The largest rivers and lakes in Russia: names, photos

The rivers and lakes of Russia have long been the object of close attention on the part of both the inhabitants of the state itself and the guests of near and far abroad. And it's not just about the exceptional beauty and riot of the colors of nature. Many come to purely cognitive or even scientific purposes. For example, the leading experts of the planet on the territory of our country study the local flora and fauna, as, indeed, the geological features of the planet.

Today, with confidence and some pride, we can say that the protection of rivers and lakes of Russia is under the control of the state, including local administrations.

This article is designed to answer many questions, which, as a rule, sooner or later arise in all people who are interested in our country. The rivers and lakes of Russia will be considered in sufficient detail.

What is the internal water?

It is impossible to talk about rivers and lakes in Russia without considering and justifying purely theoretical concepts. So, by the internal waters, rivers, swamps, lakes, glaciers and artificial reservoirs are first of all understood. They also bring underground water here. It is unlikely that anyone will deny the fact that for a person's life their value is invaluable, without them we simply could not exist. On the territory of Russia there are rivers that belong to the basins of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

By the way, the concept of a basin should be understood as a water area, through which the rivers themselves and their tributaries are saturated.

The seas, rivers and lakes of Russia, or rather, their characteristics and types of food, are directly related to the climate.

Rivers. general description

To date, in Russia there are about two and a half million rivers. The volume of river flow is 4043 km ³ / year, that is 237 m ³ / year per km ^2.

It should be noted that the main part of our major rivers belongs to the Arctic Ocean. For example, the largest, deep and long ones flow into it - the Ob, Lena and Yenisei.

But if we take in the numerical equivalent, then, it turns out, about 80% of the rivers from the above-mentioned amount still refer to the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Such rivers are fleeting, but they are considered not very long. The largest representatives are, of course, Anadyr and Amur.

Only 5% of the rivers of Russia belong to the Atlantic Ocean. They differ in the flat nature of the current. The biggest of them is Don.

It should be noted that the largest density of rivers in Russia falls on the taiga, and the smallest number of rivers is characteristic of the Caspian lowland.

Direct power sources

As a rule, rivers and lakes of Russia, photos of which can be seen in almost every encyclopedia of the planet, feed on three types of sources: thawed snow, rain and soil.

On this issue it is worth dwelling in more detail. So, due to the fact that the country's territory is located in high and temperate latitudes with a continental climate, practically throughout the whole of the Russian Federation, the main source of river feeding has become a snow cover.

At the same time, it should be noted that in some areas, for example, in the Amur River, Transbaikalia, the Kaliningrad region, where there is little snow and rains, rivers with rain-fed food flow.

In mountainous areas, as a rule, in the Altai and Caucasus, glacial food has become the main one. As the rivers approach the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the role of rain fed increases.

But there are practically no rivers in Russia for which there is a predominance of groundwater. They are found only in Kamchatka.

By the way, the main runoff of the rivers of the Russian Federation falls on warm seasons.

Lena - the largest waterway

If we consider the rivers and lakes of Russia, then it's simply impossible not to mention Lena. It is deservedly considered one of the largest rivers in the world. Its length is 4400 km, it flows in Eastern Siberia, the Republic of Yakutia and Irkutsk region. It is estimated that the area of the basin of this river is 490 thousand km ² .

By the way, it begins with a lake that does not have a name, at an altitude of 1000 m above sea level, located in the west of the Baikal ridge. Lena flows into the Laptev Sea.

Talking about the characteristic features, it should be noted that at the source of the winter the river almost freezes to the very bottom, but in the summer it almost completely dries up. Surprisingly, there are even places where its depth is not more than half a meter.

And only after being saturated with the first tributaries does it become deeper and fuller. It is known that the river is filled with such large tributaries as Kirenga, Vitim, Aldan, Olekma, Viluy. For Yakutsk Lena becomes more than 10 km wide.

The delta of the Lena River starts at a distance of 150 km from the sea. The main food is rain and snow. In spring it is full of water, in summer floods occur.

Depending on the territory, the river can be very heterogeneous: fast, winding and rapids, but at the same time smooth and calm enough places.

Some sections of the Lena shores are strong crystalline rocks, and there are some that are planted with birch and coniferous forests.

Ob - an amazing and unique river of Siberia

The Ob is also a very strong water stream, the largest river in the world, the longest in Russia and the second in Asia. Its length is 3650 km. It flows through Western Siberia and flows into the Caspian Sea, where an eight-hundred-kilometer bay, the Obskaya Bay , has now formed.

The river is formed in the Altai at the confluence of Biya and Katun. The area of its basin is 2,990 thousand km ² .

The width of the Ob after its entry into the Irtysh reaches 7 km, and the depth in this area is up to 20 m. It is worth to get to the village of Pogrebnoe to see for yourself that it is in this place that the river is divided into the Malaya Ob and Bolshaya.

The Delta Ob River occupies an area of about 4 thousand km ² . Among the main tributaries should be allocated Tom and Irtysh. The river feeds mainly on meltwater, in the spring it is characterized by floods.

The largest lakes in Russia

Note that throughout the country there is a huge number of large water bodies. The largest lakes are Baikal, Onega, Ladoga, Chukchi, Ilmen, Khantayskoye, Segozero, Kuludinsky, Teletskoye and Pskov-Chukotka.

Surely everyone reading this article will agree that the name of the rivers and lakes of Russia is distinguished by a special melody. Well, in what other language of the world are there such words, after the utterances of which one already wants to write poetry and make amazing stories?

By the way, not without pride, we note that Onega, Ladoga Lake and Ilmen are among the most famous lakes in Europe.

Baikal is a mighty giant

There are corners on the planet, you can talk about them endlessly. Many of the seas, rivers and lakes of Russia can be attributed precisely to such places.

Take, for example, Baikal, which is considered not only the deepest lake in the world and the largest repository of world fresh water resources, but also a territory unique for its unique nature.

Its depth is 1640 m, and the age really inspires awe - 25 million years.

Not everyone knows that this lake contains 90% of the fresh water of the Russian Federation and 20% of the world's total fund of this natural resource. At first glance it is difficult to imagine that 336 rivers flow into our Baikal and only one Angara flows from it.

The sea, which is a lake

Yes, yes, and this also happens, although, you will agree, sounds extremely improbable. The thing is that the Caspian Sea is in fact a huge lake without a lake, which has salt water and ocean cover.

It is located on the border of Europe and Asia, but the Caspian coast is on the territory of five states: Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iran. Due to this, the given sea-lake received 70 different names, but its main name is from the ancient tribes - the Caspians, who used to live here.

The area of the Caspian Sea is more than 371 thousand km ² . In the northern part of the lake there is shallow water. The water level is unstable and constantly fluctuates. Unfortunately, if we list the most polluted rivers, lakes, seas of Russia, then it is simply impossible to avoid this territory. However, our country is carrying out the whole range of necessary measures aimed not at preventing a global catastrophe.