Lake Baikal is unique and differs from many natural reservoirs not only in depth, but also in incredible transparency and purity of water. The enormous depth is associated with its location - it is located in a crevice of tectonic origin. A large number of rivers and streams flow into the lake, but only one carries water out of it. What is this river flowing from Baikal, what are its largest tributaries? The answers to these questions can be found by reading the article.

Before we find out which river flows out of Baikal, we will present general information and a description of the lake itself. This unique natural reservoir is fed by a huge number of rivers. Until now, their exact number has not been determined. The answer to this question is the subject of controversy among many experts. At the moment, according to the official version, the number of tributaries is 336. And the surprising fact is that only one river flows out of Baikal. Which? More information about this is provided below in the article.

The reservoir is one of the oldest on the planet and the deepest lake on Earth. In addition, it is the largest natural reservoir of fresh water. Both the lake and the coastal area surrounding it are distinguished by a unique diversity of fauna and flora. These are truly unique places that attract great attention to themselves scientists and travelers.

Location and characteristics

Lake Baikal is located in the southern part of Eastern Siberia. This place is the border of the Republic of Buryatia with the Irkutsk region. According to its outlines, Baikal resembles a narrow crescent. It extends from the southeast for 636 kilometers in a northeasterly direction. Baikal flows between mountain ranges, and its water surface is located at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level. Therefore, the lake can be considered mountainous. On the western side, Primorsky and Baikal Territories adjoin it, and on the southeast and east - the Barguzinsky, Khamar-Daban and Ulan-Burgasy massifs.

The natural landscape here is surprisingly harmonious, it is even hard to imagine a lake without mountains. The famous Baikal has gigantic volumes of fresh water - more than 23 thousand cubic kilometers, which is approximately 19% of the world's water reserves.

If you look at this lake on the map, then because of its elongation in shape, you get the feeling that it is a continuation of the Upper Angara River. Like it's a reservoir.

Many people very often confuse which rivers flow into Lake Baikal and how many there are in total. It turned out that tributaries were sometimes counted together with small streams, and sometimes without them. In addition, some small streams may periodically disappear due to weather conditions. It is believed that in total, more than 150 streams could completely disappear due to the anthropogenic factor.

One of the main reasons for the purity of the water in the lake is plankton. These are epishura crustaceans (microscopic creatures) that process organic matter. Their result of work is comparable to the action of a distiller. Such clear water contains very little even dissolved salts.

Among the largest tributaries are the following rivers: Selenga, Barguzin, Turka and Snezhnaya. But among them there is a rather large river, which introduces some confusion with its name - this is the Upper Angara. It is often confused with the Angara, in connection with which the latter is considered a tributary. Some small rivers (tributaries) of Baikal have rather funny names: Golaya, Cheryomukhovaya, Kotochik (flows into Turku) and Durnya (flows into Kotochik). There are more than a thousand such streams and rivulets. In this regard, it is problematic to count all the reservoirs throughout the lake basin that carry their pure waters to Baikal. And there are almost no rivers flowing from Baikal, as noted above.

Selenga

This is the largest river flowing into the lake. It flows through the territories (mostly flat) of two states: it starts in Mongolia, and ends its journey in Russia. It is the Selenga that brings almost 1/2 of all the water entering Baikal into the lake.

It owes its high water to the following tributaries:

  • Temnik;
  • Jide;
  • Chikoya;
  • Orongoy;
  • Ude and others.

Cities such as Ulan-Ude (the capital of Buryatia) and Sukhe-Bator (Mongolia) are located on this river.

Upper Angara

Often this waterway (as noted above) is confused with the Angara River, which flows out of Baikal. In the upper reaches, it has a difficult character: fast, mountainous, rapids. Even when it hits the plain, its channel does not stop winding. Breaking up periodically into numerous channels, it unites again. Closer to Baikal, Upper Angara becomes calmer and quieter. At the northern part of the lake, it turns into a bay with a shallow depth, and its name is Angarsky Sor.

Most of Baikal-Amur Mainline runs along the Upper Angara. The river is navigable, but only in the lower reaches. Major tributaries:

  • Churo;
  • Koter;
  • Angarakan;
  • Yanchui.

Angara

It flows from Baikal. This is a great and mighty water artery. It is the only source of the lake, is the largest of the right tributaries of the Yenisei, flows through the territories of the Krasnoyarsk Territory of Russia and the Irkutsk Region. In translation, the word “anga” from Buryat means “open”, “open”, “open”, and also “gorge”, “gulp”, “cleft”. In historical sources, the Angara River was first mentioned in the 13th century with the name Ankara-Muren. Previously, the lower course (after the confluence of the Ilim) was called the Upper Tunguska.

The Angara basin has an area of ​​almost 1,040 thousand square meters. km, and without the Baikal basin - 468,000 sq. km. The river starts from the lake in a wide stream (1100 m) and first takes the direction to the north. Several reservoirs have been built here:

  • Irkutsk;
  • Bratskoye (from the famous Bratsk hydroelectric power station);
  • Ust-Ilimskoye.

Further, the river heads west to the Krasnoyarsk Territory and flows into the Yenisei River not far from Lesosibirsk. After the connection of two rivers in a single water stream, the clear water of the Angara flows to the right, and the muddy Yenisei to the left. Only farther from Lesosibirsk do the Yenisei and Baikal waters mix. The Yenisei carries all this powerful water mass to the North. The river flowing from Baikal is clean and beautiful, with clear water. Its length is 1779 km. This is a very attractive object for recreational fishing, because more than 30 species of fish live in its waters.

Conclusion

The waters of the Angara, breaking down from the heights of Baikal, run away in a powerful stream. At its source is the Shaman-stone (rock). According to one legend, father Baikal threw this stone after his runaway daughter. The reason for such an act is love for the handsome Yenisei hero, while her father chose another hero named Irkut as her suitor. Baikal is benefiting from such a powerful runoff. And the streams flowing into the reservoir, making their way through the forest thickets, bring clean water, due to their location away from major highways and industries. Baikal was lucky in every respect.

The location of the Angara channel is typical for Siberian rivers. Along the path that the Angara overcomes along the southern part of the Central Siberian Plateau, across the expanses of Cis-Baikal (Priangara) and Eastern Siberia, it first flows to the north, then turns sharply to the west. Before flowing into the Yenisei, above the city of Yeniseisk, there is the Strelkovskiy threshold - one of the protrusions of hard rocks.
The Angara has many tributaries, and they all start in the mountains and flow in from the left, except for the Ilim. The peculiarity of the Angara lies in the fact that the entire flow of Baikal passes through it, and, therefore, the Selenga River, which flows into Baikal, and not directly into the Angara, can be considered the main tributary of the Angara.
There are about six thousand lakes in the Angara basin.
The Angara is a rare example of a large river, whose water regime is almost completely regulated from Lake Baikal to the mouth by three large reservoirs. In the upper reaches, the reservoir of the Irkutsk hydroelectric power station stretches for 55 km, the main part of the reservoir of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station - for 570 km, and Ust-Ilimsky - 12 km. The Bratsk Reservoir is the second in the world in terms of water volume.
As a result of human activity, the regime of the Angara began to resemble not a river, but a lake. The peculiarity of the Angara is that it is located in a severe climate zone, however, freezing on it occurs later than on other rivers of Siberia and even the European part of Russia. The reason is the rapid flow and inflow of warm deep waters from Baikal, as well as the fact that the reservoirs do not freeze, since the waters warmed up during the summer do not have time to cool down.

Story

The name of the river comes from the Evenk-Buryat words meaning "open mouth", which roughly corresponds to the concept of "mouth". Another interpretation of the name of the river is translated from the languages ​​of the peoples of the Cis-Baikal region from the word "anga" - "cleft", or "gorge". This interpretation is also correct, since in the region of the sources the Angara flows through a cleft.
The ancient inhabitants of Cis-Baikal, who lived in the Angara basin, settled here as early as the Stone Age, about 50 thousand years BC. e., such an ancient cultural layer on the territory of Russia was discovered for the first time. The culture of these people impressed with an unusually high level of artistic processing of the product for that period.
Along the banks of the Angara, many sites of a primitive man hunter of mammoths, rock paintings and other waste products were found.
The last glaciation changed the primitive way of life, and 6-5 thousand years ago a Neolithic cave culture was formed in the Cis-Baikal region, people began to use boats, fishing nets and tamed the dog. The Neolithic pre-Baikalids were the first in the world to use a complex bow and arrows with jade tips, stone knives and axes, and hunting skis.
The Bronze Age is the time of the emergence of the Glazkovo culture, the emergence of shamanism in the Angara region and the appearance of the ancestors of the current peoples of the Angara region.
The modern ethnic composition of the population of the Angara region was formed as a result of a long mixture of the indigenous Turkic-Mongolian, Russian - Cossacks, who developed these lands since the 17th century, and the small peoples of Siberia.
The population density along the Angara is several times lower than the average for Russia, and the reason for this is the difficult climatic conditions and the difficult topography of the territory. The national composition of the population of Eastern Siberia is generally homogeneous: 80% of the population are Russians, who began to develop these lands from the 17th century. Representatives of the Mongolian group of the Buryats live in the mountainous and steppe regions, and the Evenks live in the taiga regions.
Of the religions, Orthodoxy is the most widespread here due to the long period of Christianization of local peoples and the influx of the Russian population. The exceptions are Buryat and Evenk Buddhists, who managed to preserve traditional pagan beliefs.
The appearance of the indigenous population of Eastern Siberia is dominated by Mongoloid features, but the languages ​​of these peoples are extremely diverse, although the number of those who speak them is gradually decreasing. The traditional activities of the indigenous peoples have not changed for thousands of years, such as reindeer herding, hunting for fur-bearing animals, fishing. Reindeer herders and fishermen lead a nomadic lifestyle and live in tents.
In the structure of the population of the Angara region, the urban population prevails, exceeding 70%. The bulk of the townspeople live in settlements along the Angara - the main transport route in these places, as well as in places where natural resources are extracted. Most cities in the Irkutsk region. There are no millionaire cities on the Angara, the largest are Irkutsk, Bratsk, Angarsk, Ust-Ilimsk, Usolye-Sibirskoye.
Irkutsk is the administrative center of the region of the same name, the fifth largest city in Siberia, located on the banks of the Angara. The first Cossack prison (fortification) in these places was erected in 1661 on the banks of the Angara opposite the confluence of the Irkut - the left tributary of the river. Irkutsk is a large industrial city, the economic and cultural center of the Angara region - one of the few Siberian cities that has preserved its old layout and buildings. The Church of the Savior of the 17th century has been preserved from the ancient prison, which, together with the Cathedral of the Epiphany of the 17th century. represents the most ancient architectural ensemble of Irkutsk.
Residents of Bratsk, the second largest city on the Angara, prefer to be called brothers. Like other settlements in the Angara region, the city arose on the site of a Cossack settlement: Bratsk Ostrog appeared here between 1631 and 1654 Today's Bratsk is the largest transport hub in Eastern Siberia and stands at the intersection of the most important railway, river, road and air routes connecting the European part of Russia with the north of Eastern Siberia and Yakutia.
Angarsk is the only large city on the river named after her, and the youngest: it began to be built in 1945 as a working settlement for several industrial enterprises. The first inhabitants settled in dugouts, and at present Angarsk is the longest industrial zone in Asia, located along the Angara for 30 km.
The significance of the Angara for the development of the Angara region and all of Eastern Siberia is enormous. The river actually turned into a huge source of electricity, which made it possible to develop energy-intensive industries (such as non-ferrous metallurgy, pulp and paper, etc.). This became possible because, given the relatively short length of the Angara, the height difference from the source to the mouth is quite significant and amounts to 380 m.
The basis of the energy economy of the Angara region is powerful hydroelectric power stations. Their construction made navigation possible along almost the entire length of the river.

general information

Location: Eastern Siberia. It flows through the territory of the Russian Federation (Irkutsk Region and Krasnoyarsk Territory).

Type of food: lake, snow, rain.

Source: flows out of Lake Baikal.
Mouth: Yenisei, 83 km upstream of the city of Yeniseisk.
The largest right tributary of the Yenisei.
Largest tributary: Taseeva (left).
Other major tributaries: right - Ilim, Chadobets, Irkineeva, Kamenka; left - Irkut, Kitoy, Belaya, Oka, Iya, Kova, Mura.
Largest cities: Irkutsk - 600,000 people (2012), Bratsk - 246,348 people. (2011), Angarsk - 240,600 people, (2011), Ust-Ilimsk - 95,595 people. (2011), Usolye-Sibirskoye - 83,364 people. (2011).

The most important ports: Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk, Ust-Ilimsk.

Numbers

Length: 1779 km.

Pool area: 1,040,000 km 2 (excluding the Baikal basin - 468,000 km 2).

Average water consumption: 4530 m 3 / s.
Water discharge: at the source - 1855 m 3 / s, in the middle course (Bratsk) - up to 14 200 m 3 / s, at the mouth - 4530 m 3 / s.

Depth: up to 10 m.

Basin: Arctic Ocean.
Source height: 456 m.

Mouth height: 76 m.
Width: up to 12-15 km. on rapids - up to 300-400 m.

Economy

Industry: hydropower.

Fishing.
Services sector: tourism, transport (river navigation).

Climate and weather

Sharply continental.

January average temperature:-22.5°C.

July average temperature:+18°С.
Average annual rainfall: 370 mm.

Start of freezing: in the lower reaches in late October - early November, on the Bratsk reservoir in November - December.

Beginning of ice drift: first half of May.

Attractions

■ shaman stone: a rock in the middle of the source of the Angara near the village of Listvyanka.
■ hydroelectric power plants: Bratsk, Irkutsk, Ust-Ilimsk.
■ reservoirs: Bratsk, Irkutsk, Ust-Ilimsk.
■ Strelkovskiy threshold: before flowing into the Yenisei above the city of Yeniseisk.
■ Irkutsk city: Church of the Savior (XVII century), Cathedral of the Epiphany (XVII century), Znamensky Monastery (XVII century), Sibiryakov Palace (early XIX century), Kaiskaya relic grove, icebreaker-museum "Angara", Irkutsk Regional Museum of Local Lore.
■ City of Bratsk: Museum of the history of BratskGESstroy and the city of Bratsk, Architectural and Ethnographic Open-Air Museum "Angara Village" (plagues, pagan totems, the Bratsk prison tower of the middle of the 17th century, Mikhailo-Arkhangelsk Church of the second half of the 19th century), Neolithic monument "Grazing elk ".
■ City of Angarsk: Angarsk Museum of Minerals, Museum of Victory, Holy Trinity Cathedral (beginning of the 21st century). Clock Museum. Park of petrochemists.
■ City of Ust-Ilimsk: rocks (groups of rocks) "Three sisters" and "Five brothers", Museum of Local Lore.
■ City of Usolie-Sibirskoe: Museum of the History of Siberian Salt. Red Island. Kazan Church (Telma village, early 19th century), sites of primitive man from the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Iron Ages.

Curious facts

■ The name of this Siberian river is often used to name various phenomena and organizations. "Angara" is called: an icebreaker museum, a launch vehicle, an anti-aircraft missile system, several types of radio stations, an anti-aircraft self-propelled unit, a football club, an airline, a literary almanac
■ The Angara is also called the riding north or northeast katabatic wind of the bora type blowing from the valley of the Angara River.
■ June 29, 1916 in Usolye-Sibirskoye, the largest catastrophe ever occurred on the Angara. A ferry used the power of the fast current of the river to cross the river. That day was a church holiday, and when it ended, a storm began, which turned into a hurricane. Summer residents and guests came to the crossing and crowded on the pier, to which the ferry moored. The crush began. The footbridge could not withstand the weight of the crowd and collapsed into the river. Those who fell into the water were immediately carried away by the current. 43 people died, mostly women and children.
■ Before the construction of the Bratsk HPP, there were Kamennye Islands on the Angara River, known for their rocks and drawings of animals made by ancient people. The reservoir of the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Plant flooded the islands. But before the flooding, the most preserved drawings were cut down from the rocks. This work was carried out by master masons invited from Leningrad. They cut stone blocks out of the rocks and delivered them to the Irkutsk Art Museum. Some of these artifacts are kept in the St. Petersburg Hermitage.
■ In the Angara basin - only within the borders of the Irkutsk region - 38,195 rivers flow with a total length of 162,603 ​​km, which is four times the circumference of the Earth at the equator.
■ Despite the vigorous industrial development of the Angara region, valuable fish species have survived in the river: sterlet, sturgeon, grayling, nelma, dace, taimen, burbot.

■ In 1891, the first pontoon bridge was built across the river, when Tsarevich Nikolai was passing through Irkutsk. The pontoon bridge was single-lane, without the possibility of overtaking, and served for about 45 years.
■ In the past, pearls were mined on the Angara from river shells. This craft originated at the end of the 17th century, but quickly ended, as the shells almost all disappeared.
■ In the autumn period, the Angara is very typical of a slug drifter, or “ice porridge” (small particles of ice in running water), which forms ice jams - an accumulation of pieces of ice in the riverbed, leading to backwater (water level rise) and flooding of coastal sections of the river.

Angara(in the lower reaches it was first called the Upper Tunguska, and - Ankara-Muren) - a river in the Eastern Siberia region. It flows through the territory of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The largest and most abundant tributary of the Yenisei (there are theories that the Yenisei flows into the Angara). The Yenisei and Angara join 84 km upstream from Yeniseisk. The only river flowing from the lake. It flows through the southern part of the Central Siberian Plateau. The length is 1853 km, the area is 468,000 km 2, and with the basin - 1,040,000 km 2.

origin of name

The hydronym "Angara" comes from the Evenk and Buryat root base anga - "mouth of an animal, mouth", in a figurative sense - "gorge, cleft, ravine" (on the association of the source of the Angara, resembling an open mouth that absorbs water). From the Crimean Tatar “pass behind the gorge”, Angarsky pass, height 752 m above sea level. In Evenki, o:ngan is “a small pine tree growing on the floodplain” (plural o:ngar) - a word with this meaning could well be mistaken for the name of a river, and o:nga:n “an inner corner of something”. The plural of the noun o:nga:n looks like o:nga:r. Finally, it is possible that the name of the Angara River comes from the Tungus, actually the Even word onga:r - “deer hoard, a place where deer mined moss”, that is, a winter moss reindeer pasture.

Also, according to another version, the hydronym Angara is associated with the Greek era. Angara is a Greek word. Anarreo - I flow, I flow from above, I flow back. Angara - a monosyllabic hydronym, passed into Russian with variable vowels: anar - hangar. The final "a" - Angara - is the Russian ending of feminine nouns with a base on "a", a sign of feminine words. But another interpretation is also possible. Angara is a two-syllable hydronym. The first component "ana-anga" is Greek, and the second component is "ra" - substrate, taken from some unknown language as a result of the assimilation of the population and the change of one language by another.

Another hydronym could come from Mong. hangar "slit, crack cleft. The possibility of communication with the Turks. Angara is a wide valley that has not been sufficiently explored... The Evenki call the Angara Yanedzi (compare the Yenisei), considering it the main one, and the Yenisei, above their confluence, is its tributary.

Finally, in the new electronic directory there is one more discrepancy that is directly related to the interpretation of the hydronym Angara. In it, next to the article "Angara" there is such an article: "Angaraba, a tributary of the river. Kan. Samoyedic ba - "water"; the Angara-ba river means "the Angara river". Consequently, the Samoyeds only added their term ba - "river" to the well-known name of the Angara.

Initially, the lower course of the river from the confluence of the Ilim tributary bore the name Upper Tunguska among Russian explorers. The Yenisei Cossacks believed that the Upper Tunguska and the Angara were two different rivers. Cossack and pioneer Pantelei Pyanda, returning from a three-year expedition in 1623, during which he became the first Russian to reach the Lena River, discovered that the Upper Tunguska and Angara are one and the same river.

Angara within Irkutsk

The advance to Baikal continues with the construction at the mouth of the Irkut in 1652 by I. Pokhabov, in 1661 -, in 1654 by O. Firsov - th prison, in 1669 - Usolsky winter quarters and Idinsky prison. On the Uda, the Udinsky prison was founded (1648), on the Belaya - the Velsky prison (second half of the 17th century). Thus, in the 50s of the XVII century. the entire line of the Angara was occupied by Russian prisons and settlements. The territory of the Angara basin forever became part of Russia. The accession of Siberia to European civilization was, perhaps, no less important for the knowledge of the globe than the discovery of America or the sea route to India. The information of Siberian explorers about open lands enriched science, including the science of rivers. Their notes provided characteristics of navigation conditions, descriptions of river banks and fish resources.

The materials collected by explorers served as the basis for compiling the first descriptions and maps of the Angara region, which appeared already in the second half of the 17th century. The first "Drawing painting" of the waterway along the Angara, indicating the main tributaries and rapids, was made by P. Golovin. Then, in 1667, the Angara was depicted on the "Drawing of All Siberia" compiled by P. Godunov, and in 1698 - on the completed "Drawing of All Siberia" and in the "Drawing Book" - the first Siberian geographical atlas. The scientific study of the Angara began in the first half of the 18th century. Surveyor P. Chichagov in 1725 - 1730, made the first instrumental survey of the Angara.

The first scientific description of the river was given by the government expedition of D. Messerschmidt, who worked in Siberia during 1720-1727. Of great importance for the study of the Angara were the studies of I. Gmelin, S. Krasheninnikov, G. Miller. At the end of the XVIII century. the description of the Baikal region made by Academician P. Pallas was published. However, a detailed study of the Angara and its basin began only in the middle of the 19th century, when the expedition of A. Middendorf came to the Angara region, which compiled his most valuable general geographical essay. The foundations of the geological study of the Angara basin were laid by I. Chersky, A. Chekanovsky, P. Yavorsky, V. Obruchev.

Special descriptions of rivers - the so-called hydrographic works - in the late XIX - early XX centuries. were concentrated mainly in the department of communications, since the rivers were important, first of all, as transport routes. In 1887-1889. The survey team of M. Cherntsov produced the first complete hydrographic description of the Angara. The result of these works was the "Atlas of the Angara River" - a fundamental work that has not lost its scientific significance even now.

The surveys made made it possible to accurately place the Angara and its main tributaries on geographical maps, which were refined only in the 40s - 50s of the 20th century. as a result of aerial photography. At the beginning of the XX century. special regular hydrological observations of water levels, runoff, water temperature, etc. began to be carried out on the Angara. The very first such observations of the river level began in Irkutsk in 1886. During the first half of this century, the Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk hydrometeorological departments organized systematic observations on most large and medium rivers of the Angara basin. The first attempt to develop a scheme for the use of the Angara's hydropower resources was made by A. Velner in 1920 in the work carried out on the instructions of the GOELRO.

Soviet period

Since 1930, systematic exploration and research work began to study the hydropower resources of the Angara, which were carried out by the East Siberian and Moscow branches of the Hydroproject under the leadership of I. Aleksandrov, V. Malyshev, N. Kolosovsky. In the post-war years, work in this direction intensified, and in 1953 a scheme was drawn up for the use of the Angara's hydropower resources, including six hydroelectric power stations from Baikal to the Yenisei. In recent decades, research on the water resources of the Angara basin, their use and protection have become particularly large-scale. Numerous water surveys and design work are carried out in connection with the construction of industrial enterprises and reclamation systems.

The network of hydrological, hydrochemical and hydrobiological observations of the State Committee for Hydrometeorology is being developed. Control over the sources of discharges into water bodies is carried out by the Irkutsk Regional and Krasnoyarsk Regional Committees for the Protection of the Environment and Natural Resources. Information on the use of water resources is collected and systematized by the Angaro-Baikal and Yenisei water management departments. Scientific research is becoming more and more diversified. Of particular relevance is the deepening of knowledge about the natural regimes of watercourses and reservoirs of the Angara basin, the prediction of their ecological state, and the determination of optimal measures for their conservation and restoration. Important fundamental and applied work in these areas is carried out by the institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences: the Irkutsk Scientific Center (Geography, Limnological, Earth's Crust, Siberian Energy, Geochemistry) and the Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center (Biophysics, Forestry and Wood).

Of great importance are scientific studies of the waters of the Angara region, carried out by departments of the Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk universities (Research Institute of Biology, Computing Centers, geographical and biological departments), a number of other universities, departmental institutes. Simultaneously with the study of the rivers of the Angara basin, they were developed. During the first centuries after the annexation of Eastern Siberia to Russia, the main function of the Angara remained water transport: despite the dangerous roads and shivers, all communication with Western Siberia was carried out through the Angara until the laying of the overland Moscow highway.

The journey through the Angara rapids was long and difficult: under the most favorable circumstances, the journey down the river from Irkutsk to Yeniseisk took 15 days, but often ships stood in front of the rapids for weeks, waiting for high water. Often they crashed on terrible rapids in the middle reaches of the river. And yet, during the navigation along the Angara, up to 250 ships passed down. The path against the current was even more difficult, since the ships were pulled along the entire length of the river with a tow line, and at the rapids they were raised with a collar. In the middle and lower reaches of the river, you can still see the old dirt roads, which the locals call towpaths.

Ecological situation

The concentration of industry in a relatively small area, mainly on the banks of the Angara, leads to the emergence of socio-economic problems, among which the deterioration in the quality of natural waters due to the discharge of polluted wastewater is of primary importance. In terms of the volume of such waters, the Angara basin is second only to the Volga; only 2-3% of the effluents that have passed through the treatment plant can be considered standard treated. The region has a low share of recycled and recycled water supply; in many cities, treatment facilities are overloaded, they work inefficiently, the construction of new ones has almost stopped, although their shortage in a number of settlements is very noticeable. As a result, the pollution of the river and reservoirs by many chemical and bacteriological ingredients (petroleum products, phenols, organic substances, heavy metals, asphaltenes, etc.) is very high; Contaminant concentrations in water, bottom sediments, and fish often exceed tens or even hundreds of MPCs. Below Irkutsk, the river and reservoirs in various areas are rated from moderately polluted to very dirty in terms of water quality.

Bridges

In 1891, the first pontoon bridge was built across the Angara. The opening of the bridge coincided with the passage of Tsarevich Nicholas through Irkutsk. The pontoon bridge lasted approximately 45 years. Movement on it in each direction was carried out in one thread and did not allow overtaking [.

In 1931-1936, the first bridge across the Angara was built, which connected the central and left-bank parts of Irkutsk. In the Soviet period, this bridge was considered a monument to V.I. Lenin, as indicated by the corresponding memorial marble slab. In 2011, it received the official name Glazkovsky Bridge.

In 1972, a second bridge was built across the Angara, connecting the right and left banks. At the time of commissioning, rails passed along it, which were dismantled in 2000.

In 1978, the third bridge across the Angara was commissioned, connecting the right bank in the Padi Topka alignment and the left bank in the Zhilkino area on the outskirts of Irkutsk. In 2011, this bridge received the official name Innokentievskiy Bridge.

In 1999, the construction of a new bridge across the Angara began (the decree on its construction was signed back in 1995). In October 2007, traffic was opened on the new bridge in Irkutsk in one direction, and in December 2009 - in both directions. In 2011, the bridge received the official name Akademichesky.

On September 30, 2011, a new bridge over the Angara was opened in the Boguchany district on the Boguchany-Yurubchen-Baikit highway.

Angara in art

  1. There is a Siberian legend that romantically describes the flight of the Angara from the father of Baikal to the Yenisei. According to this legend, the Shaman-stone, which is located in the middle of the source of the Angara near the village of Listvyanka (should not be confused with the Shaman-stone on the Angara with the Shamanka rock on the island), was thrown by father Baikal to stop his naughty daughter.
  2. During the construction of dams, significant areas were flooded - this is the subject of Valentin Rasputin's novel Farewell to Matyora.
  3. The Angara River is a character in the tales of the "Baikal storyteller" Vasily Panteleimonovich Starodumov.
  4. The action of Alexei Arbuzov's play "Irkutsk History" takes place on the banks of the Angara.
  5. Poem by Evgeny Yevtushenko "Bratskaya Hydroelectric Power Station", about the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Angara River in the city of.
  6. V. Rasputin. The story "Live and remember"
  7. A. Pakhmutova The song "Girls dance on the deck"

The Angara is one of the largest rivers in Eastern Siberia. It flows in the Irkutsk region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the right tributary of the Yenisei. In historical sources, Angara was first mentioned in the 13th century under the name Ankara-Muren. The name "Angara" comes from the Mongolian word "anga" - mouth, gorge. According to scientists, the Angara at the source resembles a mouth, an open mouth, greedily and continuously absorbing the waters of Baikal.

River flow

Length 1779 km(before the creation of the Irkutsk and Bratsk reservoirs - 1826 km). The area of ​​the basin is 1039 thousand sq. km 2, including Azerbaijan proper (excluding the Baikal basin) 468,000. km 2. It flows out of Lake Baikal, the stream of which is 1.1 km wide and up to 1.9 m deep. The average water flow at the source is 1920 cubic meters. m / s, or about 61 cubic meters. km per year. The river flows north, then west. In the upper reaches, as a result of the construction of the Irkutsk and Bratsk hydroelectric power stations, it was mainly turned into reservoirs, which forms over 56 km headwaters of the Irkutsk HPP and 524 km the main part of the Bratsk reservoir. From Bratsk to the confluence of the river. Irkineeva (265 km) A. flows in the area of ​​\u200b\u200btrapps, the valley is bead-shaped, with a width of 0.8-1.5 km to 3-5 km.. In the mouth section, crossing the Yenisei Ridge, it forms the Strelkovskiy threshold; valley width up to 3-5 km near the city of Motygino, it increases to 10 km. It flows into the Yenisei 83 km upstream of the city of Yeniseisk.

The main tributaries of the river: on the right - Ilim, Chadobets, Irkineeva; on the left - Irkut, Kitoy, Belaya, Oka, Iya, Taseeva.

Ice regime of the Angara

Before the construction of the Irkutsk hydroelectric power station, the level regime of the Angara was very peculiar. In summer, due to heavy rains, and in winter, due to the accumulation of bottom ice and sludge in the narrow places of the channel, the height of the water rise reached 9 m. In connection with the creation of the Irkutsk and Bratsk reservoirs, the level regime of the Angara has changed. The levels increased during the off-season and decreased during the flood due to the distribution of water over a large area. A distinctive feature of the Angara is that it is located in relatively harsh climatic conditions, but freeze-up on it occurs later than on other rivers of Siberia and even the European part of Russia. This is explained by the rapid flow and the inflow of relatively warm deep waters from Baikal. The beginning of freeze-up in the lower reaches at the end of October - the 1st half of November, on the Bratsk reservoir in November - December. At the source of the river, on the rapids and downstream of the HPP for dozens of km polynyas. It opens in the 1st half of May; there is no spring flood on the river above the Ilim.

After the construction of the Irkutsk, Bratsk and Ust-Ilimsk HPPs, the Angara does not freeze below these HPPs, since the waters in the reservoirs warmed up over the summer do not have time to cool in these areas, and the warm waters from the HES do their job. The source of the river also does not freeze, the relatively warm under-ice water of Baikal (water masses are drawn into the Angara from Baikal not from its surface, but from a certain depth, where the water temperature is above 0 ° C) and a fast current make the source ice-free even in the most severe winters . Waterfowl come here for the winter. This is the only permanent wintering ground in northern Asia. Among the birds wintering here, black-and-white goldeneyes, long-nosed and common mergansers, long-tailed ducks predominate. On wintering birds appear in November. By the beginning of December, 1200 - 1500 ducks gather at the source of the Angara River, by the end of the month - at least 2000.
Since 1956, after the formation of the reservoir of the Irkutsk hydroelectric power station, the size of the polynya has decreased from 10 - 15 to 3 - 4 km. Due to a sharp reduction in the size of the polynya and an increase in its depth, the number of wintering birds decreased from ten thousand to 2 - 3.5 thousand.
The shallow source provides food for ducks in winter. Every evening they fly away for the night to the Baikal hummocks, and during the day they swim in the polynya.

Energy potential of the river, HPP cascades

The high degree of water content of the Angara during the year, the constancy of flow, a large drop give grounds to evaluate it as a river with huge reserves of hydropower resources. On the Angara, it is possible to build a cascade of hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 15 million kW, which can produce 90 billion kWh of electricity, that is, as much as the Volga, Kama, Dnieper and Don combined can provide. Irkutsk, Bratsk, Ust-Ilimsk hydroelectric power stations were built on the Angara. As a result, the Angara turned into a chain of reservoirs and a deep lake-river highway. Average annual consumption at the Irkutsk HPP 1700 m 3 / sec, at the Bratskaya HPP 2900 m 3 / sec, near the mouth 4500 m 3 / sec.
The creation of a cascade of hydroelectric power stations and reservoirs introduced fundamental changes in the hydrobiological regime of the Angara, greatly hindered the natural connection of the river with Baikal, and led to a significant transformation of the species composition of flora and fauna. The largest left-sided tributaries of the Angara are the Irkut, Kitoy, Belaya, Oka, Uda, Biryusa; small right-sided tributaries - Ushakovka, Kuda, Ida, Osa, Uda, Ilim. Regular shipping is possible from Irkutsk to Lake Baikal and to the Bratsk hydroelectric station. Main piers: Irkutsk, Angarsk, Balagansk, Bratsk.

Facts about the Angara River

The maximum width of the river is about 1.4 km. The maximum depth is 5-7 m.
The speed of the river flow along the fairway is from 4 to 8 km/h (1-2 m/s). With a high level of Baikal, the speed is greater.
The drop of the river from the source to the mouth is 380 m.
From Baikal, the Angara takes out about 60 km³ per year, and already about 120 km³ per year is discharged into the Yenisei.
The speed of the Angara current varies within 1.0-2.5 m/s.

Baikal is the deepest lake surrounded by high mountains. Many rivers flow into it, but only one flows out. She is called the daughter of Baikal. It is beautiful and full-flowing and, moreover, very swift.

General description of the Baikal rivers

The food pool has many water streams. These are the rivers flowing from Baikal and flowing into it. There are 544 temporary and permanent tributaries. The rivers were counted on maps in 1964. Before that, it was believed that there were 336 of them. Moreover, most of them flow from the eastern shores.

The rivers carry 60 cubic kilometers of water to Baikal. It has low mineralization, as the area around the lake is composed of metamorphic and volcanic rocks. The total area of ​​the drainage basin is about 540 thousand square kilometers. The largest inflowing and flowing rivers of Baikal: Angara, Selenga, Upper Angara, Barguzin. They are located like this, starting with the most important.

Main tributaries of Baikal

Most of the waters - almost half of Baikal - comes from its source located in Mongolia.

The Upper Angara flows into Baikal from the northeast. It flows down from the Severo-Muisky and Delyun-Uransky ridges.

Barguzin is another large river flowing into Baikal. In full-flowing water, it loses to the Upper Angara. It carries its waters from the Barguzinsky ridge. The height that this river loses when it reaches the majestic lake is 1344 meters.

The rivers flowing down from the Khamar-Daban ridge are numerous. This mountain range is heavily dissected by valleys. These are such rivers as Snezhnaya, Langutai, Selenginka, Utulik, Khara-Murin. These water streams have many rapids and waterfalls.

All these are tributaries of a huge lake, but are there any rivers flowing from Baikal? The water stream originating from this miracle of nature is one and only. Which river flows out of Baikal can be seen on the map of this region. This is Angara.

Toponymy of Baikal and its rivers

The name Baikal (according to one of the versions) is translated from Turkic as "rich lake". Another option, from Mongolian, is "big lake". Different translations of the names have inflowing and flowing rivers. Angara originates from Baikal, and its name means “open” (from the Buryat word “angagar”). Barguzin (and with it the ridge, village, bay of the same name) is formed from the name of a tribe living in the Baikal region. They are called Barguts, and their language is similar to Buryat. Selenga from Evenki means "iron". And from Buryat it can have such a translation: "lake", "overflow". Shaman threshold - the base of the Primorsky ridge, washed out by the Angara. The resulting ledge is revered by the local population. It has acquired the status of a protected natural monument.

Angara and the rivers flowing into it

The Angara has a powerful stream, like other large Siberian rivers. Its waters flowing from Baikal rush mainly in the northern and western directions. On its way, it overcomes further flows through the territory of the Baikal region and ends its run at the confluence with the Yenisei. Its length is 1779 kilometers. The Angara owes its powerful flow to Baikal. Its width is more than a kilometer. The only river flowing from Baikal, in turn, feeds the Yenisei, the largest water artery of Siberia, from the right side. The basin of this river includes 38 thousand small and large tributaries. In addition, there are more than six lakes in this area. The tributaries of the Angara on the left side are larger: Irkut, Kitoy, Belaya, Biryusa, Oka, Uda. On the right side, the flowing rivers are not so full-flowing: Ilim, Ushovka, Uda, Kuda, Ida, Osa.

The course of this river passes through an area characterized by harsh climatic conditions. However, ice is established on it later than on other large water streams in Siberia. This is due to the fact that there is a very strong current. In addition, Baikal waters enter the Angara, the temperature of which is warmer. At the source, steam even rises above the river. It forms frost on trees. Every year black-and-white goldeneyes, long-tailed ducks, and mergansers come here for the winter. Also in winter, up to two thousand ducks gather on the Angara.

Economic use of the river

The cities of Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk, Ust-Ilimsk arose on the banks of the Angara. The only river flowing out of Baikal has a very powerful flow. Therefore, hydropower plays an important role in the economy of this region. Three Irkutsk and Ust-Ilimsk were built on the Angara. Reservoirs with corresponding names have been built here. Together they form the Angara cascade. The fourth HPP - Boguchanskaya - is under construction.

Prior to the creation of these power plants and reservoirs, the river was not navigable, since its course is very fast, and many rapids created a danger to pass. This was a very serious problem in the economic development of this region. Now river transportation has become more accessible, but only in four sections of the river. As a result of human activities, the water in the Angara has become calmer.

Legend of the Angara

There is a legend that tells which river flows out of Baikal and why. It says that the hero Baikal lived in these parts. He had 336 sons and only one daughter, Angara. The hero forced his children to work day and night. They melted snow and ice, and drove the water into a deep depression surrounded by mountains. But the results of their hard work were wasted by the daughter on different outfits and other whims. One day Angara found out that somewhere behind the mountains lives the handsome Yenisei. She fell in love with him.

But the stern father wanted her to marry the old man Irkut. To prevent her from escaping, he hid her in a palace at the bottom of a lake. Angara grieved for a long time, but the gods took pity on her and released her from the dungeon. Baikal's daughter broke free and ran quickly, quickly. And the old Baikal could not catch up with it. Out of anger and annoyance, he threw a stone in her direction. But he missed, and the block fell into the place where the Shaman stone is now located. He continued to throw stones at his fleeing daughter, but each time Angara managed to dodge. When she ran to her fiancé Yenisei, they hugged and together went north to the sea.

The Angara is one of the great Siberian rivers, and yet it is unique. This is the only river flowing from Lake Baikal. It provides electricity to the entire Irkutsk region and neighboring territories.