Yenisei River
| Yenisei River (Енисей) | |
| River | |
 Bii-Hem and Ka-Hem near Kyzyl | |
| Countries | Mongolia, Russia |
|---|---|
| Regions | Tyva, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Khakassia, Irkutsk Oblast, Buryatia, Zabaykalsky Krai |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | Angara, Lower Tunguska, Stony Tunguska River |
| Cities | Kyzyl, Shagonar, Sayanogorsk, Abakan, Divnogorsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yeniseysk, Lesosibirsk, Igarka, Dudinka |
| Source | Mungaragiyn-Gol |
| - location | ridge Dod-Taygasyn-Noor, Mongolia |
| - elevation | 3,351 m (10,994 ft) |
| - length | 748 km (465 mi) |
| - coordinates | 50°43′46″N 98°39′49″E / 50.72944°N 98.66361°E |
| Mouth | Yenisei Gulf |
| - location | Cuomo Sea, Arctic ocean, Russia |
| Length | 5,539 km (3,442 mi) |
| Basin | 2,580,000 km2 (996,144 sq mi) |
| Discharge | for Igarka[1] |
| - average | 19,600 m3/s (692,167 cu ft/s) |
| - max | 112,000 m3/s (3,955,243 cu ft/s) |
| - min | 3,120 m3/s (110,182 cu ft/s) |
 The Yenisei basin, including Lake Baikal
| |
Yenisei (Russian: Енисе́й), also written as Yenisey,[2] is the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. It is the central of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean (the other two being the Ob River and the Lena River). Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the Yenisei-Angara-Selenga-Ider river system.
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 gulag labor in Soviet times, industrial contamination remains a serious problem in an area hard to police. Moving on through sparsely populated taiga, the Yenisei swells with numerous tributaries and finally reaches the Kara Sea in desolate tundra where it is icebound for more than half the year.
The maximum depth of the Yenisei River is 80 feet (24 m) and the average depth is 45 feet (14 m). The depth of river outflow is 106 feet (32 m) and inflow is 101 feet (31 m).
Course
The river flows through Khakassia.[3]
Lake Baikal
The 320 km (200 mi) partly navigable Upper Angara River feeds into the northern end of Lake Baikal from the Buryat Republic but the largest inflow is from the Selenga which forms a delta on the south-eastern side.
Lower Yenisei
The Great Kaz joins the Yenisei 300 kilometres (190 mi) downstream from Strelka. It is noteworthy for its connection to the Ob via the Ob-Yenisei canal and the Ket River.
Ecology
The Yenisei River valley is habitat for numerous flora and fauna, with Siberian pine and Siberian larch being notable tree species. In prehistoric times Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris, was abundant in the Yenisei River valley circa 6000 BC.[4] There are also numerous bird species present in the watershed, including, for example the Hooded crow, Corvus cornix.[5]
Navigation
The first team to navigate the Yenisey's entire length, including its violent upper tributary in Mongolia, was an Australian-Canadian effort completed in September 2001. Ben Kozel, Tim Cope, Colin Angus and Remy Quinter were on this team. Both Kozel and Angus wrote books detailing this expedition,[6] and a documentary was produced for National Geographic Television.
A canal inclined plane was built on the river in 1985 at the Krasnoyarsk Dam.[7]
History
Ancient nomadic tribes such as the Ket people and the Yugh people 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.[8]
Russians first reached the upper Yenisei in 1605, travelling from the Ob River, up the Ket River, portaging and then down the Yenisei as far as the Sym River.[9]
During World War II, Nazi Germany and the Japanese Empire agreed to divide Asia along a line that followed the Yenisei River to the border of China, and then along the border of China and the Soviet Union.[10]
Gallery
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The bridge over the Yenisei in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, viewed from the left bank.
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Vantovyjj most, the bridge in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, viewed from the left bank
See also
- Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric station
References
- ↑ "Station: Igarka". Yenisei Basin. UNH / GRDC. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
- ↑ "Yenisei River". Hammond Quick & Easy Notebook Reference Atlas & Webster Dictionary. Hammond. p. 31. ISBN 0843709227.
- ↑ "Yenisei River: Siberia’s blessing and curse". RT. 11 June 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ↑ Stein, Ruediger et al. 2003. Siberian river run-off in the Kara Sea, Proceedings in Marine Sciences, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 488 pages
- ↑ C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Hooded Crow: Corvus cornix, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed, N. Stromberg
- ↑ Five Months in a Leaky Boat: A River Journey Through Siberia, Kozel, 2003, Pan Macmillan
- ↑ Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses. (1989). Ship lifts: report of a Study Commission within the framework of Permanent .... PIANC. ISBN 978-2-87223-006-8. Retrieved 2011-12-14.
- ↑ Vajda, Edward G. "The Ket and Other Yeniseian Peoples". Retrieved 2006-10-27.
- ↑ Fisher, Raymond Henry (1943). The Russian Fur Trade, 1550-1700. University of California Press.
- ↑ Weinberg, Gerhard L. Visions of Victory: The Hopes of Eight World War II Leaders Cambridge, England, United Kingdom:2005--Cambridge University Press
Coordinates: 71°50′0″N 82°40′0″E / 71.83333°N 82.66667°E
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yenisei River. |
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Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Yenisei. |
- Photos of river around Krasnoyarsk area at Boston.com
Geographic data related to Yenisei River at OpenStreetMap