Volga River
From Freepedia
- "Volga" redirects here. For other uses, see Volga (disambiguation).
| Volga River | |
|---|---|
| Volga in Yaroslavl (autumn morning) | |
| Origin | Valdai Hills |
| Mouth | Caspian Sea |
| Basin Countries | Russia |
| Length | 3,690 km (2,293 mi) |
| Source Elevation | 225 m (738 ft) |
| Avg. Discharge | 8,000 m³/s (282,517 ft³/s) |
| Watershed Area | 1,380,000 km² (532,821 mi²) |
The Volga river in Western Russia, Europe's longest river, with a length of 3,690 km (2,293 miles), provides the core of the largest river system in Europe.
The names of the Volga in the languages of different ethnic populations located along it are:
Contents |
Description
Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 m (740 ft) above sea level north-west of Moscow and about 320 kilometres south-east of Saint Petersburg, the Volga heads east past Tver', Dubna, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan (Qazan). From there it turns south, flows past Tolyatti, Samara and Volgograd, and discharges into the Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 metres below sea level. At its most strategic point, it bends toward the Don ("the big bend"). Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, is placed there.
The Volga has many tributaries, most importantly the Kama, the Oka, the Vetluga, and the Sura rivers. The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which drains an area of about 1.35 million square kilometres in the most heavily populated part of Russia. The Volga Delta has a length of about 160 kilometres and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The Volga freezes for most of its length during three months of each year.
The Volga drains most of Western Russia. Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow-Volga Canal, the Volga-Don Canal, and the Mariinsk Canal systems form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. High levels of chemical pollution currently give cause for environmental concern.
The fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat, and also has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centres on the Volga valley. Other minerals include natural gas, salt, and potash. The Volga Delta and the nearby Caspian Sea offer superb fishing grounds. Astrakhan, at the delta, is the centre of the caviar industry.
Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod are vital manufacturing cities on the banks of the Volga. During Soviet rule, Nizhny Novgorod was closed to foreigners. Other important cities on the river include Saratov, Kazan, Tolyatti, and Samara. Nine major hydroelectric power stations and several large artificial lakes formed by dams lie along the Volga. The largest of the lakes are, from north to south, the Rybinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, and Volgograd reservoirs.
Confluents
(In orography sequence)
Human History
In ancient historical times the Volga was known as the Atil, Itil or Idil, a Turkic name meaning "long river." The arrival of the Turkics, however, postdates the more remote occupation of the region by Indoeuropeans. Specifically, "Volga" is probably a Slavicization of a proto-Baltic name related to Lithuanian Jilga, "long river". The upper Volga was the border of a prehistoric Baltic-speaking population, as attested by river names. Such names as Ilgupe, "the long river", and others like it are frequent in Lithuania and Latvia. (Gimbutas, The Balts, 1963).
The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentions the Volga in his Geography (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the Rha, which is still a third ancient name. It refers, however, to the lower Volga. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the Hyperborean Mountains. Perhaps the mountains are the Valdai Hills, but the name is used by other sources to mean an unknown region to the north. People of Baltic customs appear in some of them. Nevertheless, we know the Slavs were on the lower Volga, because Ptolemy mentions the Serbi dwelling on the west bank.
Subsequently the river basin played an important role in the movements of peoples from Asia to Europe. A powerful Bulgarian empire once flourished where the Kama river joins the Volga. They had arrived with the Huns, subsequently moving on to present-day Bulgaria, which name descends from "Volga." Also, the Volga passed through the Khazar khaganate.
In modern times, the city on the big bend of the Volga, Volgograd, witnessed the Battle of Stalingrad, the outcome of which was a major victory of the Soviet Union over Germany in World War II. The Russian people's deep feeling for the Volga often finds echoes in their songs and literature. Russia was, after all, originally founded along the Volga, partly by Viking entrepreneurs using it as a road to the south from an entry point at or near Archangel.
Ethnic Groups
The Volga region is home to a German minority group, the Volga Germans, many of whom were invited to settle in Russia by various czars, such as Peter the Great, as part of a campaign to improve the country by importing skills. Under the Soviet Union a slice of the region was turned into the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to house many of the Volga Germans. Others were evicted from Russia after WWII.
Miscellaneous
The Song of the Volga Boatmen is a well-known traditional Russian song.
Song of the Volga Boatmen
(Traditional)
Refrain
Yo, heave ho! Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Verse 1
Now we fell the stout birch tree,
Now we pull hard: one, two, three.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Now we fell the stout birch tree
Yo, heave ho!
Hey, hey, let's heave a-long the way
to the sun we sing our song
Verse 2
As the barges float along,
To the sun we sing our song.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
To the sun we sing our song.
Hey, hey, let's heave a-long the way
to the sun we sing our song
Verse 3
Volga, Volga our pride,
Mighty stream so deep and wide.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Mighty stream so deep and wide.
Volga, Volga you're our pride.
