The Volga River is one of the most amazing waterways in Russia created by nature. Its depth is sometimes simply impressive - in some places you can’t see the opposite bank without binoculars. And the length from source to mouth is more than 3,500 kilometers. She is the most long river Europe. A trip along the Volga will be remembered for a long time. This impressed the inhabitants of ancient times and amazes modern inhabitants.

The beginning of the journey of the Volga is considered to be the Valdai Upland, namely: Ostashkovsky district of the Tver administrative district. Not far from the small village of Volgoverkhovye there are many springs and springs, one of which forms the source of the country’s mighty water artery. Near the spring there is a chapel, a bridge has been built, along which everyone can observe the birth of the Volga River. All the springs nearby the village form a small reservoir, from which flows a barely noticeable stream, no more than a meter wide. It should be noted that the Volga River originates at an altitude of 228 meters above sea level and flows in a northeast direction.

The stream, like the beginning of the Volga River, has a length of more than three kilometers. It passes through the Malye and Bolshie Verkhity lakes, after which it becomes like a small river. Next, the Volga River flows into Lake Sterzh, which has a total water area of ​​18 square meters. km. Sterzh, like other lakes, are an integral part of the first reservoir in the cascade - the Upper Volga.
Geographers secretly divided the river basin into several massive parts: Upper, Middle and Lower Volga. 200 kilometers from the beginning of the small stream, already on the good Volga River, stands the ancient Russian city of Rzhev. The next large city with a population of almost half a million inhabitants on the path of water movement is Tver, where the Ivankovskoe reservoir with a total length of 120 km was artificially created. Next come the Uglich and Rybinsk reservoirs. The city of Rybinsk can be considered the extreme northern point of the reservoir, after which the bed of the Volga River changes direction to the southeast.

Just a hundred years ago, overcoming many obstacles in the form of hills and lowlands, the river did not differ from many other waters in its wide channel. With the development of technological progress, these virgin places were swallowed up by the Gorky Reservoir, stretching for 430 kilometers. Along its banks are located such famous administrative centers of Russia as Rybinsk, Yaroslavl and Kostroma. The man-made sea itself was formed by the Nizhny Novgorod hydroelectric station, located slightly above Nizhny Novgorod.

In Nizhny Novgorod, the Volga River meets its largest right tributary, the Oka. Its length to the confluence of the rivers is 1500 km. This is where the Middle Volga originates.

Having been saturated with the waters of the Oka, the Volga becomes a river of a completely different type. This is already a powerful, full-flowing river with its own character. Here the riverbed turns smoothly to the east. Flowing along the Volga Upland, its path is blocked by the Cheboksary Hydroelectric Power Station, forming a man-made lake of the same name 340 kilometers long and about 16 km wide. Further, the current shifts to the southeast, and near Kazan it turns to the south. By the way, Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, is one of the oldest settlements in the Russian Federation. And the Kazan Kremlin is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

After merging with the Kama, the Volga, like a river, turns into the most full-flowing, deep and powerful. Although, according to all the laws of hydrology, it would be more correct to consider the Kama as the main river, and the Volga as its tributary, since the Kama is much older and fuller, and its flow does not decrease at any time of the year. However, due to historically established traditions, Russian geographers decided to make an exception and consider the Volga as the main river, and the Kama as a tributary.

After uniting with the Kama, the waters of the river continuously flow south. Here is the world's third largest artificial reservoir - Kuibyshevskoye. In some places, the width of the reservoir reaches forty kilometers, and the length - 500 km. Leaving Ulyanovsk behind, near Tolyatti and Samara the Volga forms a large bend, bypassing the Togliatti Mountains. Further, the Volga flows past Samara and Saratov with reservoirs of the same name.

A river delta is formed in the Volgograd area, the length of which is 160 kilometers. This is the most voluminous river mouth in the European part of Russia. It has almost half a thousand different branches, canals and channels flowing into the Caspian Sea.

Along the route, a river like the Volga passes through the lands of four republics and 11 administrative districts of the Russian Federation and partially through the Atyaur region of Kazakhstan. 3,500 kilometers of unique landscapes, rare flora and fauna, historical and cultural sites. It’s not for nothing that they say that the Volga is the most beautiful river in Russia.

Hydrological regime of the Volga River

The river is fed in three ways. The main flow of water into the Volga (up to 60%) occurs as a result of snow melting. Recharge from groundwater and rainwater accounts for 60 and 30 percent of the total fluid supply, respectively. Due to this feeding pattern, the river is characterized by low water content in the summer months and spring floods. There are known cases when the Volga River in the Novgorod region became so shallow that navigation practically stopped. Previously, annual fluctuations in water level reached 14-16 meters in the middle reaches of the river, but with the construction of a cascade of reservoirs, the fluctuations decreased. However, in inclement and windy weather, waves up to 2 meters high occur in the waters of reservoirs.

Before the construction of artificial reservoirs, up to 25 million tons of sedimentary soils were carried out from the Volga per year. Currently, this figure has halved. Such human activity has led to changes in the river ecosystem and the thermal regime of the reservoir. Now duration ice phenomena in the lower reaches of the river it decreased, and at the sources it became longer.

Fauna on the Volga River

Thanks to various natural features, the river abounds with numerous representatives of flora and fauna, including species listed in the Red Book. Although in Lately The ecological situation leaves much to be desired; on the Volga River you can find a huge number of waterfowl: various types of ducks, ducks, swans, and even flamingos in the delta. In general, the Volga delta, like a river, is the largest nesting place for birds, with more than 260 species represented. Beavers, otters, raccoons and other fur-bearing animals are not uncommon here. But the main wealth of the reservoir is its ichthyofauna.

Since ancient times, the Volga has been considered a river rich in fish resources. And nowadays, fishing on the Volga is very popular among many fans of this activity. The river is home to 76 species and 47 subspecies of various fish. The permanent inhabitants are: catfish, crucian carp, carp, perch, sterlet, roach, bream, crucian carp, bluefish and many others. Among the migratory species there are: sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, thorn, beluga, the black caviar of which is known throughout the world, as well as Volga and common herring. Such abundance species composition allows for commercial fishing fish throughout the river from source to mouth. And the size of some species is impressive. The length of the smallest granular fish does not exceed 2.5 cm. big fish, which is found in the delta of the Volga River, the beluga can grow up to 4 meters in length and weigh about 1 ton.

Due to the considerable length of the river bed, the soil cover of the Volga basin is very diverse. But for the most part, these are fertile chernozems and sod-podzolic soils, as evidenced by abundant vegetation.

Navigation on the Volga River

The Volga River is not only a large body of water in the European part of Russia, but also an important transport artery of the country. And although little attention has been paid to water transport recently, quite a large amount of cargo, both local and international, is transported along the Volga. This was largely facilitated by the creation of many artificial canals that connect the river with the seas:

Black and Azov Seas – Volga-Don Canal;
Baltic Sea – Vyshnevolotsk and Tikhvin canal systems;
White Sea - Severodvinsk and White Sea Canal.

Thus, the flow of cargo ships along the Volga does not dry out. The only obstacle can be the period of freezing.

Volga river in history

It is believed that one of the first mentions of the Volga was made in the 5th century BC in the treatises of the ancient Greek philosopher and historian Herodotus. In the description of the military campaign of the Persians led by King Darius against the Scythian tribes, the historian points out that Darius’s army, pursuing the tribes beyond the Tanais or Don river in modern terms, stopped on the banks of the Oar River. It is this name that scientists identify with the Volga River.

There was not much information about the river in ancient times. So Diodorus Sicilian gave the name to the river - Araks, and Ptolemy argued that the Volga has two mouths that flow into different seas: the Caspian and the Black. Roman philosophers called it Ra, which means “generous”, the Mongol-Tatar tribes called it Rau, Idel, Iuil, and in Arabic primary sources the Volga is called Atelyu (great). Many philologists argue that the modern name arose from the Baltic word “valka”, which means “flowing stream”. Another group of scientists is inclined to believe that the root of the word Volga comes from the Old Slavonic word “moisture”. The famous Russian chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years” also touches on the Volga. It clearly traces the path of the river - where it originates and where it flows.

The flourishing of trade in Rus' coincided with the time when the Volga River was under the rule of Ivan the Terrible. It was then that a huge number of caravans with goods from the east walked along the river surface. Fabrics, silver, metals, and jewelry were delivered to the capital by Arab merchants. They brought back expensive furs, honey, wax and much more. Trade along the banks of the river is actively developing, cities and villages are expanding.

The Volga acquired particular strategic importance in the 19th century. At that time, a large river fleet appeared on the river. Massive transportation of grain and salt, ore and fish, and other raw materials is carried out. Over time, in addition to sailing and oared ships, steamships appeared. But the Volga River is not navigable in all sections. In some places, the passage of ships was difficult. This is how the manual method of transporting boats, barges, etc. arose. People harnessed themselves to a special harness and pulled the ship along the river using ropes. It was very hard and thankless work. During the period of active cargo flow, more than 300 thousand people worked in the water area. Such people were called barge haulers. Russian artist Ilya Ivanovich Repin was able to accurately convey the entire terrible and tragic fate of hired workers in his painting “Barge Haulers on the Volga.”

The Volga River and wars did not bypass the Volga River either. During the Civil War, and then the Great Patriotic War, The Volga remained a strategic object, providing control of access to grain, oil and other vital resources. The Battle of Stalingrad, which took place on the banks of the long-suffering river, is considered a turning point in World War II.

The post-war period is characterized by strong economic growth of the country. Numerous hydroelectric power stations are being built at a rapid pace with the formation of reservoirs. The importance of the Volga as a river of strategic and economic importance has increased several times. New jobs have been created, cities are being actively developed, and the flow of freight water transport is inexorably growing.

Legends and folklore about the Volga River

People have long settled along the banks of rivers, and the Volga was no exception. Water and the availability of food make riverbeds attractive for habitation. Our ancestors firmly believed that every river, even a small one, had a spirit or guardian. And such large and deep rivers as the Volga could have several of them. According to legends and traditions, the Upper Volga has a guardian who appeared to eyewitnesses in the form of a little girl. The little girl never cries and has saved drowning children many times.

Legends of the Middle Volga claim that the spirit of the river is a young beautiful girl. She is often called a nurse or intercessor. It used to be believed that the color of the water on the Volga largely depended on the mood of the keeper of the river. The darker the water, the worse mood guardian and nothing good can be expected.
In the lower reaches of the river, an old man with a large gray beard and one bast shoe keeps order. Why in one? The answer to this question has not reached our days. But they say that the old man appears only to those who are pure in soul and points out places full of fish, and people with a “black heart” are pulled under the water, where they remain forever.

Mention of mermaids on the Volga River is also not uncommon. But each region has its own characteristics. In one, mermaids are completely harmless and sweet creatures, and in the other, they are evil and very dangerous.

Not only tales about river inhabitants have survived to this day. The Volga River is sung in many folk songs. Many works have been written about the river, feature films and documentaries. Just look at the well-known old film “Volga-Volga”. And modern authors do not hesitate to pay tribute to the river.

Facts and figures about the Volga River

It is impossible to describe the Volga as a river, which is one of the largest in the European part of our planet, in words alone. The language of dry numbers will say more.

Length – 3500 kilometers. However, it should be taken into account that before the construction of the cascade of man-made lakes, the length of the Volga was 110 kilometers longer.
The river mouth consists of almost 500 independent canals, branches, rivers, branches and channels.
On average, the current speed in the Volga River bed is 3-6 km/h.
On average, it takes 37 days for water to reach the sea from its source.
The river system of the Volga basin consists of 150 thousand different rivers, streams, tributaries and other watercourses.
The mouth of the river is located 28 meters below sea level.

Excursion along the Volga - a lot of impressions

Naturally, talking about all the delights of a mighty water stream or even once seeing the beauty of the Volga River with your own eyes are incompatible things.

Traveling along the river is not difficult at all. With the current developed infrastructure and the small distance of settlements from each other, organizing an excursion along the expanses of water will not be difficult.
Where to stay? A large number of recreation centers located almost along the entire river coast, hotels in district and regional centers, gladly accept both groups of tourists and single travelers. Local residents will also help out - in almost every village you can stop for a while, hear local legends and taste rural dishes.

What to see? There are many museums in the cities, churches in the villages, and the picturesque nature of the Volga and its surroundings will not let you get bored throughout the entire trip. And for avid fishermen, fishing on the Volga will be a real break from the worries and bustle of the city.

Volga - truly amazing river. See this for yourself when you come here to travel or just relax.

The source of the Volga is amazing a nice place, untouched by modern civilization. Here time seemed to stand still, afraid to disturb and destroy the eternal atmosphere of grace reigning around. The Volga originates near the village of Volgoverkhovye on the Valdai Hills in the Tver region.

Where is the source of the Volga

You can get to the Volgoverkhovye from the town of Ostashkov, first along a rather rough road to the village of Svapusche (about 50 km), and from there along a dirt road, the condition of which is much better than that of the asphalt road. From Svapusche to the destination 19 km. There are no buses in Volgoverkhovye, so you can only get there by personal car (geographic coordinates: 57°15`07`` N 32°28`24`` E).

The source of the Volga on the map:

The Volga River flows from afar for a long time...

The village of Volgoverkhovye is located on a low hill, and under the hill, from a small swamp, the great Russian river, the Volga, originates.

There are several springs in this swamp. One of them, the deepest, has a current that immediately appears, and was identified as the source of the Volga in the middle of the 18th century. A chapel is now built above this spring, to which wooden walkways lead. In the chapel itself there is a font where you can plunge directly into the source. The depth here is shallow: shoulder-deep for an adult.

A memorial stone was installed in front of the walkway in 1989, which reads: “Traveler! Turn your gaze to the source of the Volga! The purity and greatness of the Russian land is born here. Here are the origins of the people's soul. Keep them. Look back as you leave." This place is located at an altitude of 228 meters above sea level.

The Volga flows out of the swamp as a small stream, only about 50 cm wide and 25-30 cm deep. The water in the newly “born” river is brown in color due to the peat it contains, but it is clean and transparent. There is a bucket on the walkway, so if you wish, you can wash yourself with Volga water or put it in bottles and take it with you.

300 meters from the source there is a small bridge across the stream and there is a convenient descent to the stream, so you can wet your feet in the Volga water. However, the water here is cold even in the hottest weather, no higher than 15°.

Holguin Monastery

Near the bridge you can see the remains of a stone dam built by the Olga convent at the beginning of the last century. The dam has now been destroyed, but the monastery itself still exists in the Volgoverkhovye region. IN Soviet time it was closed but revived again in 1999.

All that has survived from the monastery to this day is the Transfiguration Cathedral and the wooden Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Services are held here regularly. We got right to religious holiday- St. Olga's day. At this time there was a passage around the monastery. procession, where there were quite a lot of people for such a wilderness: about 150 people.

Since the residential buildings of the monastery have not survived, the nuns live in the village, their houses are easily recognizable by the turrets on the roofs.

Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

For a small fee, you can climb the bell tower of the Transfiguration Cathedral and look from above at the source of the Volga (we didn’t get there, because the entrance was temporarily closed due to the holiday).

You can take a walk in the forest growing near the source of the Volga. Paths leading to different sides, there is a great variety here. You can hear polyphonic birdsong all around, butterflies and dragonflies fly.

In the Volgoverkhovye region, as in any tourist place, there is a small market where they sell ordinary souvenirs, pies and honey. cellular in these places it is absent, it appears only when entering the highway in Svapuscha. Here, despite the fact that the source of the Volga is visited by quite a lot of tourists, peace and quiet reigns.

3 km from its source, the Volga crosses the dirt road along which we drove here. This is no longer a trickle, but a small river with picturesque banks overgrown with forest.

The river drains the territory of the East European Plain. Areas with elevations below 200 m occupy 80% of the basin's surface. In 5% of the territory, heights reach 600–700 m (maximum up to 1500 m). Surface Caspian lowland is located below the level of the World Ocean (marks -27.8 m and above).

In the river basin there are deposits of oil, gas, coal, potassium salts, etc. 60 million tons of oil are produced here; large deposits are exploited natural gas. Coal is mined in the Tula, Kaluga, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk regions, and the Republic of Bashkortostan. In the Solikamsk region, deposits of potassium salts are being developed, in the Lower Volga region - table salt (lakes Baskunchak and Elton).

The Volga basin is located in a temperate continental climate zone. Air temperature increases from north to south. average temperature January varies in the range -4...-8°С (southwest) and -16...-20°С (northeast basin). Average July temperatures decrease from south-southwest (24°C) to north-northeast (16°C). In the north of the Volga basin, 500–600 mm of precipitation falls annually, on the western slopes of the Ural Mountains - 800 mm. The sediment layer in the southern Trans-Volga region and in the Caspian lowland is 180–200 mm. The evaporation layer decreases from 500 (in the southwest) to 200–250 mm in the northeast. The southern part of the basin is located in an arid climate zone.

Most of the Volga basin is occupied by coniferous forests and soddy-podzolic soils. Southern taiga forests of the European type stretch in a strip from Valdai to the northern part of the Kama basin. Separate tracts of broad-leaved oak and linden-oak forests have been preserved in the regions of Samarskaya Luka, the High Trans-Volga region and the Western Urals. On the slopes of the Urals, the distribution of soil and vegetation cover obeys the law of altitudinal zonation. Steppe vegetation and chestnut soils are characteristic of the middle and southern parts of the Volga basin. Desert vegetation is developed within the Caspian lowland. Azonal vegetation is characteristic of the Volga delta. Within the Volga basin there are 23 nature reserves and 18 national parks.

The Volga basin is the most developed region of Russia. Within its borders there is a territory of more than 30 constituent entities of the Russian Federation, more than 40% of the country's population lives, about 45% of its industrial and 50% of agricultural production are concentrated. There are seven cities with a population of more than 1 million people, including Moscow, the capital of Russia. In the north of the basin, population density is reduced; in the middle part of the basin it reaches a maximum. The population density is also high in its lower part.

The region's enterprises produce more than 90% of the country's trucks and passenger cars, produce mining, metallurgical and chemical equipment, develop carriage building, manufacture heavy machine tools, road construction machines, and tractor manufacturing. In the north-west of the basin there are enterprises of power and electrical engineering, marine shipbuilding, carriage building, machine tool building, and production of industrial equipment. In terms of chemical production, the region's enterprises occupy a leading position in the Russian Federation. The Volga basin produces 62% of the country's light industry products. The Volga basin occupies a leading place in the country in the production of commercial timber.

About 50% of the Russian Federation's agricultural production is concentrated here. The main industry in the Central Economic Region (ER) is livestock and crop production. The Novgorod region specializes in growing flax. In the Volga-Vyatka ER, crop production (cereals, flax) is developed. In the Central Black Earth Region they grow winter wheat, rye, sugar beets, sunflower, horticulture and vegetable growing are developed. In the Volga Region, grain and vegetable crops are grown, and livestock farming is developed. In the Middle and partly in the Lower Volga region, large areas are occupied by industrial crops. Melon growing and gardening are developed. The Ural Region ranks second in Russia in livestock production and fourth in crop production.

In the upper reaches of the Volga (up to the town of Staritsa), the winding or relatively straight river bed is located in a canyon 30–40 m deep. The banks and bottom are composed of boulders and loam, below Rzhev - limestone. From Staritsa to the mouth of the river. Selizharovka river valley is not clearly defined, its slopes are gentle and swampy. When crossing the Vyshnevolotsk moraine ridge, the river flows in a relatively deep valley with steep slopes composed of loams and sands. Incised bends alternate here with sections of the river with a narrow two-sided floodplain, which have relatively straight outlines. The channel deposits are sand and pebbles. The channel is up to 50 m wide and stable. On the section of the Volga between the mouth of the river. Selizharovka and Tver, the width of the river increases from 40 to 200 m.

In the section between Tver and Rybinsk, the river is backed up by dams of the Ivankovo, Uglich and Rybinsk reservoirs. Below Rybinsk, the riverbed and floodplain are under the waters of the Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod) reservoir. In the lower reaches of the Rybinsk Reservoir, the rate of bottom erosion is on average 3.5 cm/year, and the rate of shore retreat is 3 m/year.

In its middle course, the Volga flows along the Volga Upland. The right bank of the river and the Cheboksary reservoir is high and steep. Landslides and landslides are frequent here. They are facilitated by wave reworking of the shores. The left floodplain bank is mostly low and sandy. Below the confluence of the Kama, the hydrological state of the river is determined by the operating conditions of the Kuibyshevsky, and downstream - by the Saratov and Volgograd reservoirs. In the area of ​​the Volgograd Reservoir dam, the left bank floodplain branch, Akhtuba (length 537 km), departs from the Volga. Between the Volga and Akhtuba there is a vast space (up to 40 km wide), separated by numerous channels and old rivers (Volga-Akhtuba floodplain). Below Volgograd, the Volga flows along the right bank. Up to 40% of the river’s length from Volgograd to Astrakhan is actively being eroded by the flow. The average erosion rates of floodplain banks decrease downstream from 15.2 to 10–12 m/year. The Lower Volga is a zone of predominance of sections of sandy branched and winding channel.

The mouth area of ​​the Volga begins 54 km north of Astrakhan; includes a delta (area 13,900 km 2) and an estuarine coastal area (28,000 km 2). The largest delta branches: Buzan, Bolda, Kizan (Kamyzyak), Bakhtemir. Akhtuba flows into Buzan. Below the source of the Buzan there is the Volga water divider (built in 1966–1973), designed to increase the flow in the eastern part of the delta. The Volga river mouth area is occupied by river water. The shallow seashore is crossed by 28 fish passages and three shipping channels. The Volga-Caspian Canal (runs along the Bakhtemir branch) connects the Volga and the Caspian Sea.

The average long-term water flow below the Upper Volga reservoir is 29 m 3 /s; Rybinsk Reservoir - 969 m 3 /s; near Nizhny Novgorod - 1530 m 3 /s; near the city of Saratov - 7570 m 3 /s, near the city of Volgograd - 8060 m 3 /s. The average long-term water flow at the top of the delta (1961–2010) is 7870 m 3 /s, and the water flow is 248.385 km 3 /year. The average long-term precipitation layer is 660 mm, the evaporation layer is 480 mm, and the runoff layer is 180 mm. The main part of the runoff is formed in the forest zone of the Volga basin. Snow melting provides 60%, groundwater discharge – 30%, rainfall – 10% of the annual flow. The water flow module increases from south to north. The maximum values ​​of the runoff module exceed 10 l/(s∙km 2) (Valdai Upland, Western Urals); on the Volga Upland it is 2–5 l/(s∙km2), on the Caspian Lowland it does not exceed 0.2 l/(s∙km2).

The Volga belongs to the rivers with an Eastern European type of water regime: with spring floods (April–June), low summer and winter low water and autumn rain floods (October). Maximum water flows occur 5–15 days after the start of the flood. The duration of the flood is on average 72 days. The maximum water flow near the village. Yelets is 748 m 3 /s; near the city of Nizhny Novgorod - 7750, at the top of the Volga delta (after the creation of a cascade of reservoirs) - did not exceed 35,000 m 3 /s. After the creation of the Volga-Kama cascade of reservoirs, floods in the lower reaches of the Volga began to begin at the end of the second ten days of April. The maximum flow, on the contrary, is observed approximately two weeks earlier. The duration of the flood decreased from 116 to 71 days, and the range of intra-annual changes in water levels also decreased significantly. Summer low water usually begins in June. Minimum water consumption near the village. Yelets is 6.10 m 3 /s, near Nizhny Novgorod - 115 m 3 /s. The share of low-water flow reaches 28% of the annual flow.

The average annual water turbidity in the upper reaches of the Volga varies from 10 to 140 g/m3; in the basin of the Oka and Sura rivers, the upper and middle parts of the Kama basin, the left-bank tributaries of the Belaya and Volga - from 100 to 250 g/m3. The highest turbidity is typical for spring floods, the lowest - for the winter period. The creation of reservoirs has led to a significant reduction in turbidity and suspended sediment runoff. At the top of the delta, the suspended sediment flow is 6.7 million tons/year (1961–2006).

The Volga waters belong to the hydrocarbonate class and calcium group. The mineralization of water in the upper reaches of the Volga during periods of increased flow does not exceed 100 mg/l. Downstream of the river it increases to 180–200 mg/l. Before the confluence of the Oka, the salinity of the Volga water varies in the range from 80 to 100 mg/l. In the Kazan region, mineralization during the snowmelt period is 100–200 mg/l, and below the mouth of the Kama - about 140 mg/l. During low water, the content of dissolved substances in water minerals increases by 2–2.5 times. The quality of water in the upper reaches of the Volga corresponds to that of moderately polluted rivers. In the Kuibyshev Reservoir and below Volgograd, Volga water remains moderately polluted or polluted.

Water intake from the Volga is about 26 km 3 /year. Irreversible water consumption is close to 10 km 3 /year. Maximum water consumption is typical for the Astrakhan, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara regions, and the Perm Territory. For security drinking water The population of Moscow and the Moscow region consumes up to 33% of the useful volume of water in the Ivankovo ​​Reservoir. Water is taken from the Saratov Reservoir to supply a number of industrial facilities. For land irrigation, water is taken from the Kuibyshev, Saratov and Volgograd reservoirs.

Local shipping on the Volga is carried out everywhere below Tver. In the Volga basin, an average of about 6 million tons of cargo is transported annually. In terms of the volume of cargo transported on river transport, construction materials predominate (60%). The largest river ports of the Volga basin are: Moscow, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Perm, Astrakhan, Kazan, etc. In 2008, 520 thousand passengers used the services of the Volga Shipping Company alone.

HPPs of the Volga-Kama cascade provide generation large quantity electricity. Their total installed capacity is 8013 MW, and the average annual electricity generation is 31.6 billion kWh. The Volzhskaya HPP has the largest installed capacity.

About 70 live in the Volga fish species, of which 40 are commercial (roach, herring, bream, pike perch, carp, catfish, pike, sturgeon, sterlet, etc.).

N.I. Alekseevsky, MM. Antonova

Main tributaries of the Volga (large and medium rivers)

With its “Rostov Mountains” and “sea coast of Belarus”, on p. An even more cheerful generation is coming.

According to the results of a 2014 survey, less than 60% of students at the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University were able to confidently say where the Volga flows. Students went through options from the Azov and Black Seas to the North and Baltic Seas; at the Higher School of Economics they suggested that the Volga flows into Baikal, Oka, and the Pacific Ocean, and MSU - into the Moscow River, Yenisei, and Ob. Some students decided that “The Volga does not flow anywhere.”

A total of 151 students of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University were interviewed, 84 students High school economics and 35 MGIMO students in approximately equal numbers from all courses. Students were not offered answer options. Candidates were selected randomly. Not a single student could answer all the questions; 15 people could not answer any question at all. You can test yourself by taking a simple test created based on questions asked to students.

Modern it is quite enough to know the truism “The Volga flows into the Caspian Sea” for general development. But those who want to understand history must keep in mind that this statement is essentially false and first understand hydrological concepts.

Firstly, it would be more correct to talk about the river flowing into the Caspian Lake, because parts of the World Ocean are called seas, and the Caspian Sea is an endorheic lake that has no connection with the World Ocean and is called a sea by tradition, apparently due to its salty water and large size.

In other words, river basin The Volga with the Caspian Sea-lake isan inland waterway system completely isolated from the World Ocean. And this circumstance must be taken into account when studying the history of civilization, which spread mainly along the seas and waterways.

For example, there are only three “entry points” into the Volga basin from different seas, so that their historical significance is clear.

1. From the Baltic Sea, the first route is along the Neva - Volkhov - Msta - Tvertsa rivers, that is, the cities of St. Petersburg-Veliky Novgorod - Tver. That is why the capital was founded here, and not somewhere else. Russian Empire- Petersburg.

2. From the Black Sea along the Dnieper through the island of Khortitsa (the base of the Zaporozhye Cossacks) and Kiev in the upper reaches of the Dnieper there is the iconic “key city” Smolensk, then on the tributary of the Dnieper the junction city of Vyazma, from where one could get to the upper reaches of the Oka and Volga basins.

3. From the Sea of ​​Azov along the Don, then along the Tsimlya tributary (in the place of this river there is now the Tsimlyansk Reservoir) and along the Volga near modern Volgograd. TO anal Volga-Don approximately corresponds to bthe former land portage and it is not at all accidental that it was there in the settlement of Dubok that the administrative center of the Volga Cossacks was located, and not in the area of ​​the river mouth like all the other river Cossacks. Yes, that’s right, each Cossack army initially controlled its own river, the Cossacks were initially waterfowl and only at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries switched to horses.

Secondly, it is not the Volga that flows into the Caspian Sea-lake, but the Kama. According to one of the main hydrological criteria - full flow, at the confluence of the Volga and Kama, the latter is fuller + the additional criterion of a direct channel at the confluence, the Volga should be considered a tributary of the Kama, and not vice versa, and then it is the Kama that flows into the Caspian Sea. Therefore, the ancient authors are not at all mistaken when they write that the Ra (Volga) river flows from the Riphean/Ripean(Ural) mountains.

River basins can be compared to trees standing nearby, their crowns closing. Like trees by their trunks, all rivers are uniquely identified from the mouth, and further up the river for transport purposes it is necessary to determine the main watercourse, which is not always obvious.

For example, at the confluence of the Volga and Oka, the latter was fuller and according to this criterion could be considered the main watercourse, in which case it would be considered that the Volga flows into the Oka. But in this place the Volga has a straight channel and at approximately equal visual assessments Due to its full flow, it wins over the Oka the right to be called the main watercourse.

In other words, the name of the river used to apply to the watercourse starting from the mouth and upstream, based on practical purposes of navigation. In the 19th century, this principle was reversed, designating “one of the branches of the tree crown” as the source of the river - this is simpler, but has no practical meaning; navigable distances in many places are still measured from the mouths of rivers.

So the answer tosurvey "Where does the Volga flow?"the majority considers it generally known, primitive only because ofa modern view of rivers from top to bottom, from source to mouth andclear familiaritycertainty of the main watercourse.

The largest of all European rivers, the Volga, in Russia ranks only fifth in size, ahead of the rivers of Siberia and the huge Amur.

In total, the Volga covers a distance of 3,500 kilometers.

Almost along its entire length it is navigable, and about 3,000 kilometers is a tourist route along the river.

During its history, it changed its name twice. Initially, in ancient times, its name was Ra, then, already in the Middle Ages, the river was called Itil.

The Volga begins on the Valdai Hills, from a tiny stream. It’s hard to even believe that after 3.5 thousand kilometers this thin trickle will turn into a powerful water flow, replenishing the volume of the Caspian Sea by 8000 cubic meters every second.

Its waters cover an area equal in size to two Frances or five United Kingdoms. And there is no need to even talk about the importance of the river in the life, economy and culture of Russia. It is simply impossible to imagine the history of the peoples inhabiting the shores without it.

Basically, the Volga is distinguished by its calm disposition, quiet and measured flow. The majestic movement of its waters is, in some places, difficult to even notice. Previously, when there were no dams and reservoirs, the character of the river was steeper. There were also rifts and pitfalls. But the memory of them now remains only in legends and the names of coastal villages and cities.

However, in areas of reservoirs and in the lower reaches of the Volga it can be dangerous. A sad example and lesson of how one should not neglect the power of poetry is the tragedy of the motor ship Bulgaria...

More than two and a half hundred of its tributaries are large in themselves deep rivers. One of them, the largest, Kama, is even larger than itself both in length and in depth.

More or less large rivers, the length of which exceeds 10 kilometers, in the Volga basin there are more than 150 thousand. Guidebooks convince you that you can get to almost anywhere in the world by water from here.

But it’s realistic to take a cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg, or in the other direction - Nizhny Novgorod and Astrakhan.

The Moscow Canal leads to the capital. The Volga-Baltic Waterway connects it with the Baltic Sea.

To Black and Sea of ​​Azov You can get there by passing through the Volga-Don Canal, and to Beloye - through the White Sea-Baltic and North Dvina water systems.

The Volga also boasts huge fish resources. About 70 species of fish live here, more than half of which are commercial.

Here you can catch sterlet, stellate sturgeon and sturgeon, bream, herring and roach. The coastal areas are no less attractive. Shores – wonderful place for a relaxing holiday.

In summer, the water warms up to +25 degrees, and where the water thickness is not very large, the temperature reaches +30.