Volga River

The Volga River is Europe’s largest river and it flows through the west of Russia and recognized as the national river of Russia. Its length measures 3530 km. The river is used for flood control, transportation, power production and irrigation. The river also plays a major role in the day to day life of the Russian people earning it the name “Mother Volga”.

The Volga River is the largest on the European continent and a major water sources to Russia. It covers about two-fifths area in Russia and its massive size makes it one of the historic and greatest rivers in the world.One of the most fascinating destinations along the river is the city of Yaroslavl, founded in the 11th century. The city is famous for its several cathedrals and beautiful frescoes.In places the Volga is so wide that you cannot see the other side. Some of the world’s largest reservoirs can be found along the banks of the river.The Volga River is navigable for almost all of its length, and has long been used to transport goods across this part of Russia. The river is often frozen for several months of the year.The Volga delta is the largest estuary in Europe, with several hundred smaller rivers and streams. It is also the only place in Russia where flamingos and pelicans be found.One of the deadliest battles in World War 2 was fought on the banks of the Volga River. The Battle of Stalingrad took place in Volgograd, a city located on a bend of the river.Huge sturgeon fish can be found in the Volga River. One of the most famous Russian delicacies, caviar comes from sturgeon.Pollution has affected the Volga River, and especially the caviar industry. Several thousand factories dump 10 billion cubic yards of waste into the river every year.The course of the Volga is divided into three parts: the upper Volga (from its source to the confluence of the Oka), the middle Volga (from the confluence of the Oka to that of the Kama), and the lower Volga (from the confluence of the Kama to the mouth of the Volga itself). The Volga is a small stream in its upper course through the Valdai Hills, becoming a true river only after the entrance of several of its tributaries. 

It then passes through a chain of small lakes, receives the waters of the Selizharovka River, and then flows southeast through a terraced trench. Past the town of Rzhev, the Volga turns northeastward, is swelled by the inflow of the Vazuza and Tvertsa rivers at Tver (formerly Kalinin), and then continues to flow northeastward through the Rybinsk Reservoir, into which other rivers, such as the Mologa and the Sheksna, flow. From the reservoir the river proceeds southeastward through a narrow, tree-lined valley between the Uglich Highlands to the south and the Danilov Upland and the Galich-Chukhlom Lowland to the north, continuing its course along the Unzha and the Balakhna lowlands to Nizhny Novgorod. (Within this stretch the Kostroma, Unzha, and Oka rivers enter the Volga.) On its east-southeastward course from the confluence of the Oka to Kazan, the Volga doubles in size, receiving waters from the Sura and Sviyaga on its right bank and the Kerzhenets and Vetluga on its left. At Kazan the river turns south into the reservoir at Samara, where it is joined from the left by its major tributary, the Kama. From this point the Volga becomes a mighty river, which, save for a sharp loop at the Samara Bend, flows southwestward along the foot of the Volga Hills in the direction of Volgograd. (Between the Samara Bend and Volgograd it receives only the relatively small left-bank tributaries of the Samara, Bolshoy Irgiz, and Yeruslan.) Above Volgograd the Volga’s main distributary, the Akhtuba, branches southeastward to the Caspian Sea, running parallel to the main course of the river, which also turns southeast. A floodplain, characterized by numerous interconnecting channels and old cutoff courses and loops, lies between the Volga and the Akhtuba. A string of huge dams and reservoirs now line the Volga and its major tributary, the Kama River, converting them from free-flowing rivers to chains of man-made lakes. All the reservoir complexes include hydroelectric power stations and navigation locks. The uppermost complex on the Volga, the Ivankovo, with a reservoir covering 126 square miles, was completed in 1937, and the next complex, at Uglich (96 square miles), was put into operation in 1939. The Rybinsk Reservoir, completed in 1941 and encompassing an area of about 1,750 square miles, was the first of the large reservoir projects. Following World War II, work continued below Rybinsk. The reservoirs at Nizhny Novgorod andSamara were both completed in 1957, and the Cheboksary Reservoir, located between them, became operational in 1980. 

The huge reservoir at Samara, with an area of some 2,300 square miles, is the largest of the Volga reservoir system; it not only impounds the waters of the Volga but also backs water up the Kama for some 375 miles. The Saratov and Volgograd reservoirs (completed in 1968 and 1962, respectively) are the last such bodies on the Volga itself. The chain on the Kama consists of three reservoirs, the newest of which—the Lower Kama Reservoir—became operational in 1979. There are a total of eight hydroelectric stations on the Volga and three on the Kama, which combined have an installed generating capacity of some 11 million kilowatts of power.The river valley also provides massive quantities of wheat and a number of minerals such as petroleum, natural gas, potash and salt. The Volga River also features a number of holiday destinations, some of these places provide activities such as water sports and fishing.