Who does not know the great Siberian river Yenisei? The question is rhetorical. It is known all over the world, because in terms of the length of the waterway it officially ranks 5th in the world among all rivers.
In the middle of Siberia
Three mighty rivers flow across Siberia: the Ob, the Lena and the Yenisei. But it is the Yenisei that divides Siberia into two equal parts: Western and Eastern. With its swift powerful stream, it crosses all this land, passing through mountains and plains, steppes and forests.
It would be wrong to draw up a plan for describing the Yenisei River without first mentioning its so important location in the middle of Siberia.
Western Siberia stretches its expanses on the left side of the Yenisei. The West Siberian Lowland covers an area of about 2.6 million square kilometers. km and stretches to the Ural Mountains. This is the richest oil and gas basin in Russia.
The “mistress” of this half of Siberia is the Ob, the largest river in Russia in terms of length and basin area.
On the right bank of the Yenisei, the boundless expanses of Eastern Siberia begin and stretch to the ridges of the Far East. Plateaus and uplands predominate here, and much of it is permafrost.
The biggestthe river of Eastern Siberia - Lena. High in the mountains, not far from Lake Baikal, it is born. When it flows into the sea, the Lena forms the largest delta in Russia, which consists of more than a thousand islands.
Ionessi, or the Great River
The plan for describing the Yenisei River must necessarily include the origin of its name.
In ancient times, the locals called it differently. And since the peoples along its banks live very different, there were several names. For example, the Tuvan name for the Yenisei was Ulug-Khem, which translates as “great river.”
The Evenki called her Ionessi, which means “big water”. There were also names Ene-Sai, Kim, Hook and others.
However, Russian merchants began to trade with the Evenks. Therefore, they began to call the river an Even name, only slightly altered in their own way. And became Ionessi Yenisei. Under this name, she is now known all over the world.
Debatable truth
Where does the Yenisei river begin and flow into? It turns out there is some controversy about this. However, only disputes regarding its beginning.
In the world ranking, the Yenisei ranks fifth in terms of the length of the waterway (5539 km), leaving behind only the Amazon, the Nile, the Yangtze and the Mississippi.
The waterway of the Yenisei begins in the Khangai Mountains with the Ider River (452 km), in Mongolia. Then it continues along the rivers Delger-Muren and Selenga (1024 km). The latter flows into Lake Baikal, from which the majestic Angara flows. Its length is 1779 km. HigherThe Yeniseisk Angara finally flows into the Yenisei. Where does the Yenisei river flow? It carries its waters to the Kara Sea, and then to the Arctic Ocean.
If we talk purely about the length of the Yenisei, then the starting point should be Lake Kara-Balyk, located in the Eastern Sayans. It is from it that the Biy-Khem River (translated as the Big Yenisei) originates. Merging with the Small Yenisei (Kaa-Khem) near the city of Kyzyl, it forms the full-flowing Yenisei. The length from the source to the Kara Sea is 4123 kilometers.
Yenisei basin
In terms of basin area, this Siberian river is also one of the largest in the world. True, in this case, it takes seventh, not fifth place. In addition, another full-flowing Siberian river Ob, whose basin area is 2,990,000 sq. km.
The Yenisei basin is asymmetric. On the right side are its high-water large tributaries, such as the Angara, Nizhnyaya and Podkamennaya Tunguska. The Angara alone occupies almost half of the Yenisei basin (1,039,000 sq. km out of 2,580,000 sq. km). Therefore, sometimes disputes arise over what flows where: the Angara into the Yenisei or the Yenisei into the Angara. However, the Lower Tunguska can sometimes overlap the Angara in terms of annual flow. In total, almost 500 rivers flow into the Yenisei. Among the left-bank ones, Kan, Abakan, Khemchik, Tuba and others can be distinguished.
For comparison, you can still give examples: the Volga basin is half the size of the Yenisei basin, and the Dnieper basin is five times smaller.
Three parts of the Yenisei
There isconditional division of the river into three parts. These are the Lower, Middle and Upper Yenisei.
Upper begins near the city of Kyzyl, where the Big and Small Yenisei merge. It flows to the Krasnoyarsk reservoir for 600 kilometers, mainly through mountainous areas. The largest tributaries of the Upper Yenisei are Khemchik, Tuba and Abakan.
The middle Yenisei is called that part of it that connects the Krasnoyarsk reservoir and the confluence of the Angara (approximately 750 km). By the way, the width of the Yenisei all the way to the mouth of the Angara does not exceed 500-700 meters. After the Krasnoyarsk storage area, through which the Yenisei flows, it loses its mountainous character.
The Lower Yenisei is the longest and widest. Its length is 1820 km, and its width varies from 2.5 to 5 km. The two banks of the river are very different here. The right one is mountainous, the left one is flat, lowland. The Lower Yenisei reaches the village of Ust-Port. However, it is still too early to talk about which sea the Yenisei River flows into.
From the mouth to the delta
The widest Yenisei in the delta, where it is divided into many channels and several branches, between which lie the Brekhov Islands. By the way, the sleeves even have their own names: Small, Big, Okhotsk and Stone Yenisei. The width of the general riverbed in these places reaches 75 kilometers.
Behind the island of Nasonovsky, the Yenisei sharply narrows, the so-called “throat” begins up to 5 km wide, and behind the Sopochnaya Karga cape it spills into the Yenisei Bay, in some places the width of which can reach up to 150 km. It's relevant herequestion: what sea does the Yenisei river flow into? Because the Yenisei Gulf is the Gulf of the Kara Sea. It is located between the Gydan Peninsula and the mainland of Eurasia. Its depth ranges from 6 to 20 meters. Sea vessels sail along the Yenisei Bay and end up in the Yenisei, and then - to the ports of Dudinka and Igarka. This Siberian river is navigable for almost 1,000 kilometers.
Along the Yenisei
If we talk about cities, then the city of Kyzyl should be named first. After all, it is located at the confluence of the Small and Big Yenisei, where the Upper Yenisei begins. Kyzyl is the capital of the Republic of Tyva, which is home to about 114 thousand people. The city is equated to the regions of the Far North. The obelisk "Center of Asia" is installed here, because this place is indeed the geographical center of Asia.
The next on the way to the sea, where the Yenisei River flows into, are the cities of Shagonar (Republic of Tyva), Sayanogorsk (Republic of Khakassia, near the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station), Minusinsk. The latter is already in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, it is one of the oldest cities in Eastern Siberia. The population reaches almost 70 thousand people.
The city of Abakan, the capital of the Republic of Khakassia, is located at the mouth of the Abakan River. More than 173 thousand people live in it.
On the way to Krasnoyarsk there is another small town - Divnogorsk. From here the construction of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station began.
The largest city on the Yenisei
Krasnoyarsk Territory divides Russia into two almost equal parts and is located in the basinYenisei. It is the second largest subject of the Russian Federation. Its administrative center was the city of Krasnoyarsk, located on both banks of the Yenisei, the Upper Yenisei. So the Arctic Ocean, where the Yenisei River flows, is very far from Krasnoyarsk.
This is a million-plus city with a little over 1 million inhabitants. It is clear that it is not only an administrative, but also a cultural, industrial, sports, educational center of Eastern and Central Siberia. The city has many attractions that are interesting for tourists to see.
Port cities
The city of Yeniseisk cannot be called large. Only about 20 thousand people live in it. However, it was he who was located near the place where the Angara flows into the Yenisei, or, as some like to argue, where the Yenisei flows into the Angara. Because at the confluence, the Angara is wider than the Yenisei. Its clear waters are rapidly breaking into the Yenisei stream and are already continuing to flow together. Here the Yenisei expands significantly. The city of Yeniseisk is located on its left bank, below the confluence of the Angara. This is a very old city, founded in 1619 and eventually became the center of the fur trade. The fairs held there were famous throughout Russia.
It is impossible not to say about two more cities located on the Yenisei. They serve as seaports. These are Dudinka and Igarka. The first is located on the right bank of the Yenisei, in its lower reaches. Here, its right tributary flows into the YeniseiDudinka. This is where the name of the city came from. More than 22 thousand people live in it. But Igarka is a very small port. The number of its inhabitants is only 5, 3 thousand people. After all, the city is located beyond the Arctic Circle, in the permafrost zone.
Without a doubt, the story on the topic: "The Yenisei River: sights, tributaries …" can be continued indefinitely. For there really is something to say…
