Volga
The Volga (Russian: Во́лга) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of 3,531 km (2,194 mi), and a catchment area of 1,360,000 km2 (530,000 sq mi).[3] It is also Europe's largest river in terms of average discharge at delta – between 8,000 m3/s (280,000 cu ft/s) and 8,500 m3/s (300,000 cu ft/s) – and of drainage basin. It is widely regarded as the national river of Russia. The hypothetical old Russian state, the Rus' Khaganate, arose along the Volga c. 830 AD.[8] Historically, the river served as an important meeting place of various Eurasian civilizations.[9][10][11]
For other uses, see Volga (disambiguation).Volga
Proto-Slavic *vòlga "wetness"
Волга (Russian)
228 m (748 ft)[1]
−28 m (−92 ft)[1]
3,531 km (2,194 mi)[3]
Astrakhan (Basin size: 1,391,271.8 km2 (537,173.0 sq mi)
8,060 m3/s (285,000 cu ft/s)
8,103.078 m3/s (286,157.5 cu ft/s)[4]
Volga Delta: 8,110.544 m3/s (286,421.2 cu ft/s)[4]5,000 m3/s (180,000 cu ft/s)
48,500 m3/s (1,710,000 cu ft/s)
Volgograd (Basin size: 1,359,396.8 km2 (524,866.0 sq mi)
8,150 m3/s (288,000 cu ft/s) 8,228.298 m3/s (290,579.6 cu ft/s)[5]
5,090 m3/s (180,000 cu ft/s)
48,450 m3/s (1,711,000 cu ft/s)
Samara (Basin size: 1,218,995.3 km2 (470,656.7 sq mi)
7,680 m3/s (271,000 cu ft/s) 7,785.921 m3/s (274,957.2 cu ft/s)[6]
Nizhny Novgorod (Basin size: 479,637.3 km2 (185,189.0 sq mi)
Tver (Basin size: 24,658.6 km2 (9,520.7 sq mi)
176 m3/s (6,200 cu ft/s) 186.157 m3/s (6,574.1 cu ft/s)[7]
The river flows in Russia through forests, forest steppes and steppes. Five of the ten largest cities of Russia, including the nation's capital, Moscow, are located in the Volga's drainage basin.
Some of the largest reservoirs in the world are located along the Volga River. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture – Russian literature and folklore often refer to it as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga).
The Russian hydronym Volga (Волга) derives from Proto-Slavic *vòlga 'wetness, moisture', which is preserved in many Slavic languages, vlaga (влага) 'moisture', Bulgarian vlaga (влага) 'moisture', Czech vláha 'dampness', Serbo-Croatian: vlaga (влага) 'moisture', Slovene vlaga 'moisture', Polish wilgoć 'moisture' and Macedonian vlaga (влага) 'moisture', among others.[12]
The Scythian name for the Volga was Rahā,[13] literally meaning 'wetness'. This is related to the Avestan name for a mythical stream, Raŋhā (𐬭𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬁), which means "wet" or "moisture", and was derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁res- or *h₁ers-).[14] This name can be compared to several Indo-Iranic terms, such as:
The Scythian name survives in modern Moksha as Rav (Рав).[18][19]
The Greek author Herodotus recorded two more ancient Iranic names of the Volga:
The Turkic peoples living along the river formerly referred to it as Itil or Atil. In modern Turkic languages, the Volga is known as İdel (Идел) in Tatar, Atăl (Атӑл) in Chuvash, Iźel in Bashkir, Edıl in Kazakh, and İdil in Turkish. The Turkic names go back to the ancient Turkic form "Etil/Ertil", the origin and meaning of which are not clear. Perhaps this form has a connection with the hydronym Irtesh.[23]
The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the Kama.[24] Thus, a left tributary to the Kama was named the Aq Itil 'White Itil' which unites with the Kara Itil 'Black Itil' at the modern city of Ufa. The name Indyl (Indɨl) is used in the Cherkess language.
In Asia the river was known by its other Turkic name Sarı-su 'yellow water', but the Oirats also used their own name, Ijil mörön or 'adaptation river'. Presently the Mari, another Uralic group, call the river Jul (Юл), meaning 'way' in Tatar. Formerly, they called the river Volgydo, a borrowing from Old East Slavic.
Terra/MODIS, 2002-05-17.
Terra/MODIS, 2001-10-10.
