Editing Volga (section)

==Description==
[[File:Nizhny Novgorod P8132254 2200.jpg|thumb|The confluence of the Oka (''to the left'') and the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod]]
The Volga is the longest [[river]] in [[Europe]], and its catchment area is almost entirely inside [[Russia]], though the longest river in Russia is the [[Ob river|Ob]]–[[Irtysh river]] system.<ref name="readersnatural">{{Cite book |title=Natural Wonders of the World |publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc |year=1980 |isbn=0-89577-087-3 |editor-last=Scheffel |editor-first=Richard L. |location=United States of America |pages=406 |editor-last2=Wernet |editor-first2=Susan J.}}</ref>
It belongs to the [[Endorheic basin|closed basin]] of the [[Caspian Sea]], being the longest river to flow into a closed basin. The source of the Volga lies in the village of Volgoverkhov'e in [[Tver Oblast]]. Rising in the [[Valdai Hills]] {{convert|225|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Above mean sea level|above sea level]] northwest of [[Moscow]] and about {{convert|320|km|mi|abbr=on}} 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, Russia|Samara]], [[Saratov]] and [[Volgograd]], and discharges into the Caspian Sea below [[Astrakhan]] at {{convert|28|m|ft|abbr=on}} below sea level.<ref name="readersnatural" />

[[File:Саратовский мост.jpeg|alt=|thumb|The [[Saratov Bridge]] by night, [[Saratov Oblast]]]]
[[File:Staritsa.jpg|thumb|The upper Volga in the vicinity of [[Staritsa (town), Tver Oblast|Staritsa]], 1912]]
The Volga has many [[tributaries]], most importantly the [[Kama (river)|Kama]], the [[Oka River|Oka]], the [[Vetluga (river)|Vetluga]], and the [[Sura (river)|Sura]]. The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which flows through an area of about {{convert|1350000|km2|0|abbr=on}} in the most heavily populated part of Russia.<ref name="readersnatural" /> The [[Volga Delta]] has a length of about {{convert|160|km|0|abbr=on}} and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest [[estuary]] in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where [[pelican]]s, [[flamingo]]s, and [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]]es may be found.{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} The Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year.<ref name="readersnatural" />

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 [[waterway]]s 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 other agricultural produce, 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]].

===Confluences (downstream to upstream)===
[[File:Tver dusk 3.jpg|thumb|The Starovolzhsky Bridge in [[Tver]]|alt=]]
[[File:Volga Hydroelectric Station 002 (cropped).JPG|thumb|[[Volga Hydroelectric Station]]]]
{{colbegin}}
* [[Akhtuba]] (near [[Volzhsky, Volgograd Oblast|Volzhsky]]), a [[distributary]]
* [[Bolshoy Irgiz]] (near [[Volsk]])
* [[Samara (Volga)|Samara]] (in [[Samara]])
* [[Kama (river)|Kama]] (south of [[Kazan]])<!-- in the Middle Age it was believed to be an origin of the Volga (Itil) – believed by who? surely not by Russians -->
* [[Kazanka (river)|Kazanka]] (in Kazan)
* [[Sviyaga]] (west of Kazan)
* [[Vetluga (river)|Vetluga]] (near [[Kozmodemyansk]])
* [[Sura (river)|Sura]] (in [[Vasilsursk]])
* [[Kerzhenets]] (near [[Lyskovo]])
* [[Oka (river)|Oka]] (in [[Nizhny Novgorod]])
* [[Uzola]] (near [[Balakhna]])
* [[Unzha]] (near [[Yuryevets, Ivanovo Oblast|Yuryevets]])
* [[Kostroma (river)|Kostroma]] (in [[Kostroma]])
* [[Kotorosl]] (in [[Yaroslavl]])
* [[Sheksna]] (in [[Cherepovets]])
* [[Mologa (river)|Mologa]] (near [[Vesyegonsk]])
* [[Kashinka]] (near [[Kalyazin]])
* [[Nerl (Volga)|Nerl]] (near Kalyazin)
* [[Medveditsa (Volga)|Medveditsa]] (near [[Kimry]])
* [[Dubna (Volga)|Dubna]] (in [[Dubna]])
* [[Shosha (river)|Shosha]] (near [[Konakovo]])
* [[Tvertsa]] (in [[Tver]])
* [[Vazuza]] (in [[Zubtsov]])
* [[Selizharovka]] (in [[Selizharovo]])
{{colend}}

===Reservoirs (downstream to upstream)===
A number of large hydroelectric reservoirs were constructed on the Volga during the [[Soviet Union|Soviet era]]. They are:
* [[Volgograd Reservoir]]
* [[Saratov Reservoir]]
* [[Kuybyshev Reservoir]]{{spaced ndash}} 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]]

===Bridges across the Volga===
* [[Kostroma rail bridge]]

===Human history===
[[File:Volga River. Tolga Monastery P5212881 2200.jpg|thumb|Many [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[shrine]]s and [[monasteries]] are located along the banks of the Volga]]

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>

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"/>

Between the 6th and the 8th 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=30 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530052002/https://www.slm.uni-hamburg.de/ifuu/download/helimski/ural-vorgeschichte.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The area around the Volga was inhabited by the [[Slavic tribes]] of [[Vyatichs]] and [[Buzhans]], by [[Finno-Ugric peoples|Finno-Ugric]], [[North Germanic peoples|Scandinavian]], [[Balts|Baltic]], [[Huns|Hunnic]] and [[Turkic peoples]] ([[Tatar language|Tatars]], [[Kipchak languages|Kipchaks]]) in the [[first millennium]] AD, replacing the [[Scythians]].<ref>{{Cite thesis |url=http://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/katona_csete.pdf |title=Co-operation between the Viking Rus' and the Turkic nomads of the steppe in the ninth-eleventh centuries |last=Katona |first=Cseste |type=MA thesis |publisher=Central European University |date=2018 |access-date=4 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418221818/http://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/katona_csete.pdf |archive-date=18 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=October 2024|reason=Source is a Master's thesis}} 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 2nd and 5th 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=30 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804192233/http://www.lituanus.org/1964/64_2_08_BR1.html |archive-date=4 August 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> 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 [[Vyatichi]]s. The Vyatichis were originally concentrated on the Oka River.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Khazars: a Judeo-Turkish Empire on the Steppes, 7th-11th Centuries AD. |last=Zhirohov, Mikhail. |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |others=Nicolle, David., Hook, Christa. |isbn=9781472830104 |location=London |pages=47 |oclc=1076253515}}</ref> Furthermore, several localities in Russia are connected to the Slavic Buzhan tribe, like for example [[Sredniy Buzhan]] in the [[Orenburg Oblast]], Buzan and the [[Buzan River]] in the [[Astrakhan Oblast]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://study.com/academy/lesson/early-east-slavic-tribes-in-russia.html |title=Early East Slavic Tribes in Russia |website=Study.com |language=en |access-date=16 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328092408/https://study.com/academy/lesson/early-east-slavic-tribes-in-russia.html |archive-date=28 March 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Buzhan ({{langx|fa|بوژان{{lrm}}|Būzhān}}; also known as ''Būzān'') is also a village in [[Buzhan, Nishapur|Nishapur]], [[Iran]]. In late 8th century the Russian state Russkiy Kaganate is recorded in different Northern and Oriental sources. The Volga was one of the main rivers of the Rus' Khaganates culture.<ref name="Gannholm"/>

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 (river)|Kama]] joins the Volga, while [[Khazaria]] controlled the lower stretches of the river. Such Volga cities as [[Atil]], [[Saqsin]], or [[Sarai (city)|Sarai]] were among the largest in the medieval world. The river [[Volga trade route|served as an important trade route]] connecting [[Viking Age|Scandinavia]], [[Finnic peoples|Finnic]] areas with the various Slavic tribes and Turkic, [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]], Finnic and other people in Old [[Rus' (people)|Rus']], and [[Volga Bulgaria]] with [[Khazars|Khazaria]], [[Persia]] and the [[Arab world]].
[[File:Ilia Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Volga Boatmen (1870-1873).jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|right|[[Ilya Yefimovich Repin]]'s 1870-1873 painting ''[[Barge Haulers on the Volga]]'']]

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 16th century [[Russo-Kazan Wars]]. The Russian people's deep feeling for the Volga echoes in national culture and literature, starting from the 12th century [[Lay of Igor's Campaign]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.volgawriter.com/VW%20Volga%20River.htm |title=The Volga |publisher=www.volgawriter.com |access-date=11 June 2010 |format=[[Microsoft FrontPage]] 12.0 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620141913/http://www.volgawriter.com/VW%20Volga%20River.htm |archive-date=20 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[The Volga Boatman's Song]] is one of many songs devoted to the national river of Russia.

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.<ref>"In all, Soviet dams flooded 2,600 villages and 165 cities, almost 78,000&nbsp;sq. km. – the area of Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Jersey combined – including nearly 31,000&nbsp;sq. km. of agricultural land and 31,000&nbsp;sq. km. of forestland". Quoted from: Paul R. Josephson. ''Industrialized Nature: Brute Force Technology and the Transformation of the Natural World''. Island Press, 2002. {{ISBN|1-55963-777-3}}. Page 31.</ref>

====20th-century conflicts====
[[File:Soviet marines-in the battle of stalingrad volga banks.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.9|[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Russian Naval Infantry#World War II|Marines]] charge the Volga [[Bank (geography)|river bank]].]]
{{Main|Battle of Stalingrad|Kazan Operation}}
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 [[Kazan Operation|at Kazan]] to the Kama and eventually to [[Ufa]] on the [[Belaya River (Kama)|Belaya]].<ref>[[Brian Pearce]], [http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/red-army/1918/raskolnikov/ilyin/index.htm Introduction] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203140800/http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/red-army/1918/raskolnikov/ilyin/index.htm |date=3 February 2008 }} to [[Fyodor Raskolnikov]]
s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin."</ref>

During the Civil War, [[Joseph Stalin]] ordered the imprisonment of several military specialists on a barge in the Volga and the sinking of a floating prison in which the officers perished.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brackman |first1=Roman |title=The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life |date=23 November 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-75840-0 |page=129 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PY2RAgAAQBAJ&dq=stalin+trotsky+military+specialist&pg=PA129 |language=en |access-date=30 October 2023 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003000731/https://books.google.com/books?id=PY2RAgAAQBAJ&dq=stalin+trotsky+military+specialist&pg=PA129 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Sebag Montefiore |first1=Simon |title=Stalin : the court of the red tsar |date=2004 |publisher=Grown House |location=London |isbn=978-0-7538-1766-7 |page=34 |url=https://archive.org/details/stalincourtofred0000seba/page/34/mode/1up?q=Enmity}}</ref>

During World War II, the city on the big bend of the Volga, currently known as [[Volgograd]], witnessed the [[Battle of Stalingrad]], possibly the [[List of battles by casualties|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 [[Apsheron Peninsula|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 [[fortification]]s beyond the river.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_stalingrad.htm |title=::The Battle of Stalingrad |publisher=Historylearningsite.co.uk |access-date=11 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530123434/http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_stalingrad.htm |archive-date=30 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> By taking the river, Hitler's [[Nazi Germany|Germany]] would have been able to move [[cargo|supplies]], [[gun]]s, 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 warfare|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 (military)|offensive]] side, while the [[Wehrmacht|German troops]] used a more [[defense (military)|defensive]] stance, though much of the fighting was [[close combat|close quarters combat]], with no clear offensive or defensive side.