Yenisei is the greatest
riverA river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water...
system flowing to the
Arctic OceanThe Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions.
The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some...
, and at 5,539 km (3,445 mi) is the
fifth longest river in the world. Rising in
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
, it follows a northerly course to the
Yenisei GulfThe Yenisei Gulf is a large and long estuary through which the lower Yenisei River flows into the Kara Sea.The Yenisei Gulf is formed by the river widening to an average of 50 km for up to 250 km in a roughly north-south direction, between a latitude of 70° 30' N in the area around...
in the
Kara SeaThe Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....
, draining a large part of central
SiberiaSiberia , is the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the USSR from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the...
, the longest stream following the Yenisei-Angara-Selenga-Ider.
The upper reaches, subject to rapids and flooding, pass through sparsely populated areas. The middle section is controlled by a series of massive hydroelectric dams fuelling significant Russian primary industry. Partly built by
gulagThe Gulag or GULAG was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. The term is infamous for its association with remote places where prisoners were kept and sometimes disappeared...
labor in Soviet times, industrial contamination remains a serious problem in an area hard to police. Moving on through sparsely-populated
taigaTaiga is a biome characterized by coniferous forests. Covering most of inland Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Finland, inland Norway, Highland Scotland and Russia , as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States , northern...
, the Yenisei swells with numerous tributaries and finally reaches the Kara Sea in desolate
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
where it is icebound for more than half the year.
Maximum depth of Yenisei River is and average depth is . The depth of river goes outflow and river goes inflow .
Upper Yenisei
The Yenisei rises in two major headstreams: the Bolshoi (greater) Yenisey also known as the Bii-Khem (Бий-Хем) rises in the
TuvaTyva Republic , or Tuva , is a federal subject of Russia .-Geography:...
region on the S flank of the Eastern
Sayan MountainsThe Sayan Mountains are a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia....
and north of the
Tannu-Ola MountainsThe Tannu-Ola mountains is a mountain range in southern Siberia, in the Tuva Republic of Russia. It extends in an east-west direction and curves along the Mongolian border...
at ; the Malyy (lesser) Yenisey· also known as the Kaa-Khem (Каа-Хем) rises in the
DarkhadThe Darkhad valley is a large valley in northwestern Khövsgöl aimag, Mongolia. It is situated between the Ulaan Taiga and Khoridol Saridag ranges at an altitude of about 1600 m, about 160 km long and 40 km wide. The area is 4270 km²...
(
riftIn geology, a rift is a place where the Earth's crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics....
) valley in
MongoliaMongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It borders Russia to the north and the People's Republic of China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 24 miles from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator,...
. Recent research has shown that over history the narrow exit to the Darkhad Valley has regularly been blocked by ice producing a lake as large as neighbouring Lake Khövsgöl. When the glaciers retreated (the last time 9300 years BP) as much as 500 km³ of water would have escaped, possibly catastrophically.
See also:
- Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station
Sayano–Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station is located on the Yenisei River, near Sayanogorsk in Khakassia, Russia. It is the largest power plant in Russia and the sixth-largest hydroelectric plant in the world, by average power generation. The full legal name of the power plant, OJSC [Open...
Lake Baikal headwater
The 320 km (partly navigable) Upper Angara River feeds into the northern end of
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
from the Buryat Republic but the largest inflow is from the
SelengaThe Selenga or Selenge is the chief river in Mongolia and Russia. Its source rivers are the Ideriin gol and the Delgermörön. It flows into Lake Baikal and has a length of 992 km . The Selenga is the headwater of the Yenisei-Angara River...
which forms a delta on the south-eastern side. The longest tributaries rise on the eastern slopes of central Mongolia's Khangai Mountains. Another tributary, the
TuulTuul River is a river in central and northern Mongolia. It is 704 km long and drains an area 49,840 square km....
passes through the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator while the
Egiin GolThe Egiin Gol is a river in the Khövsgöl and Bulgan provinces in northern Mongolia. It is the only outflow of Khövsgöl nuur and a tributary of the Selenge river. Wooden bridges exist near Khatgal and in Tünel sum, and a concrete bridge has been built in Erdenebulgan...
drains Lake Khövsgöl.
Angara River
The
Angara River (
Ангара́) river drains
Lake BaikalLake Baikal is the world's second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water...
and runs 1840 km from the regional capital
IrkutskIrkutsk is one of the largest cities in Siberia and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, situated by rail from Moscow. Population: -History:...
to converge with the Yenisei at
StrelkaStrelka, Russian for "little arrow" , may refer to one of the following:*Strelka, one of the Russian space dogs...
. It is dammed in four places to power local industry. The 44m dam at Irkutsk produces 650 MW.
BratskBratsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River near the vast Bratsk Reservoir. Population: 259,335 . Although the name sounds like the Russian word for 'brother' , it actually comes from 'bratskiye lyudi', an old name for the Buryats.-History:The first Europeans in the...
lies 500 km downstream, where the 124 m
damBratsk hydroelectric plant is the second level of the Angara River hydroelectric stations cascade in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. Located in Bratsk. From its full commissioning in 1967, the station was the world’s single biggest power producer until Canada's Churchill Falls was opened in 1971....
built in the 1960s produces 4500 MW. The resultant reservoir is nicknamed
Dragon Lake because of its outline. The tributary Oka and Iya rivers, which rise on the north slopes of the Eastern
Sayan MountainsThe Sayan Mountains are a mountain range in southern Siberia, Russia....
, form the 'jaws' and 400 km of the Angara form the 'tail'. There are newer dams almost as large at
Ust-IlimskUst-Ilimsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Angara River. Population: 99,800 , 100,592 Census); 53,000 .-History:...
250 km downstream (also damming the tributary Ilim river) and
BoguchanyBoguchany hydroelectric power station is a power station under construction on the Angara River in Kodinsk, Russia.-History:Preparatory works for construction started in 1974. The design was performed by Hydroproject in 1976. Construction of the power station started in 1980 but was suspended in...
a further 400 km downstream (not operational). Further dams are planned but the environmental consequences of completely taming the Angara are leading to protests which may prevent funding.
AngarskAngarsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Angara River, from Moscow. Population: 262,300 ; Angarsk was founded in 1948 as an industrial community and was granted city status on May 30, 1951. Angarsk has the largest industrial zone in Asia. It includes Angarsk Petrochemical...
, the center of the expanding Eastern Siberian oil industry and site of a huge
YukosYukos Oil Company was a petroleum company in Russia which, until recently, was controlled by Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky and a number of prominent Russian businessmen. Khodorkovsky was convicted and sent to prison. Yukos headquarters was located in Moscow...
-owned refinery, lies 50 km downstream of Irkutsk. A major pipeline takes oil west, and a new one is being built to carry oil east for supply to Japan from the
Sea of JapanThe Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, bordered by Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Russia. It is referred to in North Korea as the Korea East Sea and in South Korea as the East Sea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure...
port of
NakhodkaNakhodka is a port city in Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city had 148,826 inhabitants as of the 2002 Census, down from 160,056 recorded in the 1989 Census...
. The exact potential of Eastern Siberia is unknown, but two new major fields are the Kovyktinskoye field near Zhigalovo 200 km north of Irkutsk and the extremely remote Verkhnechonskoye field 500 km north of Irkutsk on the
Central Siberian PlateauThe Central Siberian Plateau is made up of sharply demarcated surfaces of varying altitudes occupying most of Siberia between the Yenisei and Lena rivers. It extends over an area of 3.5 million km². The highest point is the Putoran Mountains rising to 1701 m. To the north of the plateau are...
.
Lower Yenisei
The Great Kaz joins the Yenisei 300 km downstream from Strelka. It is noteworthy for its connection to the
ObThe Ob River , also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia. It is the country's fourth longest. The Ob River also has the longest estuary in the world.-Names:...
via
Ob-Yenisei canalOb-Yenisei Canal, also known as Ket-Kas Canal is a disused waterway that connected the basins of the rivers Ob and Yenisei in Siberia.-Location:...
and Ket River. The river starts to widen, its bed being littered with islands as numerous rivers augment its flow, in particular 1800 km Stony (Podkamennaya) Tunguska, and the 3000 km Lower (Nizhnyaya) Tunguska at
TurukhanskTurukhansk is a village in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is located 1474 km north of Krasnoyarsk, at the confluence of the Yenisei and Lower Tunguska rivers. The Turukhan River joins the Yenisei about 20 km northwest. Population: 4,849 ; 8,900 ; 200...
draining the desolate central Siberian Plateau from the east. The remote Tunguska (Тунгуска) region is most famous for the
1908 meteorite impactThe Tunguska Event, or Tunguska explosion, was a powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia, at around 7:14 a.m...
, but is now being explored for oil. Beyond Turukhansk, the river enters
tundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tūndâr, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra...
territory.
The river is icebound for more than half the year, and if unchecked ice could dam the river causing major flooding. Explosives are used to keep the water flowing. The final town is
DudinkaDudinka is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It was the administrative center of Taymyr Autonomous Okrug, which was merged into Krasnoyarsk Krai on January 1, 2007. It is a port in the lower reaches of the Yenisei River, accessible to seagoing ships....
which is connected to Krasnoyarsk by regular passenger boat. The river widens to a 50 km estuary, the Yenisei Gulf, for its final 250 km and the shipping lanes are kept open by icebreaker.
During the
ice ageThe general term "ice age" or, more precisely, "glacial age" denotes a geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual...
, the route to the Arctic was blocked by ice. Though the exact details are unclear, the Yenisei is believed to have flowed into a huge lake filling much of western Siberia, eventually flowing into the
Black Seaur a loser!The Black Sea is an inland sea bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas and various straits. The Bosporus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects it to...
. (See
West Siberian Glacial LakeThe West Siberian Glacial Lake, also known as West Siberian Lake, or Mansiyskoe Lake , was a periglacial lake formed when the Arctic Ocean outlets for each of the Ob and Yenisei rivers were blocked by the Barents-Kara Ice Sheet during the Weichselian Glaciation, approximately 80,000 years ago...
of the early Weichselian Glaciation)
Ecology
The Yenisei River valley is habitat for numerous flora and fauna, with
Siberian pineThe Siberian Pine is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the lower Yenisei valley, south to 45°N in central Mongolia...
and
Siberian larchThe Siberian Larch or Russian Larch is a frost-hardy tree native to western Russia, from close to the Finnish border east to the Yenisei valley in central Siberia, where it hybridises with the Dahurian Larch L...
being notable tree species. In prehistoric times
Scots pineThe Scots Pine is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Ireland, Great Britain and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as Lapland...
,
Pinus sylvestris was abundant in the Yenisei River valley circa 6000
BCBC or B.C. may refer to:* Before Christ, from the Latin Ante Christum, an epoch based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus.-Places:* Baja California, Mexico's northernmost state...
. There are also numerous bird species present in the watershed, including, for example the
Hooded crowThe Hooded Crow is a Eurasian bird species in the crow genus. Widely distributed, it is also known locally as Scotch Crow, Danish Crow, and Grey Crow in Ireland, which is what its Welsh name, Brân Lwyd, translates as...
,
Corvus cornix.
Navigation
The canal was used one more time in 1942, when three steamboats and a cutter managed to make their way from the Yenisei to the Ob, but the passage was extremely difficult.
The canal is now fully abandoned. It is occasionally reached by tourists using canoes, cars, or bicycles, or on foot.
The first team to navigate the Yenisey's entire length, including its violent upper
tributaryA tributary is a stream or river which flows into a main stem river. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea. Tributaries and the mainstem river serve to drain the surrounding drainage basin of its surface water and groundwater by leading the water out into an ocean or some other large body...
in Mongolia, was an Australian-Canadian effort completed in September 2001.
Ben KozelBen Kozel is an adventurer, author and film maker, born in South Australia.He studied Biology at the University of Adelaide but did not complete the course....
, Tim Cope,
Colin AngusColin Angus is a Canadian author and adventurer who is the first person to make a self-propelled global circumnavigation, although this status is questioned...
and Remy Quinter were on this team. Both Kozel and Angus wrote books detailing this expedition, and a documentary was produced for National Geographic Television.
History
Ancient nomadic tribes such as the
Ket peopleKets are a Siberian people who speak the Ket language. In Imperial Russia they were called Ostyaks, without differentiating them from several other Siberian peoples. Later they became known as Yenisey ostyaks, because they lived in the middle and lower basin of the Yenisei River in the Krasnoyarsk...
and the
Yugh peopleYugh people were part of an indigenous group believed to be survivors of an ancient people who originally lived throughout central Siberia...
lived along its banks. The Ket, numbering about 1000, are the only survivors today of those who originally lived throughout central southern Siberia near the river banks. Their extinct relatives included the Kotts, Assans, Arins, Baikots, and Pumpokols who lived further upriver to the south. The modern Ket lived in the eastern middle areas of the river before being assimilated politically into Russia during the 17th through 19th centuries.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
,
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
and the Japanese Empire agreed to divide
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
along a line that followed the Yenisei River to the border of
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, and then along the border of China and the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
, the northern and western borders of
AfghanistanThe Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is a landlocked country in south central Asia. It is variously described as being located within Central Asia, South Asia, or the Middle East...
, and the border between
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
and
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
(what is now
PakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia...
was then part of India). Nazi Germany planned to establish a
Reichskommissariat West Siberien between the
Ural MountainsThe Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north-south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
and the Yenisei River for housing in concentration camps as slave labor for industrial enterprises those Slavs who were not being worked as slaves on the estates of the German farmers west of the
UralsThe Ural Mountains are a mountain range that runs roughly north-south through western Russia. They are usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia....
. Since the
AxisThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
lost World War IIThe Aftermath of World War II covers a period of history from roughly 1945-1957. A multipolar world was replaced by a bipolar one dominated by the two most powerful victors, the United States and Soviet Union, which became known as the superpowers....
, this plan was never implemented.
External links