The Volga is really of great importance for Russia. The Volga for Russia is not an easy river, not an easy water, not an easy waterway. The Volga is a historical path, where the past and the present of the Russian people and all large and small peoples inhabiting the Volga shores converge, where the old and the new, the great and the eternal, are woven together. The Volga is an exceptional natural phenomenon that brought together different geographic areas: forest Non-Black Earth Region, steppe Saratov Trans-Volga Region, semi-deserts. The Volga is a unique economic potential that has incorporated factories and factories, hydroelectric power stations, old and new cities, a first-class river fleet, a generous grain field. But the Volga is not only the center of economic power and the basis of independence in the past, it has been the breadwinner of the country from time immemorial. The history of the Volga and the Volga region is a history of formation The Russian state... The Volga is the source of our statehood and culture. She is a symbol of the spirit, a symbol of the Russian state, a symbol of the nation
Questions and tasks
1. How and why have changed natural features and the economic use of the Volga after the creation of the Volga cascade?
A cascade of 11 HPPs with a total capacity of 13.5 million kW (35% of the capacity of all Russian HPPs) has been built on the Volga and Kama rivers. The largest reservoirs arose - real man-made seas. Thanks to them, it was possible to end spills and floods and make the river navigable almost throughout. In addition, the reservoirs have allowed many drylands to be irrigated and a shift towards weather-independent crops.
2. Give reasons supporting the role of the Volga in economic life population.
The huge basin of the Volga River (1360 thousand sq. Km) makes up an insignificant part - only about 8% - of the territory of Russia. At the same time, over 42% of the total population of the country lives here. More than 20% of the country's industrial and agricultural products are produced here.
3. What role did the Volga play in the history of Russia?
The history of the Volga and the Volga region is the history of the formation of the Russian state. The Volga has long been a place of attraction for the population. The river is an important transport artery. The Volga River in the minds of every Russian is a symbol of Russia, an integral part of it the richest history and a distinctive culture. Every Russian knows the Volga from songs about Stepan Razin, from Repin's "Barge Haulers on the Volga" or Levitan's "Volga near Ples". We also remember the heroic battle on the Volga during the Great Patriotic War.
4. The US considers the Mississippi with its tributaries to be an analogue of the Volga. Compare these two rivers. What are their similarities and differences?
In terms of its role in the life of the American people, the Mississippi is as important as the Volga is for the Russian people. No wonder the Indians who once lived on its shores called the Mississippi the father of waters.
5. Suggest your own special tourist route along the Volga, defining the purpose of the trip.
The Volga occupies a special place in the field of tourism. In particular, such areas as fishing, diving and cruises are developed. More and more popular, the so-called rest at (distant dachas) - land by the river, prepared for the construction of estates for recreation on the river. One of the options is a cruise along the Volga "Saratov - Samara - Ulyanovsk - Kazan".
Saratov - sightseeing tour with a visit to individual objects (A.N. Radishchev Museum, Holy Trinity Cathedral, Temple Soothe my sorrows)
Samara - Samara Embankment, like the stands near the Mausoleum in Moscow, is made of granite, prepared by Hitler for the Palace of Nations. There are cafes and fountains on the Embankment. Nearby are the beaches. And the picturesque view of the Zhiguli will not leave anyone indifferent. Not far from the Embankment is the old Strukovsky Park. Many tourists will be interested in the Stalin's Bunker, built in 1942, in a secret setting. The bunker, located at a depth of 37 m, has become a museum, which displays an exhibition about the Great Patriotic War (For reference: the depth of the Hitlerite bunker in Berlin is 16 m). An unusual monument in Samara - Raketa. This is a real launch vehicle made for the Plesetsk test site for training a combat crew. The total height of the rocket together with the frame metal building is 68 meters, the weight is 20 tons, and the weight of the supporting structure is 53 tons.
Ulyanovsk - From interesting places of the city we will mark the embankment of the Volga river in the Leninsky district. It is located at an altitude of 350 m above the river, and a stunning panorama of the Volga opens from it. Aleksandrovsky Park is just the place where you can not only relax, but also have something to see. The park area is 15 hectares and will include a beach with a water park, many fountains and sculptures, playgrounds, cafes and restaurants, 4 parking lots and even a hotel. There are quite a few monuments in Ulyanovsk. Two of them especially attract the attention of tourists - a monument to the letter "Yo" on the embankment, and a monument to a student freebie in the image of a woman with wings near Ulyanovsk State University.
Kazan - pedestrianized street Bauman, the Palace of Farmers, the Kremlin Kazan, the embankment "Kremlin", the Temple of all religions.
In the section on the question, assess the role of the Volga River in the life of the population. given by the author ~ zaichisha ~ =) I will try the best answer in my own words, as a resident of one of the cities located somewhere in the middle of the Volga. since ancient times, people built cities near the rivers. the river is both drinking water and the presence of fish and a transport artery. everything connected with the Volga until 1991 is characterized by the growth and development of cities. there was an active trade between cities, fish was caught, the Volga really played an important role in people's lives. The Volga United River Shipping Company was one of the largest transport organizations in the country. water passenger traffic was established between the cities, the volume of transported goods was enormous. he loved to watch as a child how ships in a continuous stream went along the river. now the importance of the river has greatly diminished. boats on the river are rare. The VORP collapsed into dozens of small shipping companies. passenger transportation is no longer in such volumes. life on the Volga is probably in full swing in the lower reaches. a cruise on a motor ship on the Volga will cost a round sum. I stopped swimming in the Volga long ago. the only thing that man fully uses is hydroelectric power plants. something like this. I hope that everything will change in the near future.
Answer from ensile[guru]
axial transport and migration artery for central Russia.
Answer from Stretch[guru]
For more than 3,500 kilometers, the Volga flows among the vast Russian Plain.
Its catchment area stretches over 136 million hectares. This great basin is home to 60 million people and provides a quarter of agricultural and industrial products and more than 20% of fish caught in the rivers of the country.
More than 70% of cargo transported by river transport is transferred along the Volga and its tributaries. The famous Russian river brings the Caspian an average of 240 cubic meters per year. meters of water, which is collected for her 150 thousand rivers, streams and springs.
The Volga basin river ports, the main water transport centers, organizing the transportation of goods and passengers along the river. Volga and its tributaries, linking industrial areas Volga region, Center, Prikamye and Ural with riverside points of the basin. With the creation of a unified deep-water transport system and the completion of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic and Volga-Don shipping canal named after V.I. V.I. Lenin, Volga-Baltic waterway named after V.I. V. I. Lenin of the Volga basin, river ports are connected with all seas of the European part of the country: White, Baltic, Azov, Black and Caspian.
Up the Volga they deliver oil, oil products, salt, gravel, coal, bread, cement, metal, vegetables, fish, etc. Down the Volga - timber (on ships and in rafts), lumber, mineral construction materials, industrial materials. Down the Kama - coal, timber, lumber, pyrite, metals, chemical cargo, mineral construction materials, oil, petroleum products. Up - salt, vegetables, industrial and food products.
I would not undertake to categorically assert that the mass resettlement of people took place only along the banks of the Volga. On the contrary, more settlements were based on the tributaries of this river. And the oldest of them was Malykovka, which is located on a tributary of the Bolshoi Irgiz.
The history of the settlement of the Volga region and the role of the Volga
Modern population the area was formed as a result of its constant colonization. The indigenous peoples of the Volga region are:
- Mordovians;
- Chuvash;
- Mari.
At the beginning of the 5th century and further this territory was inhabited by Bulgars, Slovenes, Tatars, Mongols, Nogais. Naturally, the main reason for the creation of settlements on the banks of the Volga was the convenience of agriculture and the proximity of the river for fishing. In addition, the river was an excellent transport artery. Since the 15th century, the conquest of the Volga region has become a priority for the Russian state. But here one more goal was pursued additionally: fortresses were created on the Volga, which bore the functions of protection at the natural boundary. These walled cities include:
The first period of mass settlement of the Volga region by migrants fell on the reign of Catherine II, when she allowed German colonists to settle there. The second one took place in the 30s - it was "raising the virgin soil".
The modern influence of the Volga
Today the Volga region is the most densely populated region of the Russian Federation. The population density is 32 people. for 1 sq. km. The Volga River can provide jobs for the Volga population in the following industries:
- transport and passenger shipping;
- hydropower facilities (Volzhsko-Kamsky HPP cascade);
- agriculture of all levels: from large to farm.
In particular, many hydroelectric power plants were built on the Volga tributaries, and any hydroelectric power station needs a huge number of maintenance personnel. And so it happened that the supply stations became the city-forming enterprises of the Volga region.
The urbanization level of 73% in the Volga region indicates the concentration of the population in cities and industrial centers... The population growth in the region continues steadily, but is of a mechanical nature, that is, it is replenished by migrants.
The Volga River in the minds of every Russian is a symbol of Russia, an integral part of its rich history and distinctive culture. Every Russian knows the Volga from songs about Stepan Razin, from Repin's "Barge Haulers on the Volga" or Levitan's "Volga near Ples".
We also remember the heroic battle on the Volga during the Great Patriotic War. It is difficult to overestimate the role that the Volga has played and is playing in the life of Russia.
What landscapes can be observed while traveling along the Volga?
Flowing through almost the entire territory of the Russian Plain, the Volga crosses almost all natural areas European part of Russia. Lake Seliger with its numerous (about 160) islands is located not far from the sources of the Volga (near the village of Volgoverkhovye, on the Valdai Upland). From here the Volga makes its way among the marshes overgrown with cranberries and cloudberries, among dense alder and mossy spruce forests. It is rather narrow, rapids and fast - the fall of the river by 1 km reaches almost 3 m, as if trying to escape from this edge of swamps and dense forests as soon as possible. From the Rybinsk Reservoir, the Volga leads its way to the southeast. Forests (southern taiga and mixed forests) along the banks of the Volga are already very thinned, interspersed with fields and large tracts of meadows. This section of the road is a tourist area. People are attracted here not only by the nature of the region, but also by the old Russian cities - Uglich, Yaroslavl, Kostroma. Volga near Kostroma - places of grandfather Mazay and Nekrasov hunting
Rice. 60. Volga near Ples
On the segment between the millionaire cities - Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan - the Volga flows in a latitudinal direction from west to east at almost the same latitude as our capital, Moscow.
From Kazan, the Volga turns south and crosses the forest-steppe zone to the Zhiguli. At the Zhiguli, bending around them, it makes a steep loop, named Samarskaya Luka after the millionaire city located on its bank.
Rice. 61. Monument to the defenders of Stalingrad
The Zhiguli mountains, like other steep slopes of the right bank, are inseparable from the portrait of the Volga itself. They make it possible to feel the breathtaking picture of the Volga expanse.
To the south of Volgograd there is a semi-desert with patches of fields. Against this gloomy background, the Volga-Akhtubinskaya valley with lush floodplain meadows and impenetrable forests on fertile floodplain soils stands out as a fabulous oasis. This is a real granary of the Lower Volga region, its huge natural garden.
The place where the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea is absolutely unique - its delta, stretching over an area of almost 12 thousand km 2, where one of the first reserves in Russia, Astrakhan, was created.
How did the Volga become the pivot of a single waterway?
The Volga was once a typical Eastern European river of mixed feeding, with prolonged freeze-up, stormy floods and a summer decline in water. In former times, in the years with snowy winters and warm, friendly spring, a huge amount of water entered the Volga channel. The rise in water level in some high-water years reached 14-17 m.
Rice. 62. Transport Volga
Floods were common in coastal cities and villages. In summer, on the contrary, the Volga became very shallow. For example, in the well-known guidebook of the early XX century. it said: "From Rybinsk to Tver, shipping has completely ceased ... In some places ... our mother the Volga was forded ..."
Now the river (below Tver) looks completely different. A cascade of 11 HPPs with a total capacity of 13.5 million kW (35% of the capacity of all Russian HPPs) has been built on the Volga and Kama rivers. The largest reservoirs arose - real man-made seas. Thanks to them, it was possible to end spills and floods and make the river navigable almost throughout. In addition, the reservoirs have allowed many drylands to be irrigated and a shift towards weather-independent crops. In 1948-1952. The Volga was connected to the Don. The Volga got access to the open southern seas.
Rice. 63. Hydroelectric power station on the Volga
The Volga was connected to the northern seas much earlier. V early XVIII v. the Vyshnevolotsk water system was created - the waterway from the Volga to Baltic Sea... In 1810, the construction of the Mariinsky system was completed - a waterway with 39 wooden sluices, connecting the basins of the Volga and Neva rivers. In the 1950s-1960s. on the site of the obsolete Mariinsky, the Volga-Baltic waterway, about 1,100 km long, was created.
Thus, the Volga, connected by close ties with its tributaries and other rivers, became the axis of the United deep-water system of the European part of Russia. The dream of Peter the Great came true to stretch waterways across the country and connect the northern and southern seas with them.
Rice. 64. Volga: river delta (left), flooded bell tower in Kalyazin (right)
As human transformation activity great river reflected on the nature of the Volga region, on the life of the person himself?
Unfortunately, under the mirror-like surface of the reservoirs, huge areas of the most valuable floodplain fertile lands were flooded and irretrievably lost. In addition, 2,500 villages and villages, 96 cities and towns were flooded or moved, thousands of historical and cultural monuments were destroyed - our national treasure.
With the filling of reservoirs, there was also a rise groundwater in the vast territories of the Volga basin. Due to flooding, the Volga forests began to die. Due to the construction of dams and severe water pollution, the world's largest sturgeon herd has begun to decline.
And finally, the problem of pollution of the Volga water has now become one of the most acute problems of all of Russia, since the Volga flows through the vast territory of the most densely populated region of the country. From the middle of the XX century. as a result of discovery and then intensive development largest deposits The oil river for many decades was in the sphere of influence of a huge oil-producing and oil-refining region.
At many enterprises located in the Volga basin, filtration means and treatment facilities are either absent or completely unable to cope with wastewater treatment. As a result, the Volga annually deposits many thousands of tons of suspended solids, phenols, petroleum products, nitrates and other pollutants at the bottom of reservoirs and “discharges” into the Caspian Sea.
How to get out of this difficult situation? First of all, it is necessary to develop and adopt strict environmental legislation regulating the consumption and use of the Volga water. We urgently need to build the necessary treatment facilities or modernize the existing ones. And most importantly, we must remember that the Volga is our common property, an invaluable gift given away by nature itself, and taking care of it, about its condition should become the business of not one or several people, but all Russian citizens.
conclusions
The Great Russian River for many centuries has played an exceptional role in the history of the Russian state, its economy and culture. The modern Volga is in many ways a man-made river, put at the service of man. The Volga is bread and oil, fish and electricity, Largest cities and factories, historical monuments and unique landscapes.
Questions and tasks
- How and why did the natural features and economic use of the Volga change after the creation of the Volga cascade?
- Give arguments confirming the role of the Volga in the economic life of the population.
- What role did the Volga play in the history of Russia?
- The Mississippi with its tributaries is considered an analogue of the Volga in the United States. Compare these two rivers. What are their similarities and differences?
- Suggest your special tourist route along the Volga, defining the purpose of your trip.
I happened to see the Volga River only once, when I visited Samara. Compared to the river in my city, the Volga seemed to me like a whole sea. The river itself has long played a key role in people's lives, and its development began in the 9th century, when Rusichs began to settle en masse on its banks.
The economic significance of the Volga for humans
This river attracted people to its banks, favorable for agriculture, and also became the main source of fishing and shipping. The Volga acquired the status of a major water transport artery in the 13th century with the opening of the Volga trade route. And to this day it is considered the main navigable river in the country. Currently, its economic importance is confirmed by the following:
- the river is the axis of the deep-water river system of the European part of the Russian Federation;
- the rivers of the Volga-Kama basin are leading in the number of all river cargo and passenger traffic in the Russian Federation;
- 4 millionaire cities are located on its banks (Samara, N. Novgorod, Kazan and Volgograd);
- 11 hydroelectric power plants are installed on the river, which generate 35% of all energy in the country.
In terms of its importance, the Volga is often compared to the Mississippi in the United States.
Navigation on the Volga
This activity on the river is a priority. At one time, the river was lengthened by as much as 160 km due to the construction of many reservoirs. This raised the water level, which made the river more accessible for large barges. The same factor allowed high-speed passenger ships to operate on the river, which increased passenger traffic. Up the Volga they deliver:
- petroleum products;
- gravel;
- bread;
- metal;
- vegetables.
Down the same delivered:
- mineral construction cargo;
- lumber;
On the basis of the Volga, a single deep-water transport system, which included the Volgo-Balt and Belomorkanal canals, as well as the Volgo-Don, which expanded the transportation possibilities. Therefore, the cities on the Volga began to be called "ports of the five seas." Also, the river is a place of concentration of shipyards for river transport. V Nizhny Novgorod the largest university of river and water transport in Russia.
