Who does not know the great Siberian river Yenisei? The question is rhetorical. It is known all over the world, since it officially takes the 5th place in the world among all rivers along the length of the waterway.
In the middle of Siberia
Three mighty rivers flow through Siberia: the Ob, Lena and the Yenisei. But it is Yenisei that divides Siberia into two equal parts: Western and Eastern. With his fast powerful stream he 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 at least mentioning its important location in the middle of Siberia.
Western Siberia extends its open spaces on the left side of the Yenisei. The West Siberian Lowland covers an area of about 2.6 million square meters. km and stretches to the Ural Mountains. This is the richest oil and gas basin of the Russian Federation.
The "mistress" of this half of Siberia is the Ob, the largest river in Russia in terms of length and area of the basin.
On the right bank of the Yenisei endless expanses of Eastern Siberia begin and stretch to the ridges of the Far East. Plateaus and elevations prevail here, and permafrost prevails in a significant part.
The largest river in Eastern Siberia is the Lena. High in the mountains, not far from Lake Baikal, it is emerging. When it flows into the sea, Lena forms the largest delta in Russia, which consists of more than a thousand islands.
Ionessi, or the Great River
The plan for the description of the Yenisei River must necessarily include the origin of its name.
In ancient times, locals called it differently. And since the peoples along its shores live very different, then there were several names. For example, in Tuvan, the name Yenisei was given to Ulug-Khem, which translates as “great river”.
Evenki called it Ionessi - in translation "big water". There were also the names Ene-Sai, Kim, Hook and others.
However, Russian merchants began to trade with the Evenks. Therefore, they began to call the river the Even name, only slightly altered in their own way. And Ionessi became Yenisei. Under this name, she is now known throughout the world.
Controversial truth
Where does the Yenisei River begin and flow? It turns out there are disputes about this. However, only debate about its beginning.
In the world ranking, the Yenisei takes fifth place along the length of the waterway (5539 km), letting only the Amazon, the Nile, the Yangtze and the Mississippi forward.
The Yenisei waterway begins in the Khangai Mountains by the Ider River (452 km) in Mongolia. Then it continues along the rivers Dalger-Muren and Selenga (1024 km). The latter flows into Lake Baikal, from which flows the magnificent Angara. Its length is 1779 km. Above the Yeniseisk Angara finally flows into the Yenisei. And where does the Yenisei River flow? It carries its waters to the Kara Sea, and then to the Arctic Ocean.
If we speak purely about the length of the Yenisei, then we should take Kara-Balyk Lake, located in the East Sayan Mountains, as the reference point. It is from it that the Biy-Khem river originates (in translation Big Yenisei). Merging with the Small Yenisei (Kaa-Khem) near the city of Kyzyl, it forms a full-flowing Yenisei. The length from the source to the Kara Sea is 4123 kilometers.
Yenisei basin
By the area of the basin, this Siberian river is also one of the largest in the world. True, in this case she takes the seventh, and not the fifth place. In addition, another full-flowing Siberian river Ob flows forward, with a basin area of 2,990,000 sq. M. km
The Yenisei basin is asymmetric. On the right side are its large water tributaries, such as the Angara, Lower 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 into: the Angara in the Yenisei or the Yenisei in the Angara. However, the Lower Tunguska can sometimes overlap the Angara by annual runoff. In total, almost 500 rivers flow into the Yenisei. Among the left-bank, one can distinguish Kan, Abakan, Khemchik, Tubu and others.
For comparison, you can still give examples: the Volga basin is two times smaller than the Yenisei basin, and the Dnieper basin is five times less than it.
Three parts of the Yenisei
There is a conditional division of the river into three parts. These are the Lower, Middle and Upper Yenisei.
The upper one begins near the city of Kyzyl, where the Big and Small Yenisei merge. It flows to the
Krasnoyarsk reservoir for 600 kilometers, mainly along the mountainous terrain. 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 Angara confluence (about 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 repository, the area through which the Yenisei flows, loses its mountainous character.
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 significantly different. The right one is mountainous, the left one is lowland, lowland. Lower Yenisei reaches the village of Ust-Port. However, it is still too early to talk about what 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 the Brekhov Islands lie. By the way, the sleeves even have their own names: Small, Big, Okhotsk and Stone Yenisei. The width of the general river bed in these places reaches 75 kilometers.
Beyond Nasonovsky Island, the Yenisei narrows sharply, the so-called “throat” begins up to 5 km wide, and beyond Cape Sopochnaya Karga it spills into the Yenisei Gulf, in some places the width of which can reach 150 km. The question is relevant here: what sea does the Yenisei River flow into? Because the Yenisei Gulf - this 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 ships sail along the Yenisei Gulf and get to the Yenisei, and then to the ports of Dudinka and Igarka. This Siberian river is navigable for almost 1000 kilometers.
Along the Yenisei
If we talk about cities, then the first city should be called the city of Kyzyl. 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, in which about 114 thousand people live. The city is equated to areas of the far North. The obelisk "Center of Asia" is installed here, because this place is really the geographical center of Asia.
The following along the route to the sea, where the Yenisei River flows, are the cities of Shagonar (Republic of Tuva), Sayanogorsk (Republic of Khakassia, near the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station), Minusinsk. The latter is already located 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 city - Divnogorsk. The construction of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric station began from here.
The largest city on the Yenisei
Krasnoyarsk Territory divides Russia into two almost equal parts and is located in the Yenisei basin. It is the second largest subject of the Russian Federation. The city of Krasnoyarsk, located on both banks of the Yenisei, Upper Yenisei, became its administrative center. So, it is very far from Krasnoyarsk to the Arctic Ocean, where the Yenisei River flows.
It is a city with a population of over one million people and a little over 1 million inhabitants live here. It is clear that it is not only administrative, but also the cultural, industrial, sports, educational center of Eastern and Central Siberia. The city has many attractions that are interesting to see for tourists.
Port Cities
You can’t name the city of Yeniseisk large. Only about 20 thousand people live in it. However, it was he who was located next to the place where the Angara flows into the Yenisei, or, as some people like to argue, where the Yenisei flows into the Angara. Because at the confluence just the Angara is wider than the Yenisei. Its clear waters rapidly rush into the Yenisei stream and are already continuing the joint flow. Here the Yenisei is expanding significantly. The city of Yeniseisk is located on its left bank, below the confluence of the Angara. This is a very old city, founded back in 1619 and eventually became the center of the fur trade. Fairs held there were famous throughout Russia.
It is impossible not to say about two cities located on the Yenisei. They serve as seaports. This is Dudinka and Igarka. The first is located on the right bank of the Yenisei, in its lower reaches. Here his right tributary Dudinka flows into the Yenisei. Hence the name of the city. 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 theme: “Yenisei River: sights, tributaries ...” can go on indefinitely. For there really is something to say ...