The Urals, or Yaik, is a river flowing through the territories of Russia and Kazakhstan. This is the third longest water flow in Europe (the Volga and Danube are leaders in this indicator). Its length is 2428 km, and the basin area is 231 thousand square meters. km Ural is a river that flows into the Caspian Sea. Its source is on the Uraltau ridge in Bashkortostan.
When was the Yaik River renamed the Urals?
This happened in 1775, after the Peasant War was suppressed, led by E. Pugacheva. Egg Yazakhs and Bashkirs actively participated in this war. It is the merit of Catherine the Second in what the Yaik River is now called - it was she who issued the decree on renaming the water stream in order to erase any memories of the uprising.
In general, the name Yaik was first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 1140, and the ancient name of the river, according to the map of Ptolemy, sounds like Daix. This word of Turkic origin means "wide", "spread out."
Geography
As already mentioned, the Ural (Yaik) river originates in Bashkiria, on the slope of the Round hill of the Uraltau ridge. At first, the water flow flows from north to south, and then, having met the plateau of the Kazakh steppe on the way, it turns to the north-west. Further, beyond Orenburg, the direction becomes southwestern, and near the city of Uralsk the river again bends to the south. In this southerly direction, winding either east or west, the Urals flows right up to the Caspian Sea.
The water drop in the river is not very large: from the upper reaches to the city of Orsk - 0.9 m per 1 km, from Orsk to Uralsk - 30 cm per 1 km, and even lower - even less. The channel in width is insignificant but diverse. In the upper reaches of the Urals, the bottom is stony, near Uralsky it is lined with small pebbles, in the rest, as a rule, sandy and clay.
The course is quite winding, forms many loops. With a small drop in water, the river along its entire length often changes its main channel, digs new passages, leaving old people (deep reservoirs) in all directions. Due to such a variable current, at one time many settlements of the Cossacks were forced to relocate to other places, since their homes were gradually being grinded and demolished by water.
The climate in the region is mostly continental, with characteristic strong winds. There is relatively little rainfall, not more than 540 millimeters per year, so the river lacks a stable source of water supply.
Between Europe and Asia
Not everyone knows that the Urals (Yaik) is a river, which is a natural border between two parts of the world. Geographically, in Russia, the border runs in the Chelyabinsk region, in the cities of Magnitogorsk and Verkhneuralsk, and in Kazakhstan - along the Mugodzhary ridge. The Urals is an inland European river that flows into the Caspian Sea, only the upper reaches east of the Ural Range can be attributed to Asia.
At the same time, there is another opinion on this subject. In 2010, an expedition of the Russian Geographical Society was conducted in Kazakhstan, in the Ustrut desert. The results showed that the Ural River does not divide anything, since it crosses an identical area, and it is unreasonable from a scientific point of view to draw the border of Europe and Asia along it. The fact is that, south of the city of Zlatoust, the Ural Range loses its axis and breaks up into parts. Then the mountains gradually disappear altogether, so the main reference point for the border disappears.
Shipping
Previously, the river was navigable up to Orenburg. During the Soviet Union, water transport ran between Ural and Orenburg. However, as a result of constant changes in natural conditions (destruction of forests, plowing of the steppes), the Urals has become shallow, and this process continues to this day. Every year ecological expeditions are held here, options for saving the river are discussed. But while the Urals is becoming shallow, so now it is not navigable much.
Natural monuments
Ah, how beautiful the Urals (Yaik) are! The river abounds with landscape and geological natural monuments. The most famous of them:
1. The tract of White Stone. This unique formation is located on the left bank, near the village of Yangelskoye, and represents rocky limestone outcrops, which were formed 350 million years ago, in the Carboniferous period. There are rare species of lichens, animals and plants, the remains of fossil organisms.
2. Mount Izvoz. Located on the right bank, three kilometers from Verkhneuralsk. This botanical monument is interesting for its picturesque rocky outcrops, man-made pine plantings and artificial park structures.
There are other no less beautiful monuments: Orsky Gate, Maiden’s Mountain, Nikolsky section, Iriklinsky gorge.
The most picturesque section of the river begins below the city of Orsk, where it flows through the gorge of the Guberlinsky mountains. It often organizes tourist rafting.
Fishing
The Urals (Yaik) is a river rich in fish: zander, sturgeon, catfish, roach, stellate sturgeon, bream, common carp, pike, roach, crucian carp, dace and many other vertebrates are found here. In the past centuries, the Urals was famous for sturgeon species, they even say that in the 1970s, 33% of the world's sturgeon was mined on the river. Now such a fish has become a rarity here, but still - fishing in the Urals is good, it is unlikely that any fisherman will be left without a catch!
Interesting Facts
It is believed that during the Civil War, Vasily Chapaev drowned in the waves of the Urals (although many versions of his death are still being put forward, and it is not known for certain which one is true).
Several reservoirs have been created on the river. The largest is Iriklinskoe.
The Urals is a transient river; during full water, the current reaches 10 km / h.
The source of the Urals is a spring spurting from the ground at an altitude of 637 meters above sea level. This place is marked with a memorial sign.