 40 km (Nizhnyaya Tunguska region) to 150 km (Dudinka region). Exploration of the river began in the first half of the 18th century, thanks to the hydrographer Dmitry Ovtsyn, who was part of the Great Northern Expedition.

Lena is the largest river in the north of Russia. It flows along the Central Yakut lowland, forming a wide (up to 25 km) valley and feeding on a large number of lakes, swamps, rivers and streams. The Kharaul mountains and the Chekanovsky ridge narrow the valley to two kilometers, and a hundred kilometers from the mouth of the Lena, it expands again and forms a delta of 30 thousand square meters. km. The Great Northern Expedition initiated the systematic study of the river, and its first scientific and geographical description was made by the naturalist Johann Gmelin.

Ob has the largest water reserve in the north of the country. It unites the streams of two rivers that form it: the Biya, which originates in Lake Teletskoye, and the Katun, which feeds on the glaciers of Mount Belukha (Altai). The channel, which is deep at the beginning of the current, divides into the Bolshaya and Malaya Ob, then merges into one stream (the Salekhard region), and in the delta again bifurcates into the Khamanel and Nadym Ob. The arrival of the ships of the Second Kamchatka Expedition at the mouth of the great river marked the beginning of the development of the Northern Sea Route.

Kolyma flows through the north-east of Siberia. After a deep and narrow valley of the upper reaches, on a granite ridge, the river forms the steps of the Great Kolyma rapids. In the middle of its journey, the Kolyma splits into numerous (up to ten) channels, and as many as three rivers come to the Kolyma Bay: Kamennaya (Kolymskaya), Pokhodskaya and Chukochya. The river basin is famous for the finds of animal bones and gold deposits.

Russia is the largest state in the world (its area is 17.12 million km 2, which is 12% of the earth's land), about 3 million rivers flow through its territory. Most of them are not very large and have a relatively short length, their total length is 6.5 million km.

The Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea divide the territory of Russia into the European and Asian parts. The rivers of the European part belong to the basins of such seas as the Black and Caspian, Baltic and the Arctic Ocean basin. Rivers of the Asian part - the basins of the Arctic and Pacific oceans.

Major rivers of Russia

The largest rivers of the European part are the Volga, Don, Oka, Kama, Northern Dvina, some originate in Russia, but flow into the seas on the territory of other countries (for example, the source of the Western Dvina River is the Valdai Upland, the Tver region of the Russian Federation, the mouth is the Gulf of Riga, Latvia). Rivers such as the Ob, Yenisei, Irtysh, Angara, Lena, Yana, Indigirka, and Kolyma flow through the Asian part.

The Lena River, 4400 km long, is one of the longest rivers on our planet (7th in the world), its sources are located near the deep-water freshwater Lake Baikal in Central Siberia.

Its basin area is 2490 thousand km². It has a western direction of flow, reaching the city of Yakutsk, it changes its direction to the north. Forming at the mouth of a huge delta (its area is 32 thousand km 2), which is the largest in the Arctic, the Lena flows into the Laptev Sea, the basin of the Arctic Ocean. The river is the main transport artery of Yakutia, its largest tributaries are the Aldan, Vitim, Vilyui, Olekma...

The Ob River runs through the territory of Western Siberia, its length is 3650 km, together with the Irtysh it forms a river system with a length of 5410 km, and this is the sixth place in the world. The area of ​​the Ob River basin is 2990 thousand km².

It originates in the Altai mountains, at the sources of the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers, in the southern part of Novosibirsk, the constructed dam forms a reservoir, the so-called "Ob Sea", then the river flows through the Ob Bay (an area of ​​more than 4 thousand km²) into the Kara Sea, basin of the Arctic Ocean. The water in the river is characterized by a high content of organic matter and a low oxygen content. It is used for commercial fishing (valuable breeds - sturgeon, sterlet, nelma, muksun, chir, whitefish, peled, as well as small fish - pike, ide, burbot, dace, roach, crucian carp, perch), electricity production (Novosibirsk hydroelectric power station on the Ob, Bukhtarminskaya and Ust-Kamenogorskaya on the Irtysh), shipping ...

The length of the Yenisei River is 3487 km, it flows through the territory of Siberia, dividing it into the Western and Eastern parts. The Yenisei is one of the largest rivers in the world, together with the tributaries of the Angara, Selenga and the Ider River, it forms a large river system 5238 km long, with a basin area of ​​2580 thousand km².

The river begins in the Khangai Mountains, on the Ider River (Mongolia), flows into the Kara Sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean basin. The river itself is called the Yenisei near the city of Kyzyl (Krasnoyarsk Territory, Republic of Tyva), where the Bolshoi and Maly Yenisei rivers merge. It has a large number of tributaries (up to 500), about 30 thousand km long, the largest: Angara, Abakan, Lower Tunguska. Kureyka. Dudinka, etc. The river is navigable, it is one of the most important waterways in the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia, downstream there are such large hydroelectric power plants as Sayano-Shushenskaya, Mainskaya, Krasnoyarsk, timber rafting is carried out ...

The Amur River, 2824 km long, with a basin area of ​​1855 thousand km², flows in Russia (54%), China (44.2%) and Mongolia (1.8%). Its origins are in the mountains of western Manchuria (China), at the confluence of the Shilka and Argun rivers. The current has an eastern direction and passes through the territory of the Far East, starting at the Russian-Chinese border, its mouth is located in the Tatar Bay (its northern part is called the Amur Estuary) of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, which belongs to the Arctic Ocean basin. Large tributaries: Zeya, Bureya, Ussuri, Anyui, Sungari, Amgun.

The river is characterized by sharp fluctuations in water level, which is caused by summer and autumn monsoon precipitation, with heavy rainfall, a wide flood of water up to 25 km is possible, which lasts up to two months. Amur is used for navigation, large hydroelectric power plants (Zeyskaya, Bureyskaya) have been built here, commercial fishing is developed (Amur has the most developed ichthyofauna among all Russian rivers, about 140 species of fish live here, 39 of them are commercial) ...

One of the most famous rivers flowing in the European part of Russia, for which the words from the song are composed "Torasavitsa folk, like a full-flowing sea"- Volga. Its length is 3530 km, the basin area is 1360 thousand km² (1/3 of the entire European part of Russia), most of it passes through the territory of Russia (99.8%), the smaller part is in Kazakhstan (0.2%).

This is one of the largest rivers in Russia and all of Europe. Its sources are located on the Valdai plateau in the Tver region, it flows into the Caspian Sea, forming a delta, along the way receiving water from more than two hundred tributaries, the most significant of them is the left tributary of the Volga, the Kama River. The area around the river bed (there are 15 constituent entities of the Russian Federation) is called the Volga region, there are four large millionaire cities: Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara and Volgograd, 8 HPPs of the Volga-Kama cascade ...

The Ural River, 2428 km long (the third place in Europe after the Volga and Danube) and a basin area of ​​2310 thousand km², is unique in that it divides the continent of Eurasia into two parts of the world, Asia and Europe, so one of its banks lies in Europe, the other - in Asia.

The river flows through the territory of Russia and Kazakhstan, begins on the slopes of Uraltau (Bashkortostan), flows from north to south, then several times changing direction, then to the west, then to the south, then to the east, forms at the mouth with branches and flows into the Caspian. The Ural is used to an insignificant extent for navigation, in the Orenburg region on the river the Iriklinskoye reservoir and hydroelectric power station have been built, commercial fishing is carried out (sturgeon, roach, bream, pike perch, carp, asp, catfish, Caspian salmon, sterlet, nelma, kutum) ...

The Don River is one of the largest rivers in the European part of Russia, its length is 1870 km, the basin area is 422 thousand km², in terms of the volume of water flown it is the fourth in Europe after the Volga, Dnieper and Danube.

This river is one of the oldest, its age is 23 million years, its origins are in the small town of Novomoskovsk (Tula region), here begins a small river Urvanka, which gradually expands and absorbs water from other tributaries (there are about 5 thousand of them) spills into a wide channel and flows over large areas of southern Russia, flowing into the Taganrog Bay of the Azov Sea. The main tributaries of the Don are the Seversky Donets, Khoper, Medveditsa. The river is rapids and shallow, has a typical flat character; such large cities with a population of one million as Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don are located here. The Don is navigable from the mouth to the city of Voronezh, there are several reservoirs, the Tsimlyanskaya HPP ...

The Severnaya Dvina River, 744 km long and with a basin area of ​​357 thousand km², is one of the largest navigable rivers in the European part of Russia.

Its origins are the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug rivers under Veliky Ustyug (Vologda region), has a northern direction of flow to Arkhangelsk, then north-western and again northern, near Novodvinsk (a city in the Arkhangelsk region) forms a delta, consisting of several branches, its area - about 900 km², and flows into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea, the basin of the Arctic Ocean. The main tributaries are Vychegda, Vaga, Pinega, Yumizh. The river is navigable along its entire length; the oldest paddle steamer, built in 1911, “N.V. Gogol "...

The Neva River, flowing through the territory of the Leningrad Region, connecting Lake Ladoga with the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, is one of the most picturesque and full-flowing rivers in Russia. The length is 74 km, the basin area of ​​48 thousand rivers and 26 thousand lakes is 5 thousand km². 26 rivers and rivulets flow into the Neva, the main tributaries are Mga, Izhora, Okhta, Chernaya Rechka.

The Neva is the only river flowing from the Shlisselburg Bay in Lake Ladoga, its bed flows through the territory of the Neva Lowland, its mouth is in the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland, which is part of the Baltic Sea. On the banks of the Neva there are such cities as St. Petersburg, Shlisselburg, Kirovsk, Otradnoe, the river is navigable throughout its entire length ...

The Kuban River in the very south of Russia originates in Karachay-Cherkessia at the foot of Mount Elbrus (Caucasus Mountains) and flows through the territory of the North Caucasus, forming a delta, and flows into the Sea of ​​Azov. The length of the river is 870 km, the basin area is 58 thousand km ², 14 thousand tributaries, the largest of them are Afips, Laba, Pshish, Mara, Dzheguta, Gorkaya.

The largest reservoir in the Caucasus is located on the river - Krasnodar, Kuban cascade of hydroelectric power stations, the cities of Karachaevsk, Cherkessk, Armavir, Novokubansk, Krasnodar, Temryuk ...

The reservoirs of our planet are beautiful, each of them is unique. But there are rivers that flow through the whole country or several countries, striking in their size, rich in flora and fauna. We present to your attention the TOP 6 largest rivers in Europe.

1. Volga (Russia)

The Russian Federation is the largest country, and it is she who can be proud of the longest river in Europe. We are talking about the Volga, the length of which exceeds 3,500 km. The source of the Volga is hidden in the Tver region, it flows into the Caspian Sea, dividing in half the European part of the Russian Federation.

On the banks of the Upper Volga there are numerous forests, fields with agricultural crops, and gardens. The banks of the Lower Volga are rich in flora and fauna: 1.5 thousand species of insects and 200 species of birds. It is also important that 70 species of fish are found in the waters, 40 of them are commercial (bream, sturgeon, pike, ruff and others).

The Volga is strategically important, because the amount of fish caught from it provides 20% of the country's fishing. Hydroelectric power plants and reservoirs rise on the banks of the river; about half of the country's agricultural production is located in the basin.

2. Danube (10 European countries)

The source of this river can be found in the mountains of Germany. It flows through the lands of Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Croatia, Serbia, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria, flowing into the Black Sea. The length of the river exceeds 2800 km, the basin area reaches 800 thousand km, sometimes it is called the river of ten countries.

The Danube has one unique feature, which is that in a certain place it hides underground, going into the rocks. Not far from the source, the water is hidden under the ground, and after 12 km you can see the Aakhsky spring (spring).

The Danube has clean water, because the river is fed from melted mountain snow, streams, groundwater. But the water is colored brown due to the presence of a huge amount of silt particles. Therefore, the waters of the Danube can rightfully be considered the most turbid in the countries of Europe.

3. Ural (Kazakhstan, Russia)

The third largest river in Europe is called the Ural, it flows through the regions of Russia and Kazakhstan. Its length exceeds 2.4 thousand km, the basin area reaches 230 thousand km. The majestic river takes its beginning on the Uraltau ridge, its meandering water course goes to the Caspian Sea.

This river is considered the border that conventionally separates Europe and Asia. The opinion is erroneous, but a monument was erected in Orenburg long ago, on which it is written that on one side of the reservoir is Europe, and on the other - Asia.

Large industrial complexes are located near the water surface - this is a metallurgical plant, a reservoir, water from which is taken for irrigation of fields for growing watermelons. The Ural satisfies half of the fish needs of the population of Kazakhstan, so the river is of great economic importance for the development of this region.

4. Dnipro (Ukraine, Belarus, Russia)

The Dnieper (2200 km long) flows through the territory of 3 fraternal countries - Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The longest channel is located in Ukraine (48%), where many large cities and villages have been built on the banks of the river.

The Dnieper is characterized by a calm current, the source is located in a small swamp located in the Smolensk region, flows into the Black Sea. The waters are rich in fish, there are 60 species, but due to the poor ecological situation, some species of fish are gradually disappearing.

The Dnieper plays a huge role for the economy and waterways of Ukraine. Industrial enterprises, hydroelectric power plants, dams are located on the shore, water is used for irrigation of fields, passenger ships ply along the Dnieper.

Due to the active use of the Dnieper's resources, serious environmental problems have matured over the past 20 years. Some species of fish have disappeared from the waters, pollution by sewage has been recorded, and waterlogging occurs.

5. Don (Russia)

This famous river stretches for 1800 km across the territory of Russia, and its source is in the city of Novomoskovsk (Tula region). It flows through the European part of the country, flowing into the Sea of ​​Azov.

The river is important, because 65 species of fish, amphibians, and reptiles are found in its waters. The basin is based near the forest-steppe and steppe zones, but the active plowing of the steppe lands has led to the fact that many representatives of flora and fauna can no longer be seen in these territories.

Near the shores there are hydroelectric power plants, dams, in those areas where the depth allows, river vessels go, although navigation is difficult.

6. Pechora (Russia)

Located in the Komi Republic, it ranks 6th in the list of the largest rivers in Europe. The length is 1800 km, the source is in the Northern Urals. Fishing is well developed here, valuable deposits of oil, gas and minerals are concentrated in the Pechora basin.

Each of the above rivers is important for the regions through which it flows. The largest rivers in Europe provide huge amounts of water and electricity to large cities, from which fish are caught, and the water is used for the development of agriculture.

Russia occupies a vast geographic area, and it is not surprising that numerous rivers stretch across its expanses, which have played an important historical role in the settlement and development of new lands. Almost all the largest cities in the country are located on the rivers.

In total, there are about 3 million rivers on the territory of the Russian Federation, and all of them are an important component of the life of many people, animals and plants. Rivers provide us with food, water, electricity, places to rest, and also serve as transport routes connecting different settlements. It is an irreplaceable source of water for agriculture and industry.

In this article, you can get acquainted with the largest rivers in Russia, get their brief description and see the geographical location on the map of the country.

Rivers of the Russian Federation

Map of the largest rivers of Russia

The country's territory is divided into European and Asian parts. The dividing line is usually considered the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea. The rivers of the European part flow into the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The rivers of the Asian part flow into the Arctic and Pacific oceans.

The largest rivers in European Russia are the Volga, Don, Kama, Oka and Northern Dvina, while some rivers originate in Russia but flow into other countries, such as the Dnieper and Western Dvina. The following large rivers flow through the Asian expanses of the country: Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Angara, Lena, Yana, Indigirka and Kolyma.

Of the five main drainage basins: the Arctic, Pacific, Baltic, Black Sea and Caspian, the first, located in Siberia and including the northern part of the Russian Plain, is the most extensive. To a greater extent, this basin is filled with the three largest rivers of Russia: the Ob (3650 km), which, together with its main tributary, the Irtysh River, forms a river system with a length of 5410 km, the Yenisei (3487 km), and the Lena (4400 km). The sum of their catchment areas exceeds 8 million km², and the total water consumption is about 50,000 m³ / s.

The large rivers of Siberia provide transport arteries from the interior to the Arctic Sea Route, although they are blocked by ice for a long period each year. The small slope of the Ob River makes it slowly meander along the huge floodplain. Due to the northward current, from the headwaters to the lower boundaries of the thaw, extensive flooding occurs quite often, resulting in the development of huge swamps. The Vasyugan bogs in the Ob-Irtysh interfluve cover an area of ​​more than 50,000 km².

The rivers of the rest of Siberia (about 4.7 million km²) flow into the Pacific Ocean. In the north, where the watershed is close to the coast, numerous small, fast rivulets flow down the mountains, but most of southeastern Siberia is drained by the Amur River. For a greater stretch of its length, the Amur forms the border separating Russia and China. Ussuri, one of the Amur tributaries, forms another significant border line between the countries.

Three large catchments are located in European Russia south of the Arctic Basin. The Dnieper, only the upper reaches of which are in Russia, as well as the Don and Volga, is the longest European river, originating in the northwest of the Valdai Upland and flowing into the Caspian Sea. Second only to the Siberian rivers, the Volga basin covers an area of ​​1,380,000 km². The rivers of the East European Plain have long served as important transport arteries; in fact, the Volga river system provides two-thirds of the traffic of the entire Russian inland waterway.

10 largest and longest rivers in Russia

Many mighty rivers flow through the territory of the Russian Federation, but the size of some of them is truly impressive. Below is a list and maps of the country's largest rivers, both in length and in catchment area.

Lena

The Lena River is one of the longest rivers on the planet. It originates near Lake Baikal in southern Russia and flows to the west, and then, above Yakutsk, smoothly turns north, where it flows into the Laptev Sea (basin of the Arctic Ocean). Near its mouth, the river forms a huge 32,000 km delta, which is the largest in the Arctic and the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia.

The Lena Delta, which floods every spring, serves as an important nesting and migration area for birds, and also supports a rich fish population. The river is home to 92 planktonic species, 57 benthos species and 38 fish species. Sturgeon, burbot, chum salmon, whitefish, nelma and albula are the most commercially important fish species.

Swans, dippers, geese, ducks, plovers, sandpipers, snipe, phalaropes, terns, skuas, birds of prey, sparrows and gulls are just some of the migratory birds that nest in the Lena's productive wetlands.

Ob

The Ob is the seventh longest river in the world, stretching over a distance of 3650 kilometers in the West Siberian region of the Russian Federation. This river, which is of great economic importance for Russia, arises at the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers in Altai. It mainly passes through the country, although many of its tributaries originate in China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The Ob is connected to its largest tributary by the Irtysh River, about 69 ° east longitude. It flows into the Kara Sea of ​​the Arctic Ocean, forming the Ob Bay. The river has a huge catchment area of ​​about 2.99 million km².

The habitat surrounding the Ob consists of endless expanses of steppe and taiga flora in the upper and middle reaches of the river. Birches, pines, firs and cedars are some of the famous trees growing in these areas. Thickets of willow, wild rose and bird cherry also grow along the watercourse. The river basin is replete with aquatic flora and fauna, including more than 50 species of fish (sturgeon, carp, perch, nelma and peled, etc.) and about 150 species of birds. Minks, wolves, Siberian moles, otters, beavers, ermines and other native mammals. In the lower reaches of the Ob, the arctic tundra is characterized by snowy landscapes for most of the year. Polar bears, arctic foxes, snowy owls and arctic hares represent this region.

Volga

The longest river in Europe, the Volga, which is often considered the national river of Russia, has a large basin covering almost two-thirds of European Russia. The Volga originates in the north-west of the Valdai Upland, and flows to the south, overcoming 3530 km, where it flows into the Caspian Sea. About 200 tributaries join the river along the entire route. Eleven large cities of the country, including Moscow, are based along the Volga basin, which covers an area of ​​1.36 million km².

The climate in the river basin changes along its course from north to south. The northern regions are characterized by a temperate climate with cold, snowy winters and warm, humid summers. The southern regions are characterized by cool winters and hot dry summers. The Volga Delta is one of the richest habitats, home to 430 plant species, 127 fish species, 260 bird species and 850 aquatic species.

Yenisei

The mouth of the Yenisei River is located near the city of Kazyl, where it merges with the Small Yenisei River, which originates in Mongolia and flows northward, where it drains a huge territory of Siberia, before flowing into the Kara Sea (Arctic Ocean), having made a path of 3487 km. The Angara River, which flows out of Lake Baikal, is one of the main tributaries of the upper Yenisei.

The waters of the Yenisei are home to about 55 species of local fish, including Siberian sturgeon, flounder, roach, northern pike, Siberian gudgeon, tench and sterlet. A large part of the river basin is surrounded by, mainly consisting of the following species of conifers: fir, cedar, pine and larch. In some areas of the upper reaches of the Yenisei, there are also steppe pastures. In the north, boreal forests give way to arctic ones. Musk deer, elk, roe deer and Japanese mouse are some species of mammals that live in the taiga forests along the river. Also, there are such birds as Siberian blue robin, Siberian lentils, wood grouse and wood snipe. Ducks, geese and swans are found in the lower reaches during the summer season.

Lower Tunguska

The Lower Tunguska is a right tributary of the Yenisei, flowing through the Irkutsk Region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia. Its length is 2989 km, and the basin area is 473 thousand km². The river stretches near the watershed between the basin of the Yenisei and Lena rivers and flows north and then west through the Central Siberian plateau.

In the upper reaches, the river forms a wide valley with numerous shoals, but after turning to the west, the valley narrows, and numerous gorges and rapids appear. The vast Tunguska coal basin lies in the river basin.

Amur

Amur is the tenth longest river in the world, located in East Asia and forms the border between the Far Eastern District of the Russian Federation and Northeast China. The river originates at the confluence of the Shilka and Argun rivers. The Amur flows for 2825 km to the northwestern Pacific Ocean and empties into the Sea of ​​Okhotsk.

The river has many vegetation zones in various parts of its basin, including taiga forests and swamps, Manchu mixed forests, Amur meadow steppes, forest-steppe, steppes and tundra. The wetlands along the Amur Basin are some of the most valuable ecosystems that are home to a huge variety of flora and fauna. It is an important home for millions of migratory birds, including white storks and Japanese cranes. The river basin is home to over 5000 species of vascular plants, 70 species of mammals and 400 species of birds. It is home to rare and endangered species such as the Amur tiger and the Far Eastern leopard, the most iconic mammalian species in the region. A wide variety of fish species live in the waters of the Amur: about 100 species in the lower reaches and 60 in the upper. Chum salmon, burbot and whitefish are some of the most commercially important northern fish species.

Viluy

Vilyui is a river in Central and Eastern Siberia, flowing mainly through the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in the east of Russia. This is the largest tributary of the Lena, 2650 km long and a basin area of ​​about 454 thousand km².

Vilyui originates in the Central Siberian Plateau and first flows eastward, then south and southeast, and again eastward to the confluence with the Lena (about 300 km northwest of the city of Yakutsk). The river and adjacent reservoirs are rich in commercial fish species.

Kolyma

With a length of more than 2,100 kilometers and a basin area of ​​643 thousand km², the Kolyma is the largest river in Eastern Siberia, flowing into the Arctic Ocean. The upper reaches of this river system began to develop in the Cretaceous period, when the main watershed between the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Arctic Ocean was formed.

At the beginning of its journey, Kolyma makes its way through narrow gorges with numerous rapids. Gradually, its valley expands, and below the confluence with the Zyryanka River, it flows through the wide swampy Kolyma Lowland, and then flows into the East Siberian Sea.

Ural

The Ural is a large river flowing in Russia and Kazakhstan, 2428 km long (1550 km on the territory of the Russian Federation), and a basin area of ​​about 231 thousand km². The river originates in the Ural Mountains on the slopes of the Kruglaya Sopka and flows in a southerly direction. In the city of Orsk, it turns sharply to the west through the southern outskirts of the Urals, past Orenburg, and again turns south, heading towards the Caspian Sea. Its flow has a large spring maximum, and freeze-up lasts from late November to April. The river is navigated to the city of Oral in Kazakhstan. The dam and hydroelectric power station were built on the Iriklinsky reservoir, south of the city of Magnitogorsk.

The wetlands in the Ural Delta are especially important for migratory birds as the main refuge along the Asian flyway. The river is also important for many species of fish in the Caspian Sea that visit its deltas and migrate upstream for spawning. In the lower reaches of the river, there are 47 species from 13 families. The family of cyprinids accounts for 40% of the species diversity of fish, sturgeon and herring - 11%, perches - 9% and salmonids - 4.4%. The main commercial species are sturgeon, roach, bream, pike perch, carp, asp and catfish. Rare species include Caspian salmon, sterlet, nelma and kutum. In the Urals delta and the surrounding areas, there are about 48 species of animals, of which 21 species are taught to the detachment of rodents.

Don

The Don is one of the largest rivers in the Russian Federation and the 5th longest river in Europe. Its basin is located between the Dnieper-Donetsk depression in the west, the Volga basin in the east, and the Oka river basin (a tributary of the Volga) in the north.

The Don originates in the city of Novomoskovsk 60 km southeast of Tula (120 km south of Moscow), and flows about 1870 km to the Sea of ​​Azov. From its source, the river goes southeast to Voronezh, and then southwest to the mouth. The main tributary of the Don is the Seversky Donets.

Table of the largest rivers of the Russian Federation