Northern Dvina
Northern Dvina | |
---|---|
Sukhona | |
Mouth | |
• location | Dvina Bay |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Length | 744 km (462 mi) |
Basin size | 357,052 square kilometres (137,859 sq mi) |
Discharge | |
• location | White Sea (near mouth) |
• average | (Period: 1984–2018)106 km3/a (3,400 m3/s)[1] |
Discharge | |
• location | Ust-Pinega (169 km upstream of mouth; Basin size: 348,000 km2 (134,000 sq mi) |
• average | (Period: 1881–1993)3,332 m3/s (117,700 cu ft/s)[3] |
• minimum | 319 m3/s (11,300 cu ft/s)[2] |
• maximum | 20,800 m3/s (730,000 cu ft/s)[4] |
The Northern Dvina (Се́верная Двина́, IPA:
The principal tributaries of the Northern Dvina are the Vychegda (right), the Vaga (left), and the Pinega (right).
Etymology
According to the
In the Komi language, the river is called Вы́нва / Výnva from vyn "power" and va "water, river" hence "powerful river".
Physical geography
River basin
The length of the Northern Dvina is 744 kilometres (462 mi). Together with its major tributary, the
The river basin of the Northern Dvina includes the major parts of the Vologda and the Arkhangelsk Oblasts, as well as areas in the western part of the Komi Republic and in the northern part of the Kirov Oblast, and minor areas in the north of Yaroslavl and Kostroma Oblasts. The cities of Arkhangelsk and Vologda, as well as many smaller towns, many of those of significant historical importance such as Veliky Ustyug, Totma, Solvychegodsk, and Kholmogory, are located in the river basin of the Northern Dvina.
The Northern Dvina basin is roughly T-shaped. The 558 kilometres (347 mi)-long Sukhona River flows east and joins the basin of the west-flowing Vychegda (1,130 kilometres (700 mi) long). The combined river flows northwest into the White Sea, which it joins near the city of Arkhangelsk.
Looking more closely, the Sukhona flows east and meets the north-flowing
River course
The Sukhona flows east, eventually north-east, joins the north-flowing Yug at Veliky Ustyug and acquires the name 'Northern Dvina'. The P157 highway connects Kostroma with Kotlas via Nikolsk and Veliky Ustyug. North of Veliky Ustyg, the highway runs on the left bank of the Northern Dvina. The river flows about 60 kilometres (37 mi) north crossing from the Vologda Oblast into the Arkhangelsk Oblast, where in the city of Kotlas it receives the west-flowing Vychegda River which rises in the northern Ural Mountains.
Since, at the confluence, the length of the Vychegda is greater than that of the Northern Dvina, the river between the source and the confluence with the Vychegda is sometimes known as the Lesser Northern Dvina (Малая Северная Двина). Shortly downstream from the confluence, the Northern Dvina is crossed by the railway connecting Konosha with Kotlas and Vorkuta.
The Northern Dvina turns northwest and receives a number of smaller rivers such as the Uftyuga and the Nizhnyaya Toyma, both from the northeast. Near the urban settlement of Bereznik, the Vaga comes in from the south. At this point, the M8 highway which runs from Moscow through Vologda to Arkhangelsk, also enters the region. The Yomtsa or Yemtsa joins from the southeast, with the P1 highway (from Kargopol) running parallel.
The Pinega, formerly an important river route, joins from the east. Near the mouth of the Pinega, the river splits into several channels, among which is the ancient selo of Kholmogory 75 kilometres (47 mi) southeast of Arkhangelsk. The branches rejoin and pass the modern logging town of Novodvinsk.
Downstream from Novodvinsk, the 900 square kilometres (350 sq mi) delta begins. In the upstream part of the delta, the great port of Arkhangelsk is located. It gradually replaced Kholmogory as the chief city of the region. On the southwest side of the delta is the naval base of Severodvinsk, the second-largest city in the region. The delta ends in the Dvina Bay of the White Sea.
The river flows through Velikoustyugsky District of the Vologda Oblast and through Kotlassky, Krasnsoborky, Verkhnetoyemsky, Vinogradovsky, Kholmogorsky, and Primorsky districts of the Arkhangelsk Oblast. All administrative centers of these districts are located at the banks of the Northern Dvina, as they developed when the river was the major transportation route of the region.
In summer the entire length of the river is navigable and is heavily used for
Heavy commercial passenger navigation has largely disappeared and only local passenger lines remain. The passenger line connecting Kotlas and Arkhangelsk has been out of operation since 2005.[7][8]
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2018) |
The area was populated by
From the Northern Dvina, there were a number of ways into the basin of the
From the 14th century, Kholmogory was the main trading harbor on the Northern Dvina, but in the 17th century it lost this distinction to Arkhangelsk even though the seat of the Kholmogory and Vaga Eparchy, from 1732 known as Kholmogory and Archangelogorod Eparchy, which had jurisdiction over all Northern Russia including the Solovetsky Monastery, was located in Kholmogory until 1762. Until the 1700s, Arkhangelsk was the main trading harbour for the sea trade of Russia and western Europe, and the Northern Dvina was the main trading route connecting the central Russia with Arkhangelsk. Peter the Great drastically changed the situation, by founding Saint Petersburg in 1703, thus opening the way for the Baltic Sea trade, and by constructing the highway between Saint Petersburg and Arkhangelsk via Kargopol. The river quickly lost its role as the leading trading route, which was accelerated by the construction of the railway between Vologda and Arkhangelsk between 1894 and 1897.
The Northern Dvina was scene of several battles during the
References
- PMC 8617260.
- ^ Dvina – Ust-Pinega
- ^ Dvina – Ust-Pinega
- ^ Dvina – Ust-Pinega
- ^ Фасмер, Макс. Этимологический словарь Фасмера (in Russian). p. 161. Archived from the original on 2017-04-17. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^ "Канал рек Пинега-Кулой надо восстановить". Russian Geographic Society (in Russian). 13 February 2017.
- ^ Kuzeyev, Iskander (23 October 2008). "Корабль дураков". Sovershenno Sekretno (in Russian).
- ^ Alsufyev, Alexey. "Речной флот Архангельской области". Website of the Governor of Arkhangelsk Oblast (in Russian).
- ^ a b Плечко, Л.А. (1985). Старинные водные пути (in Russian). Moscow: Физкультура и спорт.
External links
- Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch; Bealby, John Thomas (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). p. 738.
- Северная Двина. Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
- A detailed article about Northern Dvina in the 1906 Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
- "Body of water in the State Water Register of Russia". textual.ru (in Russian).