Don, one of the largest rivers in Europe with a length of 1870 km, flows into the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov. The source is located on the northern slopes of the Central Russian Upland in the Tula region, near Novomoskovsk, and is called the Urvanka stream. Don (in ancient times Tanais) ranks fourth on this continent after the Volga, Danube and Dnieper. To a brief description, we can add that its valley is located at an altitude of 180 meters above sea level, and on its banks there are two cities with a population of more than a million people - Voronezh and Rostov-on-Don. All tributaries of the Don are amazingly picturesque.
In Russia everything is measured in thousands
5255 rivers and rivulets - tributaries of the Don, which it receives throughout its entire length.
Their total length is 60100 km. The vast basin of this river, equal to 422,000 square kilometers, is located on the East European Plain. Don with all its tributaries captures 12 regions of Russia, part of Kalmykia, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. It also includes three areasUkraine.
The largest tributaries of the Don are in themselves quite large rivers - the Seversky Donets (length 1099 km) and Khoper (980 km), Sal (798 km) and Medveditsa (745 km). Further there are shorter rivers - Pine and Beautiful Mecha, Nepryadva and Manych. As well as Chernaya Kalitva and Bogucharka, Bityug, Ilovlya, Voronezh and thousands of other rivers, streams and streams - all these are tributaries of the Don River. The right deserves consideration in the first place, if only because among them is one of the major rivers of Ukraine - the Seversky Donets.
Right tributaries
But in order to proceed to its description, it should be noted that the upper right tributary is a small water artery flowing through three districts of the Voronezh region - the Devitsa River, 89 km long. We can say about it that the federal road passes through one of its bridges. In the lower reaches, refractory clay has been mined for 100 years, which could not but affect the surrounding landscape and the entire water basin of this river, with an area equal to 1520 square meters. km. Larger tributaries of the Don River, located on the right, before the confluence of the Seversky Donets: Beautiful Sword, Pine, Chir.
The first of them, the Beautiful Mecha, is a water artery flowing through the Tula and Lipetsk regions, 244 km long, with a pool of 6000 square meters. km. Replenished by melting snow. It flows in the east of the Central Russian Upland. The places here are very beautiful, especially from the village of Vyazovo. And everything that is beautiful is usually called Switzerland. These blessed lands are also referred to as Russian Switzerland. Alsothey are also called Svyatogorye.
Beautiful, lowland, Russians…
No less beautiful is the right tributary of the Don - Pine or Fast Pine, a river 296 km long, with a pool of 17.4 thousand square meters. km.
It flows through the territories of the Oryol and Lipetsk regions. Closer to the lower reaches of the Don is Chir, whose length is 317 km, and the basin covers 12.4 thousand square meters. km. The river flows through the territories of the Rostov and Volgograd regions and flows into the Tsimlyansk reservoir. It is interesting in that, presumably, the battle of the legendary Igor with the Polovtsy took place in its lower reaches. It should be noted that all tributaries of the Don are flat meandering rivers with a moderate course.
The beauty of the coastal temples brings peace with it…
Seversky Donets is no exception, about which Herodotus wrote, calling him Sirgis. This is a large river in the south of the East European Plain and the largest water artery in Eastern Ukraine. Catherine II stopped on the picturesque banks of this beauty. 3,000 rivers and rivulets are located in the Seversky Donets basin, and 1,000 flow directly into it. The river valley is wide for the most part. Along the banks there are lakes (the largest is Liman), wetlands. This water artery supplies large industrial centers of Donbass with drinking water. Unusually beautiful is the Seversky Donets in the Svyatogorsk region, in which the Holy Dormition Lavra is located. Numerous recreation centers and sanatoriums are located along the banks. The shores are covered with forests whererelic species, for example, Cretaceous pine, which is under the threat of complete extinction. The last more or less large lower right tributary is the Aksai River, into which a water stream called Tuzlov flows.
Left tributaries
The uppermost left tributary is the Sal River (Rostov Region), which arose as a result of the confluence of Dzhuryuk-Sala and Kara-Sala. Its length is 798 km, the basin is 21.3 thousand square meters. km.
And the largest left tributary of the Don is the Khoper River, which flows through the territories of the Penza and Saratov, Voronezh and Volgograd regions. The area of its basin is 61.1 square kilometers. The source is located in the center of the Penza region, on the Volga Upland. Flowing in a southwestern direction, near the Ust-Koperskaya station, the river flows into the Don. The location of the river basin is the southeast of the Russian Plain, the Russian Platform. And its dimensions, speaking of the endless Russian expanses, are 1.5 times the area of Switzerland. And this is not the largest tributary of not the largest Russian river Don. Khoper is navigable from the town of Novokhopyorsk to the mouth.
Middle Current to Delta
Attention deserves another left tributary of the Don - the Medveditsa River, 745 km long. and with a swimming pool of 34,700 sq. km. Its source is in the Saratov region. The bear is interesting because its shores are covered with forests with rich flora and fauna. The waters abound with fish - until the end of the 80s, sterlet was found in large numbers here. The river is not navigable, as it has many rifts and shoals. Alongshores are many lakes, eriks and wetlands. There is excellent hunting and fishing in these places.
The left tributary of the Don River - Manych, or Western Manych, 219 km long and with a basin area of 35.4 thousand square meters. km. The waters of the Kuban River enter it through canals, and all this mass of water is used for irrigating the land, since the territory of the Don River basin is rich in excellent black soil. Of course, along the entire water flow there are many reservoirs (the largest Tsimlyansk) and power plants. The last left tributary of the Don River, which gives it its waters, is the Koisug River, which flows out of the Koisug Lake. Further - the mouth, in which the Don River delta is located, inferior in size to the Kuban one. On an area of 538 sq. km there are 3 lakes, floodplains and bunded spawning grounds. There is excellent fishing and duck hunting.
