Mezen River
Encyclopedia
The Mezen is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic
Komi Republic
The Komi Republic is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is situated to the west of the Ural mountains, in the north-east of the East European Plain...

 and in Leshukonsky
Leshukonsky District
Leshukonsky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Leshukonsky Municipal District...

 and Mezensky District
Mezensky District
Mezensky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Mezensky Municipal District...

s of Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea....

 in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. Its mouth is located in the Mezen Bay
Mezen Bay
The Mezen Bay is located in Arkhangelsk Oblast and Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Northwestern Russia. It is one of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Dvina Bay, the Onega Bay, and the Kandalaksha Gulf. The Mezen Bay is the easternmost of these, as it lies to the south of...

 of the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...

. Mezen is one of the biggest rivers of European Russia. It is 857 kilometres (532.5 mi) long, and the area of its basin 78000 square kilometres (30,116 sq mi). The principal tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Mezen are the Bolshaya Loptyuga River (left), the Pyssa River (left), the Mezenskaya Pizhma River
Mezenskaya Pizhma River
The Mezenskaya Pizhma is a river in Ust-Tsilemsky District of the Komi Republic and in Leshukonsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 (right), the Sula River
Sula River (Mezen)
The Sula is a river in Leshukonsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin . The major tributaries of the Mezenskaya Pizhma are the Pyshega River and the Omza River .The Sula starts on the Kozminsky Kamen Plateau,...

 (right), the Kyma River
Kyma River
The Kyma is a river in Leshukonsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 (right), the Vashka River
Vashka River
The Vashka is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a left and the biggest tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 (left), the Kimzha River
Kimzha River
The Kimzha is a river in Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin . The main tributary is the Tyafsora ....

 (left), and the Pyoza River
Pyoza River
The Pyoza is a river in Mezensky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 (right).

The river basin of the Mezen comprises vast areas in the east and north-east of Arkhangelsk Oblast and in the west of the Komi Republic. The town of Mezen
Mezen
-See also:*Administrative divisions of Arkhangelsk Oblast...

, the urban type settlements of Usogorsk and Kamenka
Kamenka
Kamenka may refer to:People*Eugene Kamenka, an Australian philosopher, socialistPlaces*Kamenka, Russia, name of several inhabited localities in Russia*Kamenka, an alternative name of the town of Taskala, Kazakhstan...

, as well as the administrative center of Udorsky District, the selo of Koslan all are located on the banks of the Mezen. The administrative center of Leshukonsky District, the selo of Leshukonskoye
Leshukonskoye
Leshukonskoye is a rural locality and the administrative center of Leshukonsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Vashka River. It also serves as the administrative center of Leshukonsky Selsoviet, one of the thirteen selsoviets into which the district is...

, is located on the Vashka River
Vashka River
The Vashka is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a left and the biggest tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 several kilometers upstream from the colfluence of the Vashka and the Mezen and is connected with the right bank of the Mezen by a ferry crossing.

The source of the Mezen is in the Timan Ridge
Timan Ridge
The Timan Ridge is a highland in the far north of European Russia. Most of the Timan Ridge is situated in the Komi Republic, but the northernmost part is in Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Arkhangelsk Oblast. The highest point in the Timan Ridge is Chetlassky Kamen .The Timan Ridge is situated west of...

 in Komi Republic
Komi Republic
The Komi Republic is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:The republic is situated to the west of the Ural mountains, in the north-east of the East European Plain...

, west of the northern Ural Mountains
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...

. It flows first south-west, then sharply turns roughly in the north-western direction. The upper course of the Mezen runs through the hilly landscape. The Mezen flows into the Mezen Bay
Mezen Bay
The Mezen Bay is located in Arkhangelsk Oblast and Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Northwestern Russia. It is one of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Dvina Bay, the Onega Bay, and the Kandalaksha Gulf. The Mezen Bay is the easternmost of these, as it lies to the south of...

 of the White Sea near the town Mezen
Mezen
-See also:*Administrative divisions of Arkhangelsk Oblast...

, right below the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

. Near its mouth the Pyoza River
Pyoza River
The Pyoza is a river in Mezensky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 comes in from the east.

The Mezen is navigable below the selo of Koslan, however, there is no regular passenger navigation except for ferry crossings.

History

The area was originally populated by Finno-Ugric peoples
Finno-Ugric peoples
The Finno-Ugric peoples are any of several peoples of Europe who speak languages of the proposed Finno-Ugric language family, such as the Finns, Estonians, Mordvins, and Hungarians...

 and then colonized by the Novgorod Republic
Novgorod Republic
The Novgorod Republic was a large medieval Russian state which stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains between the 12th and 15th centuries, centred on the city of Novgorod...

. In 13th century the Novgorod merchants already reached the White Sea
White Sea
The White Sea is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the northeast. The whole of the White Sea is under Russian sovereignty and considered to be part of...

. The Mezen was used by Novgorod merchants as the trading route to the basin of the Pechora River
Pechora River
The Pechora River is a river in northwest Russia which flows north into the Arctic Ocean on the west side of the Ural Mountains. It lies mostly in the Komi Republic but the northernmost part crosses the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It is 1,809 km long and its basin is 322,000 square kilometers...

 which was attractive because of the fur. From the Northern Dvina, they went upstream the Pinega
Pinega River
The Pinega is a river in Verkhnetoyemsky, Pinezhsky, and Kholmogorsky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Northern Dvina River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 and took the boats by land to the Kuloy
Kuloy River (White Sea)
The Kuloy is a river in Pinezhsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. Its mouth is located in the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. It is long, and the area of its basin . The principal tributaries of the Kuloy are the Kyolda , the Nemnyuga , and the Soyana...

. The boats then were taken from the Kuloy to the Mezen. The river route continued east up the Pyoza, portage, and down the Tsilma River
Tsilma River
The Tsilma is a river in Leshukonsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast and Ust-Tsilemsky District of the Komi Republic in Russia. It is a left and one of the main tributaries of the Pechora River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 to the Pechora River.

Another route went from the Northern Dvina upstream the Pukshenga
Pukshenga River
The Pukshenga is a river in Kholmogorsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Northern Dvina River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

, then moved to the Pokshenga
Pokshenga River
The Pokshenga is a river in Vinogradovsky and Pinezhsky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a left tributary of the Pinega River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 and downstream to the Pinega. From the Pinega, the merchants used the Yezhuga
Yezhuga River
The Yezhuga is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and in Pinezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Pinega River. It is long, and the area of its basin . The principal tributary is the Yeyuga...

, the Zyryanskaya Vashka and the Vashka
Vashka River
The Vashka is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a left and the biggest tributary of the Mezen River. It is long, and the area of its basin...

 to get to the Mezen.

After the fall of Novgorod, the area became a part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow
Grand Duchy of Moscow
The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....

. First permanent Russian settlements on the Mezen River are mentioned under 16th century: Yuroma (1513) and Koynas (1554). The middle course of the Mezen, approximately the current area of Leshukonsky District
Leshukonsky District
Leshukonsky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Leshukonsky Municipal District...

, was where Russian and Komi
Komi peoples
The Komi people is an ethnic group whose homeland is in the north-east of European Russia around the basins of the Vychegda, Pechora and Kama rivers. They mostly live in the Komi Republic, Perm Krai, Murmansk Oblast, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in the Russian...

 cultures mixed the most. In the lower course of the Mezen, currently Mezensky District
Mezensky District
Mezensky District is an administrative district , one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Mezensky Municipal District...

, Russians dominated, whereas in the upper course, currently Udorsky District, Komi dominated.
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