Niagara is a river that is one of the major water streams in North America. Her beauty is to be envied. After all, this is not an easy channel flowing through the area. The uniqueness of the river is that it has many waterfalls. They are known all over the world. A lot of people strive to come here at least once to see this unearthly beauty with their own eyes.
Description of Niagara (briefly)
Many are interested in exactly where the Niagara River flows from and from which lake. The watercourse originates from Lake Erie. The river is the geographic 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 flow is directed mainly to the north, the volume of water is 665 thousand square meters. km. What lake does the Niagara River flow into? As you can already understand from the information described above, the water flow ends its journey in Canada. He falls into the lakeOntario.
Hydronym
The name of the river came to us from the Indians living in this area. In the language of the Iroquois, it was called Ongiara, literally translated "land in half." This was mainly due to the fact that in the upper reaches of the Niagara it is divided into two branches, due to which the islands were formed. Some of them belong to the United States (Grand Island) and one belongs to Canada (Navi Island).
A bit of history
Niagara is a river that is over 6,000 years old. Her story is truly unique. During this time, many significant events took place. 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 reservoirs 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 is a special river, 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 in the world. It has a complex system of rapids, so a canal, the Welland, was artificially built to bypass it.
Niagara Miracle is not the only site, but a complex consisting of several places where river water falls sharply from a fairly high altitude. Together they form a single wide system of waterfalls. The height of the cliffs is significantlyfluctuates. The highest points of these waterfalls are more than 50 m (located beyond the Canadian border), and the height of those located on the territory of America is 21 m. forming a stone pile at the foot.
Importance of waterfalls for countries
This complex consists of three waterfalls - American, Canadian "Horseshoe" and a section called "Veil". In their width, they are located more than 1,000 m, and the power of the stream allows it to be used to generate hydropower. Because the Niagara is a river of character, several significant hydroelectric power plants have been built under its waterfalls.
As a source of energy, river water was first used at the end of the 18th century. Small farmers and entrepreneurs built small canals and supplied their businesses with electricity. But already in large-scale volumes, a strong water stream began to be used at the end of the 19th century after the invention of the alternating current generator by Tesla. Currently, factories and enterprises have been built at the foot of the waterfalls that successfully use the energy of water.
The value of the Niagara stream
Understanding where the Niagara River is located is very important, since several cities are located on its full-flowing banks:
- Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Lewis - in the US.
- Fort Erie and Niagra Falls off the coast of Canada.
The river, along with waterfalls, has a hugeeconomic value for these two countries. And also this place is popular with tourists, which brings considerable income to the treasury of states.
Shipping
The Niagara River is full-flowing, suitable for heavy navigable ships. But because of the waterfall, the path is interrupted. To solve the problem, a special canal was built around the cliff, allowing ships to navigate the river from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes and back since the 1960s. Now, annually the total amount of cargo transported along this route reaches 40 million tons.
The canal has a modern equipment system, equipped with 8 shipping locks that can control the water level and provide a comfortable transition from one water basin to another.
Tourism
Undoubtedly, waterfalls are very popular in the tourist aspect. Every year, millions of tourists from all over the world come to see the miracle of nature. For this, a powerful infrastructure has been developed here. Tourists have the opportunity to tour the waterfall by cable car, helicopter or hot air balloon. A large number of observation platforms and towers have been built here. There are guided tours even at night, when the waterfalls shimmer with colorful lanterns and spotlights.
The most popular "attraction" in Niagara Falls is a walk under the falling waters on special boats.
Niagara Falls is one of the oldest naturalreserves in the USA. Not only beauty lovers rush here on an excursion, but also people who crave extreme sports. So, in 1901, an ordinary elementary school teacher, Mrs. Taylor, on her 63rd birthday, decided to jump from a waterfall in a wooden barrel. Subsequently, her act was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.
Now the laws of Canada and the United States forbid going down the waterfall by any means, but this does not stop the daredevils.
