A huge number of rivers and streams flow through the territory of Russia - about two and a half million! Most of them are small. But there are those who are worthy of taking an appropriate place in the rating called "The Largest Rivers of Russia". So…
Northern Dvina
In tenth place is the Northern Dvina, which is part of the White Sea basin. It got its name, meaning "double river", because it was formed by the confluence of two rivers - the South and the Sukhan.
The Northern Dvina flows through the Arkhangelsk and Volgograd regions of Russia. Its length is 744 kilometers. And the pool area is 357 thousand square meters. km. It was on the Northern Dvina that Russian shipbuilding was born.
Indigirka and Khatanga
Ninth and eighth place in the ranking are occupied by such largest rivers in Russia as the Indigirka and Khatanga, respectively.
Indigirka flows through the lands of Yakutia (Republic of Sakha). The water flow originates on the Halkan Range, where two rivers merge - Kuydusana and Omekona, and then enters the East Siberian Sea.
Khatanga flows in the Krasnoyarsk TerritoryRussia, flows into the Khatan Bay of the Laptev Sea. It also formed at the confluence of the Kotuy and Kheta rivers.
The area of the Indigirka river basin reaches 360 thousand square meters. km, and Khatanga - 364 thousand. Today, these rivers are one of the main waterways of North-Eastern Russia. Fishing and rafting are popular here.
Don
In seventh place - Don. It bypasses all the major rivers of Russia on the southern uplands. It starts in the Tula region, flows through the territories of the Voronezh, Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd regions. It flows into the Sea of Azov (Taganrog Bay).
The name of the river was given by the Iranian peoples who once settled in the territories of the Northern Black Sea region. Don is translated from Iranian as "river".
The course of a water artery is usually divided into three sections: the Upper Don (from the source to the place where the Quiet Pine River flows into it), the Middle (to the city of Kalach-on-Don) and the Lower (from the Tsimlyansk reservoir and to 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) is the Kolyma. It surpasses all the major rivers of 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 the confluence of the Kula and Ayan-Yuryakh rivers. The mouth of the water body under consideration is the East Siberian Sea, or rather, the Kolyma Bay.
Kolyma was discovered by the Cossacks following the discovery of such large Russian rivers as the Indigirka (in 1638) and Alazeya (1639). In 1644, on its banks, the Cossack Mikhail Stadukhin founded the Nizhne-Kolyma winter hut and compiled the first information about the militant Chukchi from the North.
Volga
The fifth largest river is the Mother Volga. It flows in the European part of Russia, and its lower branch captures the territory of Kazakhstan. The water artery originates from a spring on the Valdai plateau (Tver region) and flows into the Caspian Sea.
The area of the Volga basin bypasses all the largest rivers of the European part of Russia. It ranks fourth in length. The Volga is recognized as the largest in Europe and the largest river in the world (of those that flow into inland waters).
The length of the water flow reaches 3530 km, and the area is 1,361,000 square meters. km.
Cupid and Lena
The fourth and third places, respectively, are occupied by such large Russian rivers as the Amur and Lena.
Amur-father flows through the territory of three countries at once (Mongolia, China and Russia). The name of the river comes from the Tungus-Manchurian word "amar", which translates as "big river". The basin area is over 1.8 million square meters. km, and the length is 2824 km.
The source of the Lena is in the Siberian mountains, the river flows through the territory of Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk, Zabaikalsky and Khabarovsk Territories, as well as the Republic of Buryatia, and flows into the Laptev Sea. The length is 4480 km, and the area is 1.5 million square meters. km, which gives it the right to be called the thirdriver of Russia. Lena was discovered in the 17th century by the same Cossacks.
Yenisei
Yenisei for 90 thousand square meters. km surpasses the Lena in area (its basin is 2,580,000 sq. km), and therefore takes second place in the ranking of "The largest rivers of Russia".
This object received its name from the Evenki word "Ionessi", which translates as "big water", or from the ancient Kyrgyz "Ene-Sai" - "mother river". Its mouth is located 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. The Yenisei is considered the seventh largest river in the world.
Ob
And finally, the largest river in Russia - the Ob. It was formed in the place where two rivers merged - Katun and Biya. The length of the water artery reaches 5410 km, and the area is almost 3 million square meters. km! The Ob is spread over the lands of Western Siberia. The mouth of the river is the Gulf of Ob (a bay in the Kara Sea). The Ob is considered the second largest river in Asia. The first is the Chinese Yangtze.
All the tribes that ever lived on the banks of the Ob gave it its name. So, the Mansi and the Khanty called it "As", which meant "big river", and the Nenets - "Salya-yam", translated as "cape river". In the Selkup language, the Ob sounded like “Eme”, “Kuai” or “Kwai”, which meant “steep river”.
This water body is of great industrial and economic importance for the whole of Russia. This is where oil and gas are produced. Most of all peat reserves of the countries are stored in the regions of the ObCIS. In addition, the largest volumes of fish caught here.
