The Akhtuba (russian: А́хтуба); also transliterated ''Achtuba'' on some maps) is a left

distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...

of the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the List of rivers of Europe#Rivers of Europe by length, longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Cas ...

in southern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The Akhtuba splits off the Volga above the city

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

(at ), and flows toward the

Volga Delta The Volga Delta is the largest river delta in Europe, and occurs where Europe's largest river system, the Volga River, drains into the Caspian Sea in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast, north-east of the republic of Kalmykia. The delta is located in the ...

and

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. The old beginning of Akhtuba was blocked by the dam of the

Volga Hydroelectric Station The Volga Hydroelectric Station or Volga GES (russian: Волжская ГЭС) also known as the 22nd Congress of the CPSU Stalingrad/Volgograd Hydroelectric Power Station (russian: Сталинградская/Волгоградская ГЭ� ...

; now it flows from the Volga via an artificial outtake canal long that starts below the dam. The river is long; the average water flow is . The following cities lie on or near the Akhtuba: Volzhsky (at the beginning of the river), Leninsk,

Znamensk Znamensk (russian: Знаменск) is the name of several types of inhabited localities in Russia, inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Znamensk, Astrakhan Oblast, a closed city, closed town in Astrakhan Oblast ;Rural localities * ...

Akhtubinsk Akhtubinsk (russian: Ахту́бинск; kk, Ақтөбе, ''Aqtóbe'') is a town and the administrative center of Akhtubinsky District in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Akhtuba River (a tributary of the Volga), nort ...

Kharabali Kharabali (russian: Харабали́; kk, Қарабайлы, ''Qarabaıly'') is a town and the administrative center of Kharabalinsky District in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Akhtuba River (an arm of the Volga) no ...

(within 5 kilometres of the river). The capital of the

Golden Horde The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongols, Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fr ...

, Sarai Batu, was most likely located along the Akhtuba as well, not far from Kharabali. The area between the Volga and the Akhtuba is known as the Volga-Akhtuba plain, which is one of

's primary vegetable growing areas. It is particularly well known as a major source of

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...

s consumed in Russia.

References

Distributaries of Europe Rivers of Astrakhan Oblast Rivers of Volgograd Oblast 0Akhtuba {{Russia-river-stub