Volga is one of the deepest rivers in Russia. It flows through the European part of the country, and its mouth is located in the Caspian Sea. Officially, it is believed that the length of the Volga is 3,530 km. But if we add some more reservoirs to this figure, it turns out that the length of the queen of Russian rivers will be 3,692 km. The Volga is the longest river in all of Europe.
The area of its basin is 1 million 380 thousand square meters. km. Interestingly, there are already mentions of the Volga in the writings of the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy. He calls it "Ra" in his studies. And the Arabs once called the Volga the word "Itil", which means "river".
Barge haulers and Volga
For all time, the Volga entered history because of the use of heavy burlak labor. It was necessary only at a time when the movement of ships turned out to be impossible against its current, that is, during floods. During the day, the burlatskaya artel could travel up to ten kilometers. And the total number of working barge haulers for the entire season could reach six hundred.
Sources of the great river
Riveroriginates on the Valdai Upland. Not far from the village of Volgoverkhovye, several springs are beating out of the ground. One of these springs is recognized as the source of the great Volga. This spring is surrounded by a chapel. All springs in this area flow into a small lake, from which, in turn, a stream flows no more than a meter wide. The depth of the Volga (if we conditionally designate this stream as the beginning of a great river) here is only 25-30 cm.
It is believed that the Volga exists mainly due to snow. About 60% of all its nutrition is due to melting snow. Another third of the Volga is provided by groundwater. And rain food accounts for only 10%.
Upper Volga: depth and other characteristics
Moving further, the stream becomes wider and then flows into a lake called Sterzh. Its length is 12 km, width is 1.5 km. And the total area is 18 km². The rod is part of the Upper Volga reservoir, the total length of which is 85 km. And already behind the reservoir begins a part of the river, called the Upper. The depth of the Volga here averages from 1.5 to 2.1 m.
The Volga, like most other rivers, is conditionally divided into three parts - Upper, Middle and Lower. The first big city on the way of this river is Rzhev. It is followed by the ancient city of Tver. The Ivankovskoye reservoir, which stretches for 146 km, is located in this area. In its area, the depth of the river also increases to 23 m. The Volga in the Tver region stretches for 685 km.
There is a section of the river in the Moscow region, butin this area it occupies no more than 9 km. Not far from it is the city of Dubna. And next to the Ivankovskaya dam, its largest tributary in the Moscow region, the Dubna River of the same name, also flows into the Volga. Here, in the 30s of the XX century, a canal was built. Moscow, connecting the Moscow River and the Ivankovskoye reservoir, the waters of which are indispensable for the economy of the capital.
Further downstream is the Uglich reservoir. Its length is 146 km. The depth of the Volga at the Uglich reservoir is 5 meters. The Rybinsk reservoir, which is the northernmost point of the Volga, has a depth of 5.6 m. Behind it, the river changes its direction from northeast to southeast.
Volga depth and other indicators in the middle and lower sections
Section of the Middle Volga begins at the point where it flows into the Oka - the largest right tributary of the river. On this place stands Nizhny Novgorod - one of the largest settlements in Russia. The width and depth of the Volga here are:
- channel width is from 600 m to 2 km;
- maximum depth is about 2 m.
After the confluence with the Oka, the Volga becomes more and more wide. Near Cheboksary, the great river meets an obstacle - the Cheboksary hydroelectric power station. The length of the Cheboksary reservoir is 341 m, the width is about 16 km. Its greatest depth is 35 m, the average is 6 m. And the river becomes even larger and more powerful when the Kama River flows into it.
From this point begins a section of the Lower Volga, and now it flows into the Caspian Sea. Even higher upflow, after the Volga goes around the Togliatti mountains, the largest of all its reservoirs, the Kuibyshevskoye, is located. Its length is 500 m, its width is 40 km, and its depth is 8 m.
How deep is the Volga in its delta? Great River Delta Features
The length of the delta near the Caspian Sea is about 160 km. The width is about 40 km. About 500 canals and small rivers are included in the delta. It is believed that the mouth of the Volga is the largest in all of Europe. Here you can meet unique representatives of the animal and plant world - pelicans, flamingos, and even see a lotus. Here it is already difficult to talk about such a parameter as the depth of the Volga. The maximum depth of the river in its delta is, according to various estimates, up to 2.5 m. The minimum is 1-1.7 m.
In size, this section of the Volga surpasses even the deltas of such rivers as the Terek, Kuban, Rhine and Maas. He, like the river itself, played a very important role in the formation of the first settlements in these territories. There were trade routes that connected the Lower Volga with Persia and other Arab countries. The tribes of the Khazars and Polovtsy settled here. Presumably in the 13th century. a Tatar settlement called Ashtarkhan first appeared here, which eventually became the beginning of Astrakhan.
What is unusual about the Volga Delta
The peculiarity of the Volga delta is that, unlike other deltas, it is not a sea, but a lake. After all, the Caspian Sea is essentially a large lake, since it is not connected with the World Ocean. The Caspian is called the sea only thanks toimpressive size that makes it look like the sea.
The Volga flows through the territory of 15 subjects of the Russian Federation and is one of the most important water arteries for industry, shipping, energy and other important areas of the state.
