Volga: Difference between revisions
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==Nomenclature== |
==Nomenclature== |
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The Russian [[hydronym]] ''{{lang|ru|Волга}}'' derives from |
The Russian [[hydronym]] ''Volga'' (''{{lang|ru|Волга}}'') derives from [[Proto-Slavic]] *''vòlga'' "wetness, moisture", which is preserved in many Slavic languages, including [[Russian language|Russian]] dialect ''vológa'' (''воло́га'') "moisture; liquid food", Czech ''vláha'' "dampness", and Serbo-Croatian ''vlȁga'' "moisture", among others.<ref>See [[Max Vasmer]]'s dictionary under "Волга".</ref> |
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The Slavic name is a [[loan translation]] of earlier [[Scythian_language|Scythian]] ''Rā'' (''{{Polytonic|Ῥᾶ}}'') "Volga",<ref>J.P. Mallory & D.Q. Adams, ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'', s.v. "dew" (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), 158-9.</ref> literally "wetness", seen also in [[Avestan_language|Avestan]] ''Raŋhā'' "mythical stream" and [[Sogdian_language|Sogdian]] ''r’k'' "vein, blood vessel" (< *''raha-ka''),<ref>Michiel de Vaan, ''Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italian Languages'', s.v. "rōs, rōris" (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 526-7.</ref> and cognate with Sanskrit ''rasā́h'' "liquid, juice; mythical river".<ref>Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. ''Les Sarmates : Amazones et lanciers cuirassés entre Oural et Danube''. Paris: Editions Errance, 2002.</ref> The Scythian name survives in modern [[Mordvin language|Mordvin]] ''Rav'' (''Рав'') "Volga". |
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For less probable version, [[hydronym]] is akin to the old ''[[mari language|Mari]]'' name of the river – ''Volgydo'', meaning "bright".{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} Presently the Mari call the river Юл (''Jul''), meaning "way" in [[Tatar language|Tatar]]. The name ''volgydo'' descends from [[Proto-Uralic]] ''*valkita'', meaning "white" or "bright". Another possible origin of the name is from the name of the largest community that occupied large areas around it in the past – the [[Proto-Bulgarians]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}} |
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⚫ | The [[Turkic people]]s living along the river formerly referred to it as ''[[Itil]]'' or ''[[Atil]]'' "big river". In modern [[Turkic languages]], the Volga is known as ''İdel'' (Идел) in [[Tatar language|Tatar]], ''Idyll'' in ancient [[Bulgar language|Bulgar]]{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}, Атăл (''Atăl'') in [[Chuvash language|Chuvash]], ''Idhel'' in [[Bashkir language|Bashkir]], ''Edil'' in [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], and ''İdil'' in [[Turkish language|Turkish]]. The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the [[Kama River]]. Thus, a left tributary to the Kama River was named the ''[[Belaya River (Kama)|Aq Itil]]'' "White Itil" which unites with the ''Kara Itil'' "Black Itil" at the modern city of [[Ufa]]. |
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The Russian name is transliterated as ''Volga'' in English and ''Wolga'' in German. |
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Under the Asians, the river was known by its other Turkic name ''Sarı-su'' "yellow water", but [[Mongols]] also used their own name: ''Ijil mörön'' "adaptation river". Presently the [[Mari_people|Mari]], another [[Ugric_languages|Ugric]] group, call the river Юл (''Jul''), meaning "way" in [[Tatar language|Tatar]]. Formerly, they called the river ''Volgydo'', a borrowing from [[Old_Russian_language|Old Russian]]. |
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⚫ | The [[Turkic people]] living along the river formerly referred to it as ''[[Itil]]'' or ''[[Atil]]''. In modern [[Turkic languages]], the Volga is known as ''İdel'' (Идел) in [[Tatar language|Tatar]], ''Idyll'' in ancient [[Bulgar language|Bulgar]]{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}}, Атăл (''Atăl'') in [[Chuvash language|Chuvash]], ''Idhel'' in [[Bashkir language|Bashkir]], ''Edil'' in [[Kazakh language|Kazakh]], and ''İdil'' in [[Turkish language|Turkish]]. The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the [[Kama River]]. Thus, a left tributary to the Kama River was named the ''[[Belaya River (Kama)|Aq Itil]]'' |
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Under the Asians, the river was known by its other Turkic name ''Sarı-su'' ("yellow water"), but [[Mongols]] used also their own language name: ''Ijil mörön'' ("adaptation river"). |
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The ancient and modern [[Mordvin language|Mordvin]] name for the Volga, Рав (''Rav''), apparently reflects the ancient [[Scythian]] hydronym ''*Rhā'', supposedly cognate with the ancient [[Avestan]] and [[Sanskrit]] names ''Rañha'' and ''Rasah'' for a mythical river, which was said to flow around the Earth.<ref>Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. ''Les Sarmates : Amazones et lanciers cuirassés entre Oural et Danube''. Paris: Editions Errance, 2002.</ref> It has been suggested that the name ''Russia'' may have been derived from ''Rasah''/''Rosah'', the [[Iranian languages|Iranic]] name of the Volga River (F.Knauer, Moscow 1901). These Iranic words are all connected in their primary meaning of "dew, liquid, moisture". |
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==Description== |
==Description== |
Revision as of 23:16, 1 December 2011
The Volga (Russian: Во́лга, IPA: [ˈvolɡə] ) is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage basin. Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can be found along the Volga. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture and is often referred to as Volga-Matushka (Volga-mother) in Russian literature and folklore.
Nomenclature
The Russian hydronym Volga (Волга) derives from Proto-Slavic *vòlga "wetness, moisture", which is preserved in many Slavic languages, including Russian dialect vológa (воло́га) "moisture; liquid food", Czech vláha "dampness", and Serbo-Croatian vlȁga "moisture", among others.[1]
The Slavic name is a loan translation of earlier Scythian Rā (Ῥᾶ) "Volga",[2] literally "wetness", seen also in Avestan Raŋhā "mythical stream" and Sogdian r’k "vein, blood vessel" (< *raha-ka),[3] and cognate with Sanskrit rasā́h "liquid, juice; mythical river".[4] The Scythian name survives in modern Mordvin Rav (Рав) "Volga".
The Turkic peoples living along the river formerly referred to it as Itil or Atil "big river". In modern Turkic languages, the Volga is known as İdel (Идел) in Tatar, Idyll in ancient Bulgar[citation needed], Атăл (Atăl) in Chuvash, Idhel in Bashkir, Edil in Kazakh, and İdil in Turkish. The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the Kama River. Thus, a left tributary to the Kama River was named the Aq Itil "White Itil" which unites with the Kara Itil "Black Itil" at the modern city of Ufa.
Under the Asians, the river was known by its other Turkic name Sarı-su "yellow water", but Mongols also used their own name: Ijil mörön "adaptation river". Presently the Mari, another Ugric group, call the river Юл (Jul), meaning "way" in Tatar. Formerly, they called the river Volgydo, a borrowing from Old Russian.
Description
The Volga is the longest river in Europe. It belongs to the closed basin of the Caspian Sea. Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 meters (738 ft) above sea level northwest of Moscow and about 320 kilometers (200 mi) southeast of Saint Petersburg, the Volga heads east past Lake Sterzh, Tver, Dubna, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan. From there it turns south, flows past Ulyanovsk, Tolyatti, Samara, Saratov and Volgograd, and discharges into the Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. At its most strategic point, it bends toward the Don ("the big bend"). Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, is located there.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Saratov-avto-most.jpg/350px-Saratov-avto-most.jpg)
The Volga has many tributaries, most importantly the Kama, the Oka, the Vetluga, and the Sura rivers. The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which drains an area of about 1.35 million square kilometres in the most heavily populated part of Russia. The Volga Delta has a length of about 160 kilometres and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans, flamingos, and lotuses may be found. The Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year.
The Volga drains most of Western Russia. Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal, the Volga–Don Canal, and the Volga–Baltic Waterway form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. High levels of chemical pollution have adversely affected the river and its habitats.
The fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat, and also has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centres on the Volga valley. Other resources include natural gas, salt, and potash. The Volga Delta and the nearby Caspian Sea offer superb fishing grounds. Astrakhan, at the delta, is the centre of the caviar industry.
Confluents (downstream to upstream)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Rzhev.jpg/220px-Rzhev.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Tver_dusk_3.jpg/220px-Tver_dusk_3.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Smoke_over_the_river_Volga.jpg/220px-Smoke_over_the_river_Volga.jpg)
- Akhtuba (near Volzhsky), a distributary
- Samara (in Samara)
- Kama (south of Kazan)
- Kazanka (in Kazan)
- Sviyaga (west of Kazan)
- Vetluga (near Kozmodemyansk)
- Sura (in Vasilsursk)
- Kerzhenets (near Lyskovo)
- Oka (in Nizhny Novgorod)
- Uzola (near Balakhna)
- Unzha (near Yuryevets)
- Kostroma (in Kostroma)
- Kotorosl (in Yaroslavl)
- Sheksna (in Cherepovets)
- Mologa (near Vesyegonsk)
- Kashinka (near Kalyazin)
- Nerl (near Kalyazin)
- Medveditsa (near Kimry)
- Dubna (in Dubna)
- Shosha (near Konakovo)
- Tvertsa (in Tver)
- Vazuza (in Zubtsov)
- Selizharovka (in Selizharovo)
Reservoirs (downstream to upstream)
A number of large hydroelectric reservoirs were constructed on the Volga during the Soviet rule. They are:
- Ivankovo Reservoir
- Uglich Reservoir
- Rybinsk Reservoir
- Gorky Reservoir
- Cheboksary Reservoir
- Kuybyshev Reservoir– the largest in Europe by surface
- Saratov Reservoir
- Volgograd Reservoir
Human history
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Volga_tolga.jpg/350px-Volga_tolga.jpg)
The downstream of the Volga, widely believed to have been a cradle of the Proto-Indo-European civilization, was settled by Huns and other Turkic peoples in the first millennium AD, replacing Scythians. The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentions the lower Volga in his Geography (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the Rha, which was the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the Hyperborean Mountains.
Subsequently, the river basin played an important role in the movements of peoples from Asia to Europe. A powerful polity of Volga Bulgaria once flourished where the Kama river joins the Volga, while Khazaria controlled the lower stretches of the river. Such Volga cities as Atil, Saqsin, or Sarai were among the largest in the medieval world. The river served as an important trade route connecting Scandinavia, Rus', and Volga Bulgaria with Khazaria and Persia.
Khazars were replaced by Kipchaks, Kimeks and Mongols, who founded the Golden Horde in the lower reaches of the Volga. Later their empire broke into the Khanate of Kazan and Khanate of Astrakhan both of which were conquered by the Russians in the course of the 16th century Russo-Kazan Wars. The Russian people's deep feeling for the Volga finds echoes in their culture and literature, starting from the 12th-century Lay of Igor's Campaign.[5] The Volga Boatmen's Song is one of many songs devoted to the national river of Russia.
Construction of Soviet dams often involved enforced resettlement of huge numbers of people, as well as destruction of their historical heritage. For instance, the town of Mologa was flooded for the purpose of constructing the Rybinsk Reservoir (then the largest artificial lake in the world), and the construction of the Uglich Reservoir entailed the flooding of several monasteries with buildings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. In such cases the ecological and cultural damage often outbalanced any economical advantage.[6]
20th-century conflicts
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Soviet_marines-in_the_battle_of_stalingrad_volga_banks.jpg/200px-Soviet_marines-in_the_battle_of_stalingrad_volga_banks.jpg)
During the Russian Civil War, both sides fielded warships on the Volga. In 1918, the Red Volga Flotilla participated in driving the Whites eastward, from the Middle Volga at Kazan to the Kama and eventually to Ufa on the Belaya River.[7]
In modern times, the city on the big bend of the Volga, currently known as Volgograd, witnessed the Battle of Stalingrad, possibly the bloodiest battle in human history, in which the Soviet Union and the German forces were deadlocked in a stalemate battle for access to the river. The Volga was (and still is) a vital transport route between central Russia and the Caspian Sea, which provides access to the oil fields of Apsheron. Hitler planned to use access to the oil fields of Azerbaijan to fuel future German conquests. Apart from that, whoever held both sides of the river could move valuable troops and war machines, across the river, to defeat the enemy's fortifications beyond the river.[8] By taking the river, Hitler's Germany would have been able to move supplies, guns, and men into the northern part of Russia.
For this reason, many amphibious assaults were brought about in an attempt to remove the other side from the banks of the river. In these battles, The Soviet Union was the main offensive side, while the German troops used a more defensive stance, though most of the fighting was close quarters combat, with no clear offensive or defensive side.
Ethnic groups
The first people along the upper Volga were the Mari (Мари) and their west ethnic group named Merya (Мäрӹ) that came to the area around 1–3rd century. In the 8th and 9th centuries Slavic colonization began from Kievan Rus'. The Slavs brought Christianity, and a part of local people took Christianity and gradually became East Slavs; the remainder of Mari people migrated to the west far inland. In the course of several centuries they assimilated the indigenous Finnic population which included Merya and Meshchera peoples. The surviving peoples of Volga Finnic ethnicity include the Maris and Mordvins of the middle Volga.
Apart from the Huns, the earliest Turkic tribes arrived in the 7th century and assimilated some Finnic and Indo-European population on the middle and lower Volga. The Christian Chuvash and Muslim Tatars are descendants of the population of medieval Volga Bulgaria. Another Turkic group, the Nogais, formerly inhabited the lower Volga steppes.
The Volga region is home to a German minority group, the Volga Germans. Catherine the Great had issued a Manifesto in 1763 inviting all foreigners to come and populate the region, offering them numerous incentives to do so. This was partly to develop the region but also to provide a buffer zone between the Russians and the Mongol hordes to the east. Because of conditions in German territories, the Germans responded in the largest numbers. Under the Soviet Union a slice of the region was turned into the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to house many of the Volga Germans. Others were executed or dispersed throughout the Soviet Union prior to and after World War II.
Navigation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Utes_step_raz2.jpg/210px-Utes_step_raz2.jpg)
The Volga, widened for navigation purposes with construction of huge dams during the years of Joseph Stalin's industrialization, is of great importance to inland shipping and transport in Russia: all the dams in the river have been equipped with large (double) ship locks, so that vessels of considerable dimensions can actually travel from the Caspian Sea almost to the upstream end of the river.
Connections with the Don River and the Black Sea are possible through the Volga–Don Canal. Connections with the lakes of the north (Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega), Saint Petersburg and the Baltic Sea are possible through the Volga–Baltic Waterway; and a liaison with Moscow has been realised by the Moscow Canal connecting the Volga and the Moskva rivers.
This infrastructure has been designed for vessels of a relatively large scale (lock dimensions of 290 x 30 meters on the Volga, slightly smaller on some of the other rivers and canals) and it spans many thousands of kilometers. A number of formerly state-run, now mostly privatized, companies operate passenger and cargo vessels on the river; Volgotanker, with over 200 petroleum tankers, is one of them.
In the later Soviet era, up to the modern times, grain and oil have been among the largest cargo exports transported on the Volga.[9] Until recently access to the Russian waterways was granted to foreign vessels on a only very limited scale. The increasing contacts between the European Union and Russia have led to new policies with regard to the access to the Russian inland waterways. It is expected that vessels of other nations will be allowed on the Russian rivers soon.[10]
Satellite Imagery
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View of the river and Volgograd from outer space.
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Terra/MODIS, 2002-05-17.
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Terra/MODIS, 2001-10-10.
Volga River in painting
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Feodor Vasilyev. Volga View. Barges. 1870
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Ilya Repin. Storm on the Volga. 1870
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Ilya Repin. Barge Haulers on the Volga. 1870–1873
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Isaak Levitan Fresh Wind, Volga River. 1895
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Boris Kustodiev. Promenade Along the Volga. 1909
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V. Ovchinnikov. Moonlight night on the Volga River. 1975
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N. Galakhov. Midday on the Volga River. 1975
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N. Galakhov. On the Volga River. 1993
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V. Ovchinnikov. Windy day on the Volga River. 1970
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V. Ovchinnikov. At the Volga River. 1975
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N. Galakhov. On the Volga River. 1975
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N. Galakhov. July on the Volga River. 1983
See also
References
- ^ See Max Vasmer's dictionary under "Волга".
- ^ J.P. Mallory & D.Q. Adams, Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, s.v. "dew" (London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997), 158-9.
- ^ Michiel de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italian Languages, s.v. "rōs, rōris" (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 526-7.
- ^ Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. Les Sarmates : Amazones et lanciers cuirassés entre Oural et Danube. Paris: Editions Errance, 2002.
- ^ "Volga River". Volgawriter.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
- ^ "In all, Soviet dams flooded 2,600 villages and 165 cities, almost 78,000 sq. km. – the area of Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined – including nearly 31,000 sq. km. of agricultural land and 31,000 sq. km. of forestland". Quoted from: Paul R. Josephson. Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World. Island Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55963-777-3. Page 31.
- ^ Brian Pearce, Introduction to Fyodor Raskolnikov s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin."
- ^ "::The Battle of Stalingrad::". Historylearningsite.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
- ^ "Spill Science & Technology Bulletin : Prediction of the Dispersal of Oil Transport in the Caspian Sea Resulting from a Continuous Release". ScienceDirect. 2001-09-27. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
- ^ "NoorderSoft Waterways Database)". Noordersoft.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Volga basin
- Rivers of Kostroma Oblast
- Rivers of Moscow Oblast
- Rivers of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
- Rivers of Astrakhan Oblast
- Rivers of the Chuvash Republic
- Kalmykia
- Rivers of Samara Oblast
- Rivers of Saratov Oblast
- Rivers of Tatarstan
- Rivers of Tver Oblast
- Rivers of Volgograd Oblast
- Rivers of Yaroslavl Oblast
- Tributaries of the Caspian Sea