If you look at the map of Russia, in its center there is one of the largest water arteries in terms of volume and size, flowing from the northern to the southern direction of the country from the mountain system of the Ural ridge to the Caspian Sea.
The Ural River flows out in Bashkortostan near the village. Voznesenka in the lowland between the Alabiya ridge and Mount Nazhim Tau. At the very source, in Soviet times, an iron monument with a small forged bridge was erected, which symbolically indicates the conventional border of Europe and Asia.
Flowing from north to south, the channel in the area of the flat steppe plateau near the cities of Novotroitsk and Orsk makes a turn to the west, and near the city of Uralsk it turns a second bend and carries its waters in a southerly direction to the Caspian Sea.
The Ural River on the map of Russia with its water artery penetrates: Bashkiria, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions, as well as the neighboring Republic of Kazakhstan.
Name
Until the mid-80s. 18th century the river was called Yaik. The local population continues to use this name in colloquial speech to this day, which translated from the Turkic dialect it means “flooding”.
The reason for changing its name was the uprising of dissatisfied Yaik Cossacks under the leadership of E. Pugachev, which led to an all-Russian peasant revolt of 1773-75. To suppress the rebel unrest, regular troops were sent to the south-eastern region of the state, which dispelled the unrest.
After the execution of the instigators, the Ruler Russian Empire Catherine II ordered the name of the Yaik River to be changed to Ural. The basis for this choice was the area in which the river flowed - the Ural mountain system.
Such actions by the authorities were common in those days. The purpose of changing the names of localities, landscapes and regions was to quickly consign discontent and unrest to oblivion among the broad masses. Since then, the Yaik Cossacks began to be called Ural Cossacks.
Length of the Ural River
The Ural in the center of its channel has a length of 2428.17 km. In terms of the size of water arteries flowing into the Caspian Sea, the Urals are in second place after the deepest in Russian Federation Volga. 
The largest area of the river on a length of 1164.37 km is the Orenburg region, where it flows in 10 districts. In Europe, the Urals are second in size, besides the Volga (3530 km), only to the Danube (2783.4 km). The river flows through the territory of Kazakhstan at a distance of 1082.4 km.
Mode
The main hydrological characteristic of the Ural River regime is the dynamic unevenness of water inflow.
The river is replenished with water reserves by 94% from the melting of snow masses in the mountains and lower reaches, 6% of replenished hydro resources come from underground water horizons and groundwater. The river becomes covered with ice with the arrival of low temperatures in mid-November; ice drift begins with the active melting of snow in the mountains and lower reaches at the end of March. 
In years with low precipitation, the pool's fullness can be tens of times different compared to time periods with heavy snowfalls. This situation is confirmed by the facts of water spills during the spring flood, reaching a width of 3-8 km. Due to this factor, the river often changes its course.
During the period of active snow melting, the river carries out 95% of the annual outflow in just 30-40 days (April - May).
During other periods, the river is always calm, as a result of which, even in mountainous areas, the water drop occurs at levels of 0.8-1.1 m over a distance of 1 km. In flat areas this figure decreases to 0.25–0.35 m per 1 km.
Bed
The Ural River on the map of Russia in its bed from source to delta is divided into 3 parts in the following currents:
Due to the fact that the Urals originates in a high-mountainous region, the fall of the river in relation to the state above sea level from the source to the delta is 785 m with an average slope along the entire channel of 0.342%.
The formation of the channel basin is affected by the presence of many small water streams flowing both into the river itself and into its tributaries. In this section, the basin grid of the river channel is 8.467 km per km 2.
The river bottom is predominantly sandy with scatterings of pebbles; in the upper reaches there are rocky rifts in the form of small rapids; in the flat and valley parts, silt deposits accumulate due to the slowing of the flow.
Characteristics of the water basin
On the map of Russia, the Ural River takes its topographic origin from the upper reaches, which is located in the Republic of Bashkiria near the village. Voznesenka in the lowland between the Alabiya ridge and the Nazhim Tau peak.
Along its entire course, the basin of the water body with a total area of 232,164 km 2 in relation to the center of the channel has an asymmetrical, uneven area with a shift of 2/3 to the left to the flat areas of low-lying banks. The Ural basin is formed by many tributaries, most of which are considered small rivers ranging in length from 150 m to 10 thousand m.
Large tributaries include rivers over 20 thousand m under the name:
At 208 km from the delta, the width of the channel becomes smaller and along the bottom it forms a natural depression, called the Kruglovskaya breakthrough. The mouth of the river, 15 km from the Caspian Sea, spills into several branches and takes on a finger-shaped shape. The reason for this is the presence of several islands along the path of the water flow, the largest of which is Shalyga Island with a length of 2568 m and a width of 347 m.
Human use of the river
Navigation of river transport is not carried out along the entire length of the river, but begins in the riverbed near the city of Uralsk with access to the Caspian Sea. The city of Atyrau hosts a river port on its territory with an infrastructure of loading berths, repair docks and settling tanks.
River transport is widely used in the following areas:
Consumption water resources in the regions it is used in various fields.
On the territory of the Russian Federation near the Ural River, industrial enterprises in the areas:
- mining and metallurgy;
- oil and gas production;
- raw materials processing chemical industry;
- energy complex.
The river's water resources are actively used to provide life support for the population of large cities, for which purpose reservoirs have been formed along the bed of the Urals, on the dams of which water utilities and treatment facilities have been built. The agro-industrial complex uses 18% of the consumed hydro resources of the Urals in the processing of manufactured products.
Settlements
The banks of the Urals are not as densely populated as the surrounding rivers of central Europe. However, along its course there are 136 cities and towns. The Ural River on the map of Russia has 86 settlements.
The largest of them on the territory of the Federation are the cities:
In addition, along the bed of the Urals on the territory of the Republic of Kazakhstan there are cities:
Border between Asia and Europe
Historically, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the Ural River was believed to divide the densely populated European part of the Russian Empire (with an original Slavic population) from the sparsely populated Asian location (the local population was mainly of Turkic origin).
Geographically, in that era, the Trans-Ural steppe territories were part of the state, but were little controlled. Local nomadic Turkic tribes and nationalities were rebellious and freedom-loving.
During the designated time period, industrial steel factories began to appear everywhere in the Urals, and the mining of silver and gold developed in mining.
The new economically developed region urgently needed protection and defense from attacks by Asian peoples. Such a force was the Yaik Cossacks (from the name at that time of the Ural River - Yaik), who came from the Don and Zaporozhye Cossack settlers. 
There were few land routes to the Urals in the transport system, but navigation along the Yaik was highly developed.
The river route became the main one in the use of mobility for Cossack patrols. At the same time, the process of building defensive fortifications was actively underway. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the Ural waterway divides Eurasia into continental Europe and Asia.
Paying tribute to history, 18 symbolic obelisks and monuments have been installed along the entire length of the water body, indicating the stated fact. In our time, it has been proven by scientific facts that Orenburg with the region and the Western part of Kazakhstan, where the river flows, are located on the European continent.
The geographical boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the water artery only in a small section of it in the Chelyabinsk region from Verkhneuralsk to Magnitogorsk.
Ecological situation
After the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Ural River acquired the status of an interstate transboundary waterway. Scientists and academics unanimously agreed that the cause of all environmental ills associated with a water body is an anthropogenic factor, as a consequence human activity. 12.75 million people live in the regions adjacent to the water artery. 
Main types economic activity, which has a direct impact on the state of the environmental situation, are:
- agro-industrial;
- oil refining;
- metallurgical;
- mining of non-ferrous metals;
- water intake for life support of the population of large cities;
- energy;
- woodworking;
- mechanical engineering;
- chemical industry.
A sharp shortage of water resources on the Ural River caused:
The annual increase in water shortage in the hydrological regime of a water body's runoff indicates the irrevocability of its influx. In 1965, the deficit of hydro resources was 0.032 km3, in 2017 - 4,873 km3, in connection with this, the natural ecosystem of the Ural River is becoming noticeably scarcer every year.
The sharp deterioration of the environmental situation in the Ural River basin does not go unnoticed at the national and international level. The issues and problems of restoring the natural balance in the region, within the framework of a special program, are dealt with by a commission created under the Orenburg Regional Duma.
The water body has its own unique history, which is associated with interesting facts.
- The Ural River in the 70-80s. last century, over its entire length of 2428.17 km, had a share of 33.45% of the world industrial catch of sturgeon species; in the production of red and black caviar this figure exceeded 45%.
- The entire older generation knows the commander of the civil war of 1918-1922. the beginning of the Soviet era, V.I. Chapaev, who died on the river from White Guard bullets. The name of the heroic division commander is immortalized in the name of the city of the same name, which is located on the banks of a river bed in the Ural region of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
- Famous river historical events The Peasant War of 1773 - 1775, the consequence of which, by the royal command of Catherine II, was the massive renaming of everything that was associated with the ancient name of the Yaik River. So not only the river, but also many settlements received new names, in which Yaik was irrevocably replaced.
- There is a legend that on the banks of the Ural River in the 18th century, the famous industrialist Demidov, smelting precious metals, minted royal gold and silver coins secretly from Empress Catherine II. No one was able to officially identify the counterfeiter, but upon the arrival of representatives of the Special Expedition (at that time the special service of the Russian Empire), many Demidov mines were mysteriously closed. Their development was resumed only 150 years later by the young Russian Soviet state during the era of the first five-year plans of the USSR.
- The river is also known for the fact that along its upper reaches, in the section of the water artery bed in the Chelyabinsk region from the city of Verkhneuralsk to the city of Magnitogorsk, there is a geographical boundary between Europe and Asia. Despite scientific basis, the river is considered a historical border dividing the continent of Eurasia into two parts: European and Asian. This fact is commemorated along the entire river bed by 18 installed symbolic obelisks, monuments and monuments, such as:
Located at the junction of Europe and Asia, the Ural River has great value in the socio-economic development of the region and makes a worthy contribution to its life, and occupies a favorable geographical place on the map of Russia.
Article format: Mila Friedan
Video about the Ural River
Interesting film about the Ural River:
The Ural is a river in the Caspian Sea basin. It flows through the lands of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions, as well as the Republic of Kazakhstan. Find out where the river flows here.
The length of the river reaches 2.42 km (this is the third longest in Europe after the Volga and Danube). First, the Urals flows from the Bashkir territories to the south. Here the river can be called a mountain one - the flows in the upper reaches are so strong. Then the waters flow into the Yaitsky swamp, from where the Urals emerge wide. In some places the width of the river reaches 5 km.
Crossing Verkhneuralsk, the Ural turns into a typical lowland river, giving way to relief in the Guberlinsky Mountains. Near the city of Uralsk, where the river enters into full possession of the Kazakh steppes, its valley exceeds tens of kilometers. At the mouth, the river divides into two branches - Yaitsky and Zolotoy, on which navigation is organized. Visit the attractions.
Excursion into the history of the Urals
The old name of the hydrogeological object is Yaik. The origin of the hydronym goes back to the ancient Iranian language. The river was designated by Ptolemaic geographers in the 2nd century AD under the name Daiks. The mighty Ural river received its modern name thanks to the decision of Catherine the Great. Pushkin in his history of Pugacheva said that Yaik, according to the decree of Empress Catherine II, was renamed the Urals, since it comes out of the mountains with the corresponding name. The outstanding Russian poet and writer also mentioned that the Ural is the third longest river in the Old World, second only to the Danube and Volga.
The ancient hydronym Rhymnusfluvius is found in ancient European maps. In the chronicles of the Russian principalities, the river was first mentioned in the mid-12th century. Then Prince Mstislav managed to drive the Polovtsians beyond the Volga, Don and Yaik.
Empress Catherine the Great ordered the name to be changed to Ural. In 1775, the Tsarina suppressed large-scale peasant unrest under the leadership of Pugachev. What prompted this decision remains a mystery. However, historians are confident that Catherine II decided to eradicate the story of Pugachev, the Bashkirs and the Yaik Cossacks, who took direct part in the uprising. In the Kazakh and Bashkir languages, the name of the river did not change, but this in no way could influence the popularization of the new hydronym.
The Urals separating two continents
Contrary to popular belief, the upper Ural River represents a natural water boundary between the Asian and European continents. The symbolic border passes in the cities of Magnitogorsk and Verkhneuralsk in the Chelyabinsk region.
In the Republic of Kazakhstan, from a geographical point of view, the border between the continents runs from the city of Orsk south to the Mugodzhary mountain range. Thus, we can say with confidence that the Ural is a European river, and only the upper reaches of the eastern ranges of the Ural Mountains in Russia can be considered Asia.
At the beginning of 2010, experts from the Russian Geographical Society conducted a large-scale scientific study of a river in Kazakhstan. It demonstrated that the symbolic drawing of the border line between the two continents along the bed of the Ural River, as well as along the Emba, is by no means considered the right decision. The whole point is that the Ural ridge south of the city of Zlatoust loses its axis and breaks up into a number of insignificant parts. Further, the mountain range disappears altogether, as a result of which the main landmark by which the notorious border between Asia and Europe is determined disappears. The scientists' conclusion is that the Ural and Emba rivers cannot symbolically share anything, since the terrain through which they flow is identical.
Natural monuments on the banks of the Urals
The nature on the banks of the Urals is as diverse as the river itself. On the left bank, near the village of Yangelsky in Bashkortostan, you can enjoy amazingly beautiful landscapes. Best place for picnics, fishing and camping in these places it is difficult to find. The steep slopes expose the rocky White Stone cliffs, which stretch for 200 meters.
Curious tourists can discover ancient remains of fossil organisms in limestone rocky outcrops. Lovers of rare plants will also have something to do. Rare species of lichens and plants included in the Red Book grow in this part of the Urals. This equally applies to the rich animal world.
3 km on the right bank of the Ural River there is a mountain with interesting name Delivery A picturesque area with numerous hiking trails is included in state program nature conservation. The botanical monument contains: relict plantings, pine forests, rocky outcrops to the top.
Not far from the village of Chesnokovka lies a unique natural site - Kyzlar-Tau (from the Tatars, Devichya Gora). The peculiarity of this area is considered to be the water-eroded layers of red sandstones; hundreds of tourists come to see them. It is believed that girls ran here for round dances and were spied on by daredevil horsemen.
Entertainment on the Ural River
Travelers actively use the mountainous sections of the Ural River for boating. Along the riverbed there are tourist sports centers from which exciting water excursions along the indomitable streams of the Urals start. In some places you can find rugged rocks carved thousands of years ago. The most beautiful area travel is rightfully considered the Urals below Orsk. Flowing through the gorge through the Guberlinsky Mountains, the river looks fabulous. The surrealism of the picture is reinforced by the absence of tourists.
Worthy of attention: Orskie Gate, Nikolsky section, Iriklinskoe gorge, Mayachnaya and Poperechnaya mountains.
The obstinate river in the upper reaches often changed its course, which is why in Bashkortostan and the Chelyabinsk region you can find ancient remains of abandoned fishing settlements at a comparative distance from the river.
The Ural, or Yaik, is a river flowing through the territories of Russia and Kazakhstan. This is the third longest water stream in Europe (the Volga and Danube are leaders in this indicator). Its length is 2428 km, and the basin area is 231 thousand square meters. km. The Ural is a river flowing into the Caspian Sea. Its source is located on the Uraltau ridge in Bashkortostan.
When was the Yaik River renamed the Ural?
This happened in 1775, after the Peasant War, the leader of which was E. Pugacheva, was suppressed. Yaik Kazakhs and Bashkirs actively participated in this war. The way the Yaik River is now called is the merit of Catherine the Second - it was she who issued a decree to rename the water stream in order to erase any memories of the uprising.
In general, the name Yaik was first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 1140, and the ancient name of the river, according to Ptolemy’s map, sounds like Daix. This word of Turkic origin means “wide”, “spread out”.
Geography
As already mentioned, the Ural (Yaik) River originates in Bashkiria, on the slope of the Round Hill of the Uraltau ridge. Initially, the water flow flows from north to south, and then, encountering the plateau of the Kazakh steppe on the way, it turns to the northwest. Further, beyond Orenburg, the direction becomes southwestern, and near the city of Uralsk the river bends again to the south. In this southern direction, winding now to the east, now to the west, the Urals flows all the way to the Caspian Sea.
The drop in water in the river is not very large: from the upper reaches to the city of Orsk - 0.9 m per 1 km, from Orsk to Uralsk - 30 cm per 1 km, and below - even less. The width of the channel is small, but varied. In the upper reaches the bottom of the Urals is rocky, under the Urals it is lined with small pebbles, but in the rest of the part, as a rule, it is sandy and clayey.
The current is quite tortuous and forms many loops. With a small drop in water, the river often changes its main channel along its entire length, digs new passages, leaving oxbow lakes (deep reservoirs) in all directions. Due to such a changeable current, at one time many Cossack settlements were forced to move to other places, as their homes were gradually undermined and demolished by water.
The climate in the region is mostly continental, with characteristic strong winds. There is relatively little precipitation, no more than 540 millimeters per year, so the river lacks a stable source of water supply.
Between Europe and Asia
Not everyone knows that the Ural (Yaik) is a river that is a natural border between two parts of the world. Geographically, in Russia the border runs in the Chelyabinsk region, in the cities of Magnitogorsk and Verkhneuralsk, and in Kazakhstan along the Mugodzhary ridge. The Urals are an internal European region; only the upper reaches east of the Ural Range can be classified as Asia.
At the same time, there is another opinion on this matter. In 2010, an expedition of the Russian Geographical Society was carried out in Kazakhstan, in the Ustrut desert. The results showed that the Ural River does not divide anything, since it crosses identical terrain, and drawing the border between Europe and Asia along it is unfounded from a scientific point of view. The fact is that south of the city of Zlatoust the Ural ridge loses its axis and falls apart. Then the mountains gradually disappear completely, thus the main landmark for drawing the border disappears.
Shipping
Previously, the river was navigable all the way to Orenburg. During the Soviet Union, water transport operated between Uralsk and Orenburg. However, as a result of constant changes in natural conditions (destruction of forests, plowing of steppes), the Urals became significantly shallower, and this process continues to this day. Every year, environmental expeditions are held here and options for saving the river are discussed. But for now the Urals are shallowing, so now it is not very navigable.
Natural monuments
Oh, how beautiful the Ural (Yaik) is! The river abounds in landscape and geological natural monuments. The most famous of them:
1. White Stone tract. This unique formation is located on the left bank, near the village of Yangelskoye, and is a rocky outcrop of limestone that formed 350 million years ago, during the Carboniferous period. Rare species of lichens, animals and plants, and remains of fossil organisms are found here.
2. Mount Izvoz. It is located on the right bank, three kilometers from Verkhneuralsk. This botanical monument is interesting for its picturesque rocky outcrops, man-made pine plantings and artificial park structures.
There are other equally beautiful monuments: Orskie Gate, Devichya Gora, Nikolskie Cut, Iriklinskoe Gorge.
The most picturesque section of the river begins below the city of Orsk, where it flows through the gorge of the Guberlinsky Mountains. Tourist rafting trips are often organized here.
Fishing
The Ural (Yaik) is a river rich in fish: pike perch, sturgeon, catfish, roach, stellate sturgeon, bream, carp, pike, roach, crucian carp, dace and many other vertebrates are found here. In past centuries, the Urals were famous for sturgeon species; they even say that in the 1970s, 33% of the world's sturgeon production was caught on the river. Now such fish have become rare here, but all the same - fishing in the Urals is good, it is unlikely that any fisherman will be left without a catch!
It is believed that during Civil War drowned in the waves of the Urals (although many versions of his death have been put forward to this day, and it is not known for certain which of them is true).
Several reservoirs have been created on the river. The largest is Iriklinskoye.
The Ural is a fast-flowing river; during periods of high water, the current speed reaches 10 km/h.
The source of the Urals is a spring gushing out of the ground at an altitude of 637 meters above sea level. This place is marked with a memorial sign.
The Urals are a distant land, rich in precious stones, useful ore, wise people and original tales. It united many nationalities, stretching from north to south for more than 2.5 thousand kilometers. High steep cliffs, dense forests, fertile fields and clear lakes and rivers of the Urals were sung by poets, artists, and romantic bards.
The full-flowing Ural River flows from the southern end of the ridge.
History of the name
The river with the name Ural appeared on the map of Russia only in 1775 by decree of Catherine the Great. Before this, in all languages the river was called Yaik. The word came to the Turkic and Bashkir languages from the ancient Iranian daiks. The river was mentioned under this name in the 2nd century BC in the work of Ptolemy.
Some ancient sources contain other names: Daikh, Likos, Yagak, Ulusu, Dzhaikh, Zapolnaya River.
Translated, “yaik” means “spilling” or “wide”. The river's floodplain in some places is up to 10 kilometers.
In the Russian chronicle this name first appears in 1140.
On European medieval maps the river was labeled as Rhymnicus or Rhymnus.
In 1773, the Pugachev uprising broke out in the Urals. Local peasants, Bashkirs, Kazakhs and Yaik Cossacks took part - a Cossack army that settled on the banks of the Yaik in the 16th century. They founded the Yaitsky town and became related to local foreigners. The Cossacks served Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, the first of the dynasty. But they refused to submit to the new orders of Catherine II. Having brutally suppressed the uprising, the Empress decided to forever consign the very name of the area to oblivion and ordered the town of Yaitsky to be named Ural in accordance with the name of the mountain range, the Cossacks to be named Ural, Yaik to be named the Ural River. Kazakhs and Bashkirs continue to use the old name.
Location on the map
The Urals flows through the lands of several regions of Russia:
- Bashkortostan;
- Chelyabinsk region:
- Orenburg region.
Then it crosses the border of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The nature of the current varies greatly depending on the surrounding landscape, time of year, and weather.
Source and tributaries
The source of the Ural River is made up of five springs ten kilometers west of the village of Voznesenka in the Republic of Bashkortostan. Behind the mountain range in the west lies the valley of the Ai River, which gives rise to the Urals. It all starts with a small spring in the Uraltau mountains at an area of 637 m above sea level on the slope of the Round Hill. It is believed that this point lies on the line dividing Eurasia into Europe and Asia. Participants of the expedition that visited here in 1973 installed a memorial plaque. On it, the Ural River is schematically depicted on the map, the largest cities are marked with circles. Later, a small metal bridge was thrown across the stream, symbolizing the unification of the Western and Eastern worlds.
At the foot of the Nazhimtau and Uytash mountains, several more springs join the stream. These small springs are not the only source of recharge for the river. The Urals collects water from eight dozen tributaries. The most important of them are Sakmara and Ilek.
Sakmara begins in Bashkiria. She brings the Urals the most large number water. This is a turbulent mountain river, on the banks of which people live with pleasure.
Ilek almost twice as long as Sakmara, but carries 2.5 times less water. It flows from Kazakhstan. The Ilek Valley can rival in width the valley of the Urals itself.
Two more significant tributaries - Tanalyk and Sunduk - flow not into the Urals, but into the Iriklinskoye reservoir.
Other major tributaries:
- left: Or, Bolshoi Kumak, Gumbeyka, Urta-Burtya, Bolshaya Karaganka, Zingeyka;
- right: Chagan, Big Kizil, Irtek, Small Kizil, Guberlya.
Although the basin area on the left side is larger, there are more tributaries on the right. These are fast mountain rivers. On the left, quiet lowland streams adjoin the Urals.
Mouth of the river
The Caspian Sea, where the great Ural River flows, is located on the divide between Asia and Europe. It is considered a sea only because of its large size. The Caspian Sea ranks first in the list of endorheic lakes in the world.
The mouth formed a delta at 27 m below sea level. This is typical for slow-flowing rivers with internal drainage. The total fall of the river is 664 m. Due to irregular poor supply, the delta branches gradually become shallow and disappear. In the middle of the 18th century there were nineteen of them. A hundred years later the number was reduced to nine, and later to three:
- Drag;
- Zolotinsky;
- Yaitsky.
The first is separated upstream of the other two. Each branch branches into two ducts. The Bukharka channel, which runs to the sea between Zolotoy and Peretask, also belongs to Zolotinsky.
River basin
The area of the Ural River basin is 231 thousand square kilometers and ranks sixth among Russian rivers. The valley's territory is distributed unevenly - two thirds are on the left bank. In the upper and middle reaches, the drainage space covers the lands of Russia and Kazakhstan. The main part of the valley is concentrated in the Orenburg region. The river collects runoff from surrounding lands over a length of 1,164 km. Here the Urals meets the most rivers.
The river bed is winding and often changes position, leaving lakes, oxbow lakes and settlements away from the main stream. Every year during floods they are refilled with water.
The southern section passes through arid areas and has few tributaries. If you look at a map, you can compare the outline of a river and valley to a tree. The crown is spreading, with many curved branches. This area is called furcating in scientific language, i.e. branched. The trunk at the base is wide and almost bare.
Mode, nature of the flow
The entire territory where the Ural River currently flows lies in the continental climate zone. In summer there is intense heat, in winter there is frost. The ice appears in November and lasts until March. The river fully lives up to its first name. The water level depends on the amount of snow by 70-80%. Shallow during the boundary period, during the melting of snow it gains up to ten times more water. With the width of the main channel being 50-170 m, during high water the width of the mouth of the Ural River can reach up to 36 km. During this short period, the main flow of the year passes through. The depth is 3-5m. Length – 2428 km. It is third in Europe after the Volga and Danube.
At the beginning of the journey, the flow moves from north to south. In the upper reaches it is a fast mountain stream, about one and a half meters deep. The bottom here is rocky. Further, in the middle part, it is sandy and pebble, silted along the shores. Alluvium from sandstone rocks eroded upstream accumulates at the mouth. After passing through the Yaitsky swamp, the river expands to five kilometers and loses its violent character. Between Verkhne-Uralsk and Magnitogorsk the nature of the current is flat. To Orsk, the slope of the riverbed is on average 0.9 m per kilometer. Then it becomes even more gentle.
Having rounded Orsk, the Urals head north-west. Below, in the territory of the Guberlinsky Mountains, rapids and rifts appear again. This 45 km long section attracts a large number of visitors with particularly beautiful views. Connecting near Orenburg with Sakmara, the river becomes calm and leisurely. It lazily moves southwest along the border of Kazakhstan and Russia, losing approximately 0.3 meters of height per kilometer of length.
On the border with Kazakhstan near the city of Uralsk, the channel returns to the south and reaches the Caspian Sea in a winding or meandering way. Here the river becomes deep and wide - up to 200 m. The distance from the water surface to the bottom in some places reaches 6 m, and in the reaches up to 12 m. The banks are mostly low, although in places that coincide with the edge of the river valley they reach 20 m.
The complex nature of the river caused the death of the civil war hero Chapaev. According to one version, he drowned while swimming across a stormy stream. The village of Lbischensk, where the tragic event occurred, is located on the territory of Kazakhstan. Since the forties of the 20th century it has been called Chapaev.
Flora and fauna of the Ural River
During the boundary period, the river's floodplain is covered with dense blackberry and thorn bushes, forests and water meadows. In some lakes there is a rare relict plant - chilim, or water chestnut, listed in the Red Book.
Going on a “silent hunt” here is a real pleasure. Red-headed boletuses, crunchy milk mushrooms and other edible mushrooms grow well on soil fertilized with silt.
As you move along the coast, the nature and animals living here change. In the cold climate of the upper reaches of the Urals, reindeer are found. In the taiga, predatory fur-bearing animals have taken root: sables and stoats. Bears, lynxes, wolves, and foxes feel great. Their game runs around here: deer, roe deer, elk. Beavers, otters and muskrats settle closer to the water. The southern steppes are inhabited by small rodents, snakes, and lizards.
About 240 species of birds nest on large reservoirs, including gulls and terns.
The main pride of the Ural River is fish. More than four dozen species live and spawn here. The most popular are roach, pike, lamprey, crucian carp, ide, carp, perch, trout, ruffe, asp, sterlet, burbot and other permanent inhabitants. Stellate sturgeon, beluga and sturgeon come to spawn. From time to time you can see pike perch, roach, and bream.
Reservoirs
Iriklinskoye Reservoir
Water from the Urals is used for irrigation and electricity generation. The unstable regime of the river forced people to take care of moisture reserves. To provide water to large cities located along the current, three reservoirs were created in the Urals back in the Soviet period:
- Verkhneuralskoe;
- Magnitogorsk;
- Iriklinskoe;
The first two reservoirs were created near the city of Magnitogorsk.
Verkhneuralskoe appeared in the sixties specifically to supply the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. It is located between Verkhneuralsk and Magnitogorsk. Its dimensions are 23 by 3 km, the depth reaches 10 m. Therefore, the reservoir was popularly called the Upper Ural Sea. It was supposed to replace the old Magnitogorsk reservoir. Now it is a popular holiday destination. On its shores there are tourist centers and campsites, and a yacht club has been formed.
Previously, in the thirties, when the metal processing plant was just being built, the Factory Pond (Magnitogorsk Reservoir) was used for its needs. This is an artificial reservoir of channel type. It is located within the city. The area of the mirror is 33 square kilometers with a length of 24 km and an average depth of 5.5 m. Due to the wastewater discharged into it, the water soon became impossible to use for technological processes. Treatment facilities were launched only in 1954. The modern Zavodskoy pond is quite clean. Locals come here for picnics. Rowing and swimming competitions are regularly held on the water.
The Iriklinskoe reservoir is the largest in the Southern Urals. Its area is 260 square kilometers, depth - up to 40 m, volume - 2160 million cubic meters, length - 415 km. It took eight years to fill from 1949. Several settlements were flooded, the oldest of which was Tanalyk, founded in 1743. In the middle of the 20th century, a hydroelectric power station operated on the reservoir until it was replaced by a state district power station in the city of Energetik. Now this artificial sea is chosen by tourists, fishermen and fishing farms. Of the many islands, the most notable are Love Island, Ust-Burlinsky, Koshar and Hanging Stone. Water is taken from it for the Orsk-Khalilovsky industrial complex and irrigation of agricultural lands. Cities from Gai to Orenburg are fed with water.
In addition to man-made ones, the Ural Valley is decorated with many natural lakes.
Border between Asia and Europe?
The riverbed of the Ural hand actually runs along the geographical border of Europe and Asia. But only in the upper and middle reaches, located on the territory of Russia. A monument to the border was erected in Orenburg. It demonstrates that one bank of the Urals is in Europe, and the other in Asia.
In fact, the dividing line runs in the Chelyabinsk region. Magnitogorsk and Verkhneuralsk stand directly on it. A memorial sign was also installed in the latter.
In Kazakhstan, the Ural is a completely European river. The channel here deviates to the west from the border of the continents, which runs from Orsk to the high Mugodzhary mountain range. To the south of it lies a sandy desert belonging to Central Asia.
River navigability
In the past, the Urals were quite deep. There was a permanent water route between Uralsk and Orenburg. But gradually the river became shallow. The Yaitsky and Golden branches of the delta are now navigable. From the sea you can freely walk to the port of Atyrau. These are mainly fishing and cargo ships. They transport commercial fish and fruits (melons and watermelons). A significant portion of the city’s and the country’s income comes from the extraction and transportation of oil, which is extracted near Atyrau.
Natural monuments in the Urals
The area in which the Ural River is located is diverse and full of natural wonders.
Picturesque places attract tourists and fishermen to Bashkortostan, where near the village of Yangelsky you can wander along the rocky coast along the White Stone cliff. Fossil remains frozen inside like pieces of antiquity. Rare lichens and plants grow here, and animals listed in the Red Book live here.
The mountain, with the wonderful name Izvoz, used to serve as a resting place for peasants who transported ore to Beloretsk. Then there was a chapel on the top, destroyed during the Civil War. An obelisk was erected in memory of the victims. Later, pine trees were planted on the slopes and paths were laid for tourists. Now this area is protected as a natural monument.
Many tourists strive to go through the Orsk Gate, past the Nikolsky cut, look into the Iriklinskoye Gorge, admire the Transverse Mountain, go around the Noisy Roll, and fish in the backwater near Mayachnaya Mountain.
Near Chesnokovka stands the Maiden Mountain - Kyzlar-Tau. Local girls used to come to the dam at its base. They danced, played, and swam. Young guys came here to spy on them. But they tried not to catch the eye of the lively Cossack women. In addition to the legend about the brave horsemen who watched the girls play, this place is famous for its sandstone of an unusual red color.
The Treasure Coast is located on the right bank of the Urals between Orenburg and Ilek. It is rich not in precious stones, but in a unique natural landscape created by water, wind and solid deposits of chalk, flagstone, white clay, marl and ferruginous sandstones.
Main cities on the Ural River
From time immemorial people have settled on the banks of the Urals. With the development of industry, large cities grew from small settlements. The most notable of them:
- Verkhneuralsk, which at the beginning of the 18th century became a stronghold for explorers of the Yaik River and a port for supplying builders of the future city of Orenburg;
- Magnitogorsk, which grew up around a metallurgical plant;
- Orsk, near which Orsk jasper, known for its unusual varied coloring, is mined near Colonel Mountain;
- Novotroitsk, which grew up near the Khalilovsky mineral deposit - brown iron ore, and a processing plant;
- Orenburg, an outpost on the Asian border that has become a major trading center;
- Uralsk, the former Yaitsky town - the cradle of the Cossack uprising of 1773, Pugachev’s stronghold until 1775;
- Atyrau is a significant port and oil capital of Kazakhstan.
The story of each of them is full of unexpected twists and interesting facts.
Fishing and rafting
Rapids sections of the Ural River attract rafting enthusiasts. Bases have been built on the banks for conquerors of the water element. The route along the gorge in the Guberlinsky Mountains is popular for rafting. Excursions are organized for cautious tourists. A route with a length of 876 km and a duration of 28 days has been developed for kayaks.
The beauty of the Ural shores cannot compete with the popular routes on the stunning Ai River or the Chusovaya River, a tributary of the Kama, famous for its stone fighters. But there are no less people who want to spend their holidays here.
Those interested in history enjoy visiting abandoned fishing villages that were abandoned many years ago. As more and more land was allocated for agriculture, the steppes were developed, forests were cut down, water inflow decreased and flow increased. All this led to the shallowing of the river. When it became obvious that water was becoming scarcer every year, various programs to preserve the reservoir began to be implemented. However, it is too early to talk about results.
In the seventies of the 20th century, black caviar was mined here. Recently, sturgeon have decreased by a third. But despite the difficult environmental situation, the waters of the Urals are a real treasure trove for fishermen. Populations are maintained in reservoirs different types fish Regular fishing from a boat and from the shore, diving and spearfishing are developing.
The Ural River, like the Ural Mountains that gave birth to it, united ancient history, scientific achievements and picturesque nature. It has become a home for the people and animals living in the surrounding area. It does not divide Eurasia; on the contrary, it unites Asia and Europe.
The Urals are simply dotted with numerous and beautiful rivers with clear cold water and picturesque rocky shores, and the most interesting rapids and rifts make them also extremely attractive for active recreation. Mysterious rocks, keeping many stories and legends, are surrounded by endless taiga. Bones of unprecedented animals have been found here more than once, gems, gold, unknown rock paintings... The waterways of the Urals are mysterious and attractive, we will tell you about several of them.
Ural Mountains
First of all, we should talk about these mysterious mountains. The Ural Range stretches for two and a half thousand kilometers, from the icy shores of the northernmost ocean to the hot semi-deserts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, being the watershed of many rivers on the eastern and western slopes, the real border of the worlds of Asia and Europe. The ridge also separates the Russian and West Siberian Plains. The rivers are very numerous and have their own interesting features. There are more than five thousand rivers belonging to the basins: the Kara Sea, the Barents Sea, the Caspian Sea.
An interesting feature of this region is the large number of artificial reservoirs - reservoirs, as well as ponds (more than three hundred with a total area of about 4.2 thousand square kilometers). Together with numerous hydroelectric power stations, for the most part artificial reservoirs are a hydraulic technical part of the Ural plant network.
Natural and climatic features
The enormous length of the mountain range creates extremely diverse natural and climatic conditions for the rivers and lakes of the Urals, which inevitably affects their characteristics.
The climate of the region is continental, with cold, snowy winters and warm summers. The northern part of the Urals experiences a strong climatic influence of the northern seas and the Arctic Ocean, while the middle part of the mountain range is in the zone of influence of the Atlantic (especially the western part, where the greatest amount of precipitation is recorded). The steppe and forest-steppe zones of the Ural Mountains are characterized by insufficient moisture, which directly affects the water abundance of the rivers flowing here, while the taiga and tundra zones, on the contrary, are characterized by excessive moisture.
in different parts of the Urals
In the Polar Urals, a small number of high-water rivers begin their flow, such as the Khara-Matalou, Sob, Yelets and others.
In the Northern and Subpolar parts of the mountains flow rapids, fast and large rivers of the Urals, such as the Pechora and its numerous tributaries (Shugor, Ilych, Kosyu, Podcherem, etc.). They replenish the Barents Sea with their waters. On the eastern slopes, the mountain rivers of the Northern Urals and the Arctic Region are rocky, shallow, and fast. They are rich in rapids and rifts. These rivers flow into the Malaya Ob, Severnaya Sosva and then carry their waters into the Kara Sea. The rivers in the north of the mountains are navigable for 5-6 months.
The Middle Urals, Western Cis-Urals, Eastern Trans-Urals - numerous rivers have their sources here. Here the streams that make up the Kama water system begin their run. This is the most powerful and full-flowing river in the region.
The rivers of the Southern Urals, like the Northern ones, have a very high flow speed. Their riverbeds are characterized by a large number of rapids, riffles, and waterfalls. The flow of the rivers of the Middle Urals is much calmer and slower.
Features of rivers on different slopes of the ridge
The rivers of different slopes of the Ural ridge also differ from each other. On the western slope, more precipitation falls due to the influence of the Atlantic, thanks to the westerly transport of air masses. Therefore, the rivers here are fuller than on the eastern slope, where there is less moisture. Among the rivers of the western slopes, such large rivers of the Urals as Vishera, Belaya, Kama, Ufa, and Sylva stand out. And on the eastern slopes the largest are Sosva, Tavda, Iset, Lozva, Tura, Pyshma. The valleys of these rivers extend, as a rule, in the latitudinal direction. The Chusovaya River is unique, which with its bed (the only one of all!) captures both the western and eastern slopes of the mountain range.
Description of the river Ural
The Ural River flows through Eastern Europe on the territory of the countries - Russia and Kazakhstan. This river carries its waters from Bashkiria to the Caspian Sea. Belongs to the rivers of the Southern Urals. Length - 2428 kilometers. It is the third longest in Europe after such waterways as the Volga and Danube. Even the Dnieper is ahead in length. The Ural River originates at an altitude of 637 meters on the slopes of the Round Hill (Uraltau Range) in Bashkortostan.
Then it flows along the edge of the Chelyabinsk region from north to south. Passes the cities of Verkhneuralsk and Magnitogorsk. At the same time, it receives the tributaries Gumbeyka and B. Kizil. Meeting the plateau of the Kazakh steppe on its way, the Ural River sharply changes its direction to the north-west. Further deviating now to the west, now to the east, it reaches the Caspian Sea. The Ural River flows into the sea, breaking up into many branches.
The ancient name of the river. Ural
This river also has ancient name. Until 1775, the Ural River was called Yaik. This name is official in Kazakhstan. In the Bashkir language, the river also has this name. It was first mentioned in the chronicles of the Russian people in 1140. It was renamed Ural on January 15, 1775 by order of Catherine II. Then many geographical objects were renamed in order to erase from people’s memory the Pugachev uprising, which burned from 73 to 75.
Pechora River
It is one of the rivers of the Northern Urals. Its name means cave, and is popular among fishermen and raftsmen. Its length is 1,809 thousand kilometers, the Pechora flows through the territory of two constituent entities of the Russian Federation - the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, and has a total drainage area of 0.322 million square kilometers. It flows into the Barents Sea, the annual flow is approximately 0.13 million cubic kilometers of water. The Pechora has a huge number of tributaries, about 35 thousand. In the river basin Pechora has 60 thousand lakes! Its main food source is snow.
The largest tributary of the Pechora is the Usa River, 500 kilometers long. Other large tributaries of the Pechora include the Northern Mylva, Unya, Lemyu, Velyu, Kozhva, Izhma, Lyzha, Neritsa, Tsilma, Pizhma, Sula, Ilych, Borovaya, Podcherye, Usa, Shugor, Laya, Sozva, Kuya, Ersa, Shapkina. The most interesting of them for tourism are Unya (excellent fishing) and Usa (excellent rafting).
The largest marinas are Ust-Tsilma, Naryan-Mar, Pechora.
Up to the point where the Unya River flows into it, Pechora has a typically mountainous character. Its banks in this area are formed of pebbles, and there are many rapids, rocky ledges, and rifts in the riverbed. And in the middle and lower parts, the nature of the river changes to flat. The shores are clayey or sandy. The waters of Pechora spread wide, reaching a width of two kilometers. In this part you can see branches, channels, and Pechora islands.
The area of the Pechora River is considered difficult to reach; the road network here is extremely underdeveloped. For this reason, a lot of untouched natural areas have been preserved in the region, and one of the largest biosphere reserves in Russia has been organized between the Pechora tributary Ilych and the Pechora itself.
Kara
Another of the most interesting rivers of the Ural Mountains is one that flows in the Polar part of the ridge. Its length is 0.257 thousand kilometers with a basin area of 13.4 thousand square kilometers. The river flows through the regions of Russia: Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Komi Republic.
It originates at the confluence of two rivers - the Malaya and the Bolshaya Kara. It flows parallel to the Pai Khoi ridge. Along its entire length, the river flows through mostly deserted and extremely picturesque places. Here you can see several beautiful canyons, many rapids and waterfalls, the most famous of which, of course, is Buredan (9 kilometers below the confluence of the Nerusoveyakha River).
The only one along the entire length of the river. Kara settlement - village. Ust-Kara is located near the very mouth of the river. On its banks you can find, perhaps, temporary dwellings of local peoples - the plague, and even then extremely rarely.
It is interesting that the Kara Sea got its name from the Kara River, where in the eighteenth century one of the detachments of the so-called “Great Northern Expedition” under the leadership of S. Malygin and A. Skuratov spent the winter.
Rafting on the rivers of the Urals
This is a very popular type of active rafting on the rivers: Ufa, Belaya, Ai, Chusovaya, Serge, Sosva, Yuryuzan, Rezh, Usva, Neiva. They can last from 1 day to a week. Rafting on the rivers of the Urals allows you to visit many attractions without covering the distance on foot, but on a catamaran, trimaran or raft. Walking along the Serebryanka River, which then flows into Chusovaya, water tourists repeat the path of Ermak. Also notable on Chusovaya are its rocky shores. The Belaya or Agidel River, flowing through the Republic of Bashkortostan, also attracts rafters. Combined hikes with visiting caves are possible here. The Kapova Cave or Shulgan-Tash is widely known.
They raft along the Vishera, which is considered one of the most picturesque rivers of the Urals. It begins in the Vishera Nature Reserve. It is inhabited by grayling, taimen, burbot, char, and stud. The Pyshma River is notable for its rocks; the Kuryi resort and the Pripyshmenskiye Bors national park are located on the river. The Kara River also has its own interesting sights. This harsh northern river passes through several canyons and sometimes forms waterfalls, the largest is called Buredan. It is also very interesting for rafters. To the west of the river there is a meteorite crater with a diameter of 65 kilometers.
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