Difference between revisions of "Volga River" - New World Encyclopedia

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Many different ethnicities lived on the Volga river. The Volga–[[Oka (river)|Oka]] region has been occupied for at least 9,000 years and supported a bone and antler industry for producing bone arrowheads, spearheads, lanceheads, daggers, hunters knives, and awls. The makers also used local quartz and imported flints.<ref>Zhilin, M. (2015). Early Mesolithic bone arrowheads from the Volga-Oka interfluve, central Russia. 32. 35-54.</ref> Among the first recorded people along the upper Volga were also the Finnic [[Mari people|Mari]] (Мари) and [[Merya people|Merya]] (Мäрӹ) people.  
 
Many different ethnicities lived on the Volga river. The Volga–[[Oka (river)|Oka]] region has been occupied for at least 9,000 years and supported a bone and antler industry for producing bone arrowheads, spearheads, lanceheads, daggers, hunters knives, and awls. The makers also used local quartz and imported flints.<ref>Zhilin, M. (2015). Early Mesolithic bone arrowheads from the Volga-Oka interfluve, central Russia. 32. 35-54.</ref> Among the first recorded people along the upper Volga were also the Finnic [[Mari people|Mari]] (Мари) and [[Merya people|Merya]] (Мäрӹ) people.  
  
Where the Volga flows through the steppes the area was inhabited by the Iranian people of the [[Sarmatians]] from 200 B.C.E.<ref>[https://www.archaeology.org/news/3601-150814-russia-amazon-burial-discovered "Amazon" Burial Discovered in Russia] ''Archaeology Magazine'', August 14, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2023. </ref><ref name=McNeese/>
+
Where the Volga flows through the steppes the area was inhabited by the Iranian people of the [[Sarmatians]] from 200 B.C.E.<ref>[https://www.archaeology.org/news/3601-150814-russia-amazon-burial-discovered "Amazon" Burial Discovered in Russia] ''Archaeology Magazine'', August 14, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2023.</ref><ref name=McNeese/>
  
 
Since ancient times, the Volga river was an important trade route where not only Slavic, Turkic, and Finnic peoples lived, but also [[Arabs|Arab]] world of the Middle East met the [[Varangians|Varangian]] people of the Nordic countries through trading.<ref>Rym Ghazal, [https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/when-the-arabs-met-the-vikings-new-discovery-suggests-ancient-links-1.125718 When the Arabs met the Vikings: New discovery suggests ancient links] ''The National'', May 6, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2023.</ref>
 
Since ancient times, the Volga river was an important trade route where not only Slavic, Turkic, and Finnic peoples lived, but also [[Arabs|Arab]] world of the Middle East met the [[Varangians|Varangian]] people of the Nordic countries through trading.<ref>Rym Ghazal, [https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/when-the-arabs-met-the-vikings-new-discovery-suggests-ancient-links-1.125718 When the Arabs met the Vikings: New discovery suggests ancient links] ''The National'', May 6, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2023.</ref>
  
Furthermore, the river played a vital role in the commerce of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine people]]. The ancient scholar [[Ptolemy]] of [[Alexandria]] mentions the lower Volga in his ''Geography'' (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the ''Rha'', which was the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the [[Hyperborean]] Mountains. Between second and fifth centuries [[Balts|Baltic people]] were very widespread in today's European Russia. Baltic people were widespread from [[Sozh River]] till today's Moscow and covered much of today's [[Central Russia]] and intermingled with the East Slavs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lituanus.org/1964/64_2_08_BR1.html|title=Marija Gimbutas. "A Survey Study of the Ancient Balts - Reviewed by Jonas Puzinas|website=www.lituanus.org|access-date=2019-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804192233/http://www.lituanus.org/1964/64_2_08_BR1.html|archive-date=2019-08-04|url-status=live}}</ref>  
+
Furthermore, the river played a vital role in the commerce of the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine people]]. The ancient scholar [[Ptolemy]] of [[Alexandria]] mentions the lower Volga in his ''Geography'' (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the ''Rha'', which was the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the [[Hyperborean]] Mountains. Between the second and fifth centuries [[Balts|Baltic people]] were very widespread in today's European Russia. Baltic people were widespread from [[Sozh River]] till today's Moscow and covered much of today's [[Central Russia]] and intermingled with the East Slavs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lituanus.org/1964/64_2_08_BR1.html|title=Marija Gimbutas. "A Survey Study of the Ancient Balts - Reviewed by Jonas Puzinas|website=www.lituanus.org|access-date=2019-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804192233/http://www.lituanus.org/1964/64_2_08_BR1.html|archive-date=2019-08-04|url-status=live}}</ref>  
  
During [[classical antiquity]], the Volga formed the boundary between the territories of the [[Cimmerians]] in the Caucasian Steppe and the [[Scythians]] in the Caspian Steppe.<ref name="OlbrychtCimmerians"/> After the Scythians migrated to the west and displaced the Cimmerians, the Volga became the boundary between the territories of the Scythians in the Pontic and Caspian Steppes and the [[Massagetae]] in the Caspian and Transcaspian steppes.<ref name="OlbrychtNomads"/>
+
During [[classical antiquity]], the Volga formed the boundary between the territories of the [[Cimmerians]] in the Caucasian Steppe and the [[Scythians]] in the Caspian Steppe. After the Scythians migrated to the west and displaced the Cimmerians, the Volga became the boundary between the territories of the Scythians in the Pontic and Caspian Steppes and the [[Massagetae]] in the Caspian and Transcaspian steppes.<ref> Jadwiga Pstrusinska and Andrew Fear (eds.), ''Collectanea Celto-Asiatica Cracoviensia'' (Archeobooks, 2000, ISBN 978-8371883378).</ref>
  
 
Between the sixth and the eighth centuries, the Alans settled in the [[Middle Volga Area|Middle Volga]] region and in the steppes of Russia's southern region in the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.slm.uni-hamburg.de/ifuu/download/helimski/ural-vorgeschichte.pdf|title=VORGESCHICHE DER URALISCHEN SPRACHFAMILIE, GESCHICHTE DER KLEINEREN URALISCHEN SPRACHEN: CHRONOLOGIE|access-date=2019-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530052002/https://www.slm.uni-hamburg.de/ifuu/download/helimski/ural-vorgeschichte.pdf|archive-date=2019-05-30|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
Between the sixth and the eighth centuries, the Alans settled in the [[Middle Volga Area|Middle Volga]] region and in the steppes of Russia's southern region in the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.slm.uni-hamburg.de/ifuu/download/helimski/ural-vorgeschichte.pdf|title=VORGESCHICHE DER URALISCHEN SPRACHFAMILIE, GESCHICHTE DER KLEINEREN URALISCHEN SPRACHEN: CHRONOLOGIE|access-date=2019-05-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530052002/https://www.slm.uni-hamburg.de/ifuu/download/helimski/ural-vorgeschichte.pdf|archive-date=2019-05-30|url-status=live}}</ref>

Revision as of 00:30, 20 January 2023

The Volga at Yaroslavl
The Volga at Yaroslavl
Origin Valdai Hills, Tver Oblast
Mouth Caspian Sea
Basin countries Russian Federation
Length 3,531 km (2,194 mi)
Source elevation 228 m (748 ft)[1]
Mouth elevation −28 m (−92 ft)[1]

The Volga (Russian: Во́лга) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. Its catchment area is more than twice the size of Ukraine. The Volga is widely regarded as the national river of Russia.

Map of the Volga drainage basin

The river flows in Russia through forests, forest steppes and steppes. Four of the ten largest cities of Russia, including the nation's capital, Moscow, are located in the Volga's drainage basin.

Some of the largest reservoirs in the world are located along the Volga River. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture – Russian literature and folklore often refer to it as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga).

Etymology

Cruise ship on the Volga.
View of the Volga Delta from the International Space Station

The name Volga originates from Lithuanian language which signifies the long river: "ilga" in Lithuanian means "long" (up until the annexation of Novgorod at 1481 C.E. the upper Volga was a part of Lithuanian ethnic state). Despite the fact that Lithuanian word "vilga" means "soaking". Several upper Volga tributaries are also of Lithuanian origin like Uzola ("ąžuolas" means "oak") and Oka ("auka" means "offering").

The Russian hydronym Volga (Волга) derives from Proto-Slavic vòlga meaning 'wetness, moisture,' which is preserved in many Slavic languages.[2]

The Scythian name for the Volga was Rahā, literally meaning 'wetness'. The Scythian name survives in modern Moksha Rav (Рав).[3]

Description

The confluence of the Oka (to the left) and the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod

The Volga is the longest river in Europe. It flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of 3,531 km (2,194 mi), and a catchment area of 1,360,000 km² (530,000 sq mi) more than twice the size of Ukraine. It is also Europe's largest river in terms of average discharge at delta – between 8,000 m3/s (280,000 cu ft/s) and 8,500 m3/s (300,000 cu ft/s) – and of drainage basin.[4] The Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year.[1]

It belongs to the closed basin of the Caspian Sea, being the longest river to flow into a closed basin. Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 meters (740 ft) above sea level northwest of Moscow and about 320 kilometers (200 mi) southeast of Saint Petersburg, the Volga heads east past Lake Sterzh, Tver, Dubna, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan. From there it turns south, flows past Ulyanovsk, Tolyatti, Samara, Saratov and Volgograd, and discharges into the Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level.[1] At its most strategic point, it bends toward the Don ("the big bend"). Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, is located there.

The Saratov Bridge by night, Saratov Oblast
The upper Volga in the vicinity of Staritsa, 1912

The Volga has many tributaries, most importantly the rivers Kama, the Oka, the Vetluga, and the Sura. The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which flows through an area of about 1,350,000 square kilometers (521,238 sq mi) in the most heavily populated part of Russia.[1] The Volga Delta has a length of about 160 kilometers (99 mi) and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans and flamingos may be found.[5] Lotus flowers can be found along the river. For example, a rare species, the Caspian lotus, grows in the Astrakhan Nature Reserve in the Volga River delta and there is a Lotus lake in the floodplain of the Volga and Akhtuba rivers near the small village of Krasny Buksir.[6]

The Volga drains most of Western Russia. Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal, the Volga–Don Canal, and the Volga–Baltic Waterway form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. High levels of chemical pollution have adversely affected the river and its habitats.

The fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat, and also has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centers on the Volga valley. Other resources include natural gas, salt, and potash. The Volga Delta and the Caspian Sea are fishing grounds. Astrakhan, at the delta, is the center of the caviar industry.

Confluences (downstream to upstream)

The Starovolzhsky Bridge in Tver
Volga Hydroelectric Station
  • Akhtuba (near Volzhsky), a distributary
  • Bolshoy Irgiz (near Volsk)
  • Samara (in Samara)
  • Kama (south of Kazan)
  • Kazanka (in Kazan)
  • Sviyaga (west of Kazan)
  • Vetluga (near Kozmodemyansk)
  • Sura (in Vasilsursk)
  • Kerzhenets (near Lyskovo)
  • Oka (in Nizhny Novgorod)
  • Uzola (near Balakhna)
  • Unzha (near Yuryevets)
  • Kostroma (in Kostroma)
  • Kotorosl (in Yaroslavl)
  • Sheksna (in Cherepovets)
  • Mologa (near Vesyegonsk)
  • Kashinka (near Kalyazin)
  • Nerl (near Kalyazin)
  • Medveditsa (near Kimry)
  • Dubna (in Dubna)
  • Shosha (near Konakovo)
  • Tvertsa (in Tver)
  • Vazuza (in Zubtsov)
  • Selizharovka (in Selizharovo)

Reservoirs (downstream to upstream)

A number of large hydroelectric reservoirs were constructed on the Volga during the Soviet era. They are:

  • Volgograd Reservoir
  • Saratov Reservoir
  • Kuybyshev Reservoir – the largest in Europe by surface
  • Cheboksary Reservoir
  • Gorky Reservoir
  • Rybinsk Reservoir
  • Uglich Reservoir
  • Ivankovo Reservoir

Biggest cities on the shores of the Volga

  • Kazan
  • Nizhny Novgorod
  • Samara
  • Volgograd
  • Saratov
  • Tolyatti
  • Yaroslavl
  • Astrakhan
  • Ulyanovsk
  • Cheboksary
  • Tver

Human history

Historically, the river served as an important meeting place of various Eurasian civilizations.[7][8]

The Volga in the Zhiguli Mountains.

Many different ethnicities lived on the Volga river. The Volga–Oka region has been occupied for at least 9,000 years and supported a bone and antler industry for producing bone arrowheads, spearheads, lanceheads, daggers, hunters knives, and awls. The makers also used local quartz and imported flints.[9] Among the first recorded people along the upper Volga were also the Finnic Mari (Мари) and Merya (Мäрӹ) people.

Where the Volga flows through the steppes the area was inhabited by the Iranian people of the Sarmatians from 200 B.C.E.[10][8]

Since ancient times, the Volga river was an important trade route where not only Slavic, Turkic, and Finnic peoples lived, but also Arab world of the Middle East met the Varangian people of the Nordic countries through trading.[11]

Furthermore, the river played a vital role in the commerce of the Byzantine people. The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentions the lower Volga in his Geography (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the Rha, which was the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the Hyperborean Mountains. Between the second and fifth centuries Baltic people were very widespread in today's European Russia. Baltic people were widespread from Sozh River till today's Moscow and covered much of today's Central Russia and intermingled with the East Slavs.[12]

During classical antiquity, the Volga formed the boundary between the territories of the Cimmerians in the Caucasian Steppe and the Scythians in the Caspian Steppe. After the Scythians migrated to the west and displaced the Cimmerians, the Volga became the boundary between the territories of the Scythians in the Pontic and Caspian Steppes and the Massagetae in the Caspian and Transcaspian steppes.[13]

Between the sixth and the eighth centuries, the Alans settled in the Middle Volga region and in the steppes of Russia's southern region in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.[14]

Apart from the Huns, the earliest Turkic tribes arrived in the seventh century and assimilated some Finno-Ugric and Indo-European population on the middle and lower Volga. The Turkic Christian Chuvash and Muslim Volga Tatars are descendants of the population of medieval Volga Bulgaria. Another Turkic group, the Nogais, formerly inhabited the lower Volga steppes.

In the eighth and ninth centuries colonization also began from Kievan Rus'. Slavs from Kievan Rus' brought Christianity to the upper Volga, and a portion of non-Slavic local people adopted Christianity and gradually became East Slavs. The remainder of the Mari people migrated to the east far inland. In the course of several centuries the Slavs assimilated the indigenous Finnic populations, such as the Merya and Meshchera peoples. The surviving peoples of Volga Finnic ethnicity include the Maris, Erzyas, and Mokshas of the middle Volga. Also Khazar and Bulgar peoples inhabited the upper, middle and lower of the Volga River basin.[15]

Subsequently, the river basin played an important role in the movements of peoples from Asia to Europe. A powerful polity of Volga Bulgaria once flourished where the Kama joins the Volga, while Khazaria controlled the lower stretches of the river. Such Volga cities as Atil, Saqsin, or Sarai were among the largest in the medieval world. The river served as an important trade route connecting Scandinavia, Finnic areas with the various Slavic tribes and Turkic, Germanic, Finnic and other people in Old Rus', and Volga Bulgaria with Khazaria, Persia, and the Arab world.


Khazars were replaced by Kipchaks, Kimeks and Mongols, who founded the Golden Horde in the lower reaches of the Volga. Later their empire divided into the Khanate of Kazan and Khanate of Astrakhan, both of which were conquered by the Russians in the course of the sixteenth century Russo-Kazan Wars.

Many Orthodox shrines and monasteries are located along the banks of the Volga

The Russian ethnicity in Western Russia and around the Volga river evolved to a very large extent, next to other tribes, out of the East Slavic tribe of the Buzhans and Vyatichis. The Vyatichis were originally concentrated on the Oka river.[16]

Ilya Yefimovich Repin's painting Barge Haulers on the Volga


Twentieth-century conflicts

Soviet Marines charge the Volga river bank.

During the Russian Civil War, both sides fielded warships on the Volga. In 1918, the Red Volga Flotilla participated in driving the Whites eastward, from the Middle Volga at Kazan to the Kama and eventually to Ufa on the Belaya.[17]

During World War II, the city on the big bend of the Volga, currently known as Volgograd, witnessed the Battle of Stalingrad, possibly the bloodiest battle in human history, in which the Soviet Union and the German forces were deadlocked in a stalemate battle for access to the river. The Volga was (and still is) a vital transport route between central Russia and the Caspian Sea, which provides access to the oil fields of the Absheron Peninsula. Hitler planned to use access to the oil fields of Azerbaijan to fuel future German conquests. Apart from that, whoever held both sides of the river could move forces across the river, to defeat the enemy's fortifications beyond the river.[18] By taking the river, Hitler's Germany would have been able to move supplies, guns, and men into the northern part of Russia. At the same time, Germany could permanently deny this transport route by the Soviet Union, hampering its access to oil and to supplies via the Persian Corridor.

For this reason, many amphibious military assaults were brought about in an attempt to remove the other side from the banks of the river. In these battles, the Soviet Union was the main offensive side, while the German troops used a more defensive stance, though much of the fighting was close quarters combat, with no clear offensive or defensive side.

The Volga region is home to a German minority group, the Volga Germans. Catherine the Great had issued a manifesto in 1763 inviting all foreigners to come and populate the region, offering them numerous incentives to do so.[19] Under the Soviet Union a slice of the region was turned into the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Construction of Soviet Union-era dams often involved enforced resettlement of huge numbers of people, as well as destruction of their historical heritage. For instance, the town of Mologa was flooded for the purpose of constructing the Rybinsk Reservoir (then the largest artificial lake in the world). The construction of the Uglich Reservoir caused the flooding of several monasteries with buildings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. In such cases the ecological and cultural damage often outbalanced any economic advantage.[20]

Navigation

The Volga at Volgograd
In some locations, the Volga has a rocky west bank.

The Volga, widened for navigation purposes with construction of huge dams during the years of Joseph Stalin's industrialization, is of great importance to inland shipping and transport in Russia: all the dams in the river have been equipped with large (double) ship locks, so that vessels of considerable dimensions can travel from the Caspian Sea almost to the upstream end of the river.

Connections with the river Don and the Black Sea are possible through the Volga–Don Canal. Connections with the lakes of the North (Lake Ladoga, Lake Onega), Saint Petersburg and the Baltic Sea are possible through the Volga–Baltic Waterway; and commerce with Moscow has been realised by the Moscow Canal connecting the Volga and the Moskva River.

This infrastructure has been designed for vessels of a relatively large scale (lock dimensions of Template:Convert/× on the Volga, slightly smaller on some of the other rivers and canals) and it spans many thousands of kilometers. A number of formerly state-run, now mostly privatized, companies operate passenger and cargo vessels on the river; Volgotanker, with over 200 petroleum tankers, is one of them.

In the later Soviet era, up to the modern times, grain and oil have been among the largest cargo exports transported on the Volga. [21] Until recently access to the Russian waterways was granted to foreign vessels on a very limited scale. The increasing contacts between the European Union and Russia have led to new policies with regard to the access to the Russian inland waterways. It is expected that vessels of other nations will be allowed on Russian rivers soon.[22]

Satellite imagery

In popular culture

Literature

  • Without a Dowry, The Storm – dramas by the Russian playwright Aleksandr Ostrovsky
  • In the Forests, On the Hills – novels by Pavel Melnikov
  • Yegor Bulychov and Others, Dostigayev and Others – plays by Maxim Gorky
  • "Distance After Distance" – poem by Aleksandr Tvardovsky
  • "On the Volga" – a poem by Nikolay Nekrasov
  • "Volga and Vazuza" – a poem by Samuil Marshak
  • The Precipice – a novel by Ivan Goncharov
  • Volga Se Ganga - a novel by Hindi language writer Rahul Sankrityayan

Cinema

  • Volga-Volga (1938) – a Soviet film comedy directed by Grigori Aleksandrov
  • Ekaterina Voronina (1957) – Soviet drama film directed by Isidor Annensky
  • The Bridge Is Built (1965) – a Soviet film about the construction of a road bridge across the Volga in Saratov by Oleg Efremov and Gavriil Egiazarov
  • A Cruel Romance (1984) – romantic drama directed by Eldar Ryazanov
  • Election Day (2007) – Russian comedy film directed by Oleg Fomin

Music

  • The Song of the Volga Boatmen

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Richard L. Scheffel and Susan J. Werner (eds.), Natural Wonders of the World (The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1988, ISBN 978-0895770875).
  2. Max Vasmer, The Etymological Dictionary of Russian Language - in 4 Volumes (AST, 2009, ISBN 978-5170599325).
  3. Janet M. Hartley, The Volga: A History of Russia's Greatest River (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022, ISBN 978-0300266412).
  4. Harald J. L. Leummens, Volga River Basin (Russia) Springer, 2016. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  5. Animals in the Volga river Volga River. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  6. Alexandra Guzeva, Where to see the blooming lotus in Russia Russia Beyond, July 11, 2022. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  7. Edward N. Luttwak, The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire (Belknap Press, 2011, ISBN 978-0674062078).
  8. 8.0 8.1 Tim McNeese, The Volga River (Facts on File, 2005, ISBN 978-0791082478).
  9. Zhilin, M. (2015). Early Mesolithic bone arrowheads from the Volga-Oka interfluve, central Russia. 32. 35-54.
  10. "Amazon" Burial Discovered in Russia Archaeology Magazine, August 14, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  11. Rym Ghazal, When the Arabs met the Vikings: New discovery suggests ancient links The National, May 6, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  12. Marija Gimbutas. "A Survey Study of the Ancient Balts - Reviewed by Jonas Puzinas.
  13. Jadwiga Pstrusinska and Andrew Fear (eds.), Collectanea Celto-Asiatica Cracoviensia (Archeobooks, 2000, ISBN 978-8371883378).
  14. VORGESCHICHE DER URALISCHEN SPRACHFAMILIE, GESCHICHTE DER KLEINEREN URALISCHEN SPRACHEN: CHRONOLOGIE.
  15. "Unique History of Volga River That You Need to Know - Learn Russian Language", Learn Russian Language, 2018-06-30. (written in en-US)
  16. Zhirohov, Mikhail. (2019). The Khazars : a Judeo-Turkish Empire on the Steppes, 7th-11th Centuries AD., Nicolle, David., Hook, Christa., London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 47. ISBN 9781472830104. OCLC 1076253515. 
  17. Brian Pearce, Introduction {{#invoke:webarchive|webarchive}} to Fyodor Raskolnikov's "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin."
  18. ::The Battle of Stalingrad. Historylearningsite.co.uk.
  19. Catherine's Manifesto 1763 (in en).
  20. "In all, Soviet dams flooded 2,600 villages and 165 cities, almost 78,000 sq. km. – the area of Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined – including nearly 31,000 sq. km. of agricultural land and 31,000 sq. km. of forestland". Quoted from: Paul R. Josephson. Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World. Island Press, 2002. Template:ISBN. Page 31.
  21. (2000). Prediction of the Dispersal of Oil Transport in the Caspian Sea Resulting from a Continuous Release. Spill Science & Technology Bulletin 6 (5–6): 323.
  22. NoorderSoft Waterways Database. Noordersoft.com.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Hartley, Janet M. The Volga: A History of Russia's Greatest River. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022. ISBN 978-0300266412
  • Luttwak, Edward N. The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire. Belknap Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0674062078
  • McNeese, Tim. The Volga River. Facts on File, 2005. ISBN 978-0791082478
  • Scheffel, Richard L., and Susan J. Werner (eds.). Natural Wonders of the World. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., 1988. ISBN 978-0895770875
  • Vasmer, Max. The Etymological Dictionary of Russian Language - in 4 Volumes. AST, 2009. ISBN 978-5170599325

External links

All links retrieved

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