The largest tributary of the largest river. Left tributary of the Dnieper. Right tributaries of the Dnieper River. The longest tributary in the world

Its length is 3530 km, and the basin area of ​​\u200b\u200b1.3 million km² can be envied by many European countries. In ancient times it was known as Ra, in the Middle Ages it was called Itil.

It starts among swampy lakes. Moving from west to east, it flows through the meandering valley through the Central Russian Upland. Each new tributary of the Volga, merging with it, makes it more and more full-flowing. Having reached the foothills of the Urals, near the city of Kazan, the channel turns sharply to the south and, breaking through a chain of ridges, reaches a huge delta.

The river system includes about 151 thousand various watercourses, the total length of which exceeds 574 thousand kilometers. 300 others, smaller in length, pour into the river. Most of them flow into it on the segment from the source to the city of Kazan. It should be noted that the left tributaries are much larger than the right ones, and besides, they are also much more abundant in water. At 85 km from Kazan, the Kama, the largest tributary of the Volga, flows into the river.

Who is more important: ancient Ra or Kama

The most important water artery of the European part of Russia becomes truly large and full-flowing after the confluence with the Kama. Near the city of Tolyatti, the dam, having blocked the channel, forms a huge Kuibyshev reservoir. The largest left tributary of the Volga flows into this reservoir.

According to the main hydrological indicators, the Kama should be considered the main one, and the Volga - its right tributary. The first observations of scientists, carried out back in 1875, showed that at the confluence it carries 3100 m 3 of water per second in its channel, and the Kama - 4300. It turns out that the Volga tributary is more full-flowing. This is explained by the fact that the main part of its basin is located in the taiga zone, where precipitation is higher than in other parts of the Volga basin.

There are several other signs, according to which the Kama should be considered the main river. One of them is that its source is located above the beginning of the Volga, and in geography this is a sign of dominance. And in terms of the total number of tributaries, the great Russian river is inferior to the Kama.

And most importantly, the Kama already existed at a time when the most famous Russian river did not yet exist. In the first half, until the largest glaciation, the Kama, merging with the Vishera, carried its waters along the ancient channel to the Caspian Sea.

But in the history of Russia and in its culture, the significance of big river Europe is undeniably more significant. Therefore, the Kama is a tributary of the Volga, period.

River up ice age

The Oka can also be considered the progenitor of the Volga, since its valley was formed before the onset of the ice age. It begins on the Central Russian Upland, the height of its source is 226 m. It flows into the main river near the city of Nizhny Novgorod. The area of ​​its basin is 245,000 km2. The length of the Oka is 1480 kilometers, and according to the nature of the flow, it is a typical flat river with an average slope of about 0.11 o / oo. The largest right tributary of the Volga, according to the characteristics of the river valley and channel, is divided into upper and lower parts. Such people fall into the Oka famous rivers like Moscow, Moksha and Klyazma.

Russia has never experienced a lack of fresh water. There are more than a thousand rivers in the country. And some streams don't even have a name. Among all this water splendor and diversity, giant rivers still stand out. They, with a length from source to mouth of more than five hundred kilometers, can be counted exactly two hundred and twenty-one pieces. But this is not the limit. After all, there are giant rivers with a length of more than four thousand kilometers. There are only four of them in our country: the Ob, Lena, Yenisei and Amur. But what is the longest river in Russia? We will try to answer this question below.

Difficulties in counting

Unlike mountains, where it is not difficult to determine the highest peak with a level, it is not so simple with rivers. Where to look for the source? What if a river is named after the confluence of two or more main tributaries? Should I add their length? Sometimes tributaries are longer than the river itself. For example, the Irtysh flows 4248 kilometers, and then flows into the Ob. And this river is shorter than its own tributary by 600 km. From the confluence to the mouth, it has a length of 3650 kilometers. Sometimes the sources are lost somewhere in the middle of the swamps. Small streams remain nameless for a long time. This happened with the river, which was considered the longest on our planet. In old geography textbooks, it was written that the Nile has the greatest length - 6670 km. However, recent studies give the palm to the Amazon. She is not only the most long river on the planet (6800 km), but also the most full-flowing. Mouths also cause problems with counting. The giants wash away the coast, forming lagoons and bays. In these areas, the water is half salty, mixed with sea water. And finally, borders. Some water arteries flow through the territory different countries and sometimes in each section they have other names. For example, the Western Dvina turns into the Daugava. Let's first study the question of what is the longest river in Russia with one name.

Our giants

It so happened that most of the longest rivers in our country flow beyond the Urals, in the Asian part. On the European territory of Russia, only the Volga almost falls short of four thousand kilometers. Its length is "only" 3690 km. However, this did not prevent it from becoming the longest European river. It is important that the source of this water artery is also located on the territory of the Russian Federation - in the Tver region. But other rivers that occupy the top lines in the ranking in terms of length begin in Ukraine, Belarus, China or Mongolia. The Volga is primordially ours, from the key, lost in the swamps on the Valdai Upland, to the very mouth at the Caspian Sea. But the longest river in Russia, flowing under one name, is the Lena, which flows into the Laptev Sea. Its length is 4269 kilometers. Then follow the Irtysh, the Ob, the Volga and the Yenisei. It is also impossible not to mention the Lower Tunguska (2989), Amur (2824), Ishim and the Urals.

The longest tributary in the world

The Irtysh is not an independent river. This is just a left tributary flowing into the Ob. In addition, for some distance it flows through the territory of China and Kazakhstan. But if we add only its Russian length to the main artery, then the problem of which river is longer in Russia again becomes unresolved. The Irtysh flows 4248 km. It is the longest tributary in the world. Merging with the Ob, its waters flow for another 3650 km. And that's just before it hits the lip. This Ob Bay-estuary stretches for another eight hundred kilometers. The river itself flows from southeast to north and is formed from the confluence of the Biya and Katun in the Altai Territory. Here, consider yourself. If we take into account tributaries with a different name, then the longest river in Russia is the Ob. It also turns out to be the longest water artery of the planet - more than seven thousand eight hundred kilometers.

Another frame of reference

The science of hydrology determines the beginning of a river not from its name, but from the source of its longest tributary. Let's take Lena as an example. This is not the longest river in Russia has a length of 4269 km. But this is only by the name "Lena". And if we consider scientifically, then it is necessary to calculate the main, longest inflow. They are Vitim. Why is he so interesting? The fact is that it flows into the Lena more than two thousand seven hundred kilometers from its mouth. upper reaches main river shorter than Vitim. Therefore, hydrologists calculate the length of the Lena from this main tributary. It has a length of one thousand eight hundred thirty-seven kilometers. The tributary itself is formed from the confluence of two rivers - the Vitimkan (141) and the Chin (132). Since the first of them is longer, then the length of Lena is calculated from it. So what do we have? Vitimkan + Vitim + those 2714 kilometers of the Lena from the confluence of the main tributary to the mouth. Total we get 4692 kilometers.

The five longest river systems in Russia

If we make the calculation as the science of hydrology dictates, then the alignment of the water giants changes somewhat. The title of "the longest river in Russia" remains with the Ob. However, its length is already inferior to the Amazon, the Nile and even the Yangtze. Let's do a simple calculation. The length of the main tributary - the Irtysh - is 4248 km. But it connects with the Ob only one thousand one hundred and sixty-two kilometers to the mouth. Thus, when adding these two numbers, we get 5410 km. The second place in the ranking of the longest river systems is the Yenisei. If you add the Angara, Lake Baikal and Selenga to its length, you get five thousand sixty kilometers. Lena with tributaries occupies the third position. On the fourth - Amur with Argun (4444 km). And the Volga closes the Top 5 of these huge river systems with its main right "hand" - the Oka (3731 km).

Calculation by nationality

Well, what if we put the territory of Russia at the forefront? After all, many giant rivers originate and flow in other states. So, for example, is the case with Ob. Directly through the territory of the Russian Federation flows a section with a length of three thousand and fifty kilometers. Of the Yenisei system, Russia accounts for 4460 km out of 5060. What is the longest river in our country? Let's make a list so that the starting point is an inflow located in the Russian Federation. In this case, the Lena is the longest water artery, since both Vitim and Vitimkan are born here. The second longest river in Russia is the Ob. We calculate its length by the tributaries of the Chulym and the White Iyus - 4565 km. In third place is the Yenisei. 4460 km of this mighty river flows through the territory of Russia. The fourth position is occupied by the Amur - 4133 km out of a total length of 4444. The list is closed by

The Volga originates on the Valdai Upland (height 228 meters), it flows into the basin of the Caspian Sea. The mouth of the river is below the ocean level - almost 28 meters, and the height of its total fall is 256 meters. In total, the Volga has 200 tributaries, the left ones of which are much more abundant and more numerous than the right ones. The river system of the Volga basin includes 151 thousand watercourses in the form of rivers, streams and temporary tributaries, the total length of which is 574 thousand kilometers. The river basin extends from the western (Central Russian and Valdai) uplands to the eastern Urals.

At the Saratov latitude, the Volga basin narrows sharply and flows further from Kamyshin to the Caspian Sea without any tributaries. The main feeding part of the river catchment area The Volga is the largest watercourse located in the forest zone extending to Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod. Through the forest-steppe zone, which extends to Saratov and Samara, the middle part of the giant Volga basin flows, and its lower part flows to Volgograd in the steppe zone.

The main tributaries of the Volga

The Volga is conditionally divided into upper, middle and lower parts. The upper one flows from the source to the mouth of the Oka River, the middle one - from the place where the Oka flows into it and to the mouth of the Kama, the lower one - from the confluence of the Kama to the Caspian Sea basin. The largest tributaries of the Volga in its upper reaches are Selizharovka (length 36 kilometers), Darkness (length 142 kilometers), Tvertsa (length 188 kilometers), Mologa (length 456 kilometers), Sheksna (length 139 kilometers) and Unzha (length 426 kilometers) .

After the construction of the Kuibyshev reservoir, the boundary between the lower and middle Volga is the Zhigulevskaya hydroelectric power station.

The largest tributaries of the Volga in the middle reaches are the Sura (841 kilometers long), the Vetluga (889 kilometers long) and the Sviyaga (375 kilometers long). In the lower reaches of the river, such large tributaries as the Sok (length 364 kilometers), Samara (length 594 kilometers), Big Irgiz (length 675 kilometers) and Yeruslan (length 278 kilometers) flow. In total, there are about 500 different tributaries, small rivers and channels in the Volga Delta, the largest of which are the Old Volga, Kamyzyak, Bakhtemir, Akhtub, Buzan and Bolda. The river has a huge economic potential and irrigates many areas on its way that need additional recharge.