The Don ( rus, Дон, p=don) is the fifth-longest river in Europe. Flowing from
Central Russia
Central Russia is, broadly, the various areas in European Russia.
Historically, the area of Central Russia varied based on the purpose for which it is being used. It may, for example, refer to European Russia (except the North Caucasus and ...
to the
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
in
Southern Russia
Southern Russia or the South of Russia (russian: Юг России, ''Yug Rossii'') is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Feder ...
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.
Its basin is between the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
basin to the west, the lower
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 ...
basin immediately to the east, and the
Oka
Oka or OKA may refer to:
Cars
* Oka (automobile), a small car designed by AvtoVAZ and produced by ZMA and SeAZ
* OKA 4wd, a large 4-wheel-drive vehicle made in Western Australia by OKA
Military
* 2B1 Oka, Soviet 420 mm self-propelled mor ...
basin (tributary of the Volga) to the north. Native to much of the basin were Slavic nomads.
The Don rises in the town of Novomoskovsk southeast of Tula (in turn south of
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
), and flows 1,870 kilometres to the
Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
. The river's upper half ribbles (meanders subtly) south; however, its lower half consists of a great eastern curve, including
Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...
, making its final stretch, an
estuary
An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...
Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
. Its main tributary is the
Seversky Donets
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...
, centred on the mid-eastern end of Ukraine, thus the other country in the overall basin. To the east of a series of three great ship locks and associated ponds is the Volga-Don Canal.
History
According to the
Kurgan hypothesis
The Kurgan hypothesis (also known as the Kurgan theory, Kurgan model, or steppe theory) is the most widely accepted proposal to identify the Proto-Indo-European homeland from which the Indo-European languages spread out throughout Europe and par ...
, the Volga-Don river region was the homeland of the
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans are a hypothetical prehistoric population of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the ancestor of the Indo-European languages according to linguistic reconstruction.
Knowledge of them comes chiefly from t ...
around 4000 BC. The Don river functioned as a fertile cradle of civilization where the Neolithic farmer culture of the Near East fused with the hunter-gatherer culture of Siberian groups, resulting in the nomadic pastoralism of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The east Slavic tribe of the Antes inhabited the Don and other areas of Southern and
Central Russia
Central Russia is, broadly, the various areas in European Russia.
Historically, the area of Central Russia varied based on the purpose for which it is being used. It may, for example, refer to European Russia (except the North Caucasus and ...
. The area around the Don was influenced by the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
because the river was important for traders from Byzantium.
In antiquity, the river was viewed as the border between Europe and Asia by some ancient Greek geographers. In the
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...
, it is mentioned as being part of the border, beginning with its easternmost point up to its mouth, between the allotments of the
sons of Noah
The Generations of Noah, also called the Table of Nations or Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis ), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known soci ...
, that of
Japheth
Japheth ( he, יֶפֶת ''Yép̄eṯ'', in pausa ''Yā́p̄eṯ''; el, Ἰάφεθ '; la, Iafeth, Iapheth, Iaphethus, Iapetus) is one of the three sons of Noah in the Book of Genesis, in which he plays a role in the story of Noah's drunk ...
to the north and that of
Shem
Shem (; he, שֵׁם ''Šēm''; ar, سَام, Sām) ''Sḗm''; Ge'ez: ሴም, ''Sēm'' was one of the sons of Noah in the book of Genesis and in the book of Chronicles, and the Quran.
The children of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, L ...
to the south. During the times of the old
Scythia
Scythia (Scythian: ; Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) or Scythica (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ), also known as Pontic Scythia, was a kingdom created by the Scythians during the 6th to 3rd centuries BC in the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
Hi ...
ns it was known in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
as the ''Tanaïs'' () and has been a major trading route ever since. ''
Tanais
Tanais ( el, Τάναϊς ''Tánaïs''; russian: Танаис) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in the Don River (Russia), Don river delta, called the Maeotian Swamp, Maeotian marshes in classical antiquity. It was a bishopric as Tana ...
'' appears in ancient Greek sources as both the name of the river and of a city on it, situated in the
Maeotian marshes
The Maeotian Swamp or Maeotian Marshes ( grc, ἡ Μαιῶτις λίμνη, ''hē Maiōtis límnē'', literally ''Maeotian Lake''; la, Palus Maeotis) was a name applied in antiquity variously to the swamps at the mouth of the Tanais River in ...
. Greeks also called the river ''Iazartes'' ().
Pliny gives the Scythian name of the Tanais as ''Silys''.
According to an anonymous Greek source, which historically (but not certainly) has been attributed to
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
, the Don was home to the legendary
Amazons
In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'', via Latin ''Amāzon, -ŏnis'') are portrayed in a number of ancient epic poems and legends, such as the Labours of Hercules, ...
of
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
.
The area around the estuary has been speculated to be the source of the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
in the mid-14th century.
While the lower Don was well known to ancient geographers, its middle and upper reaches were not mapped with any accuracy before the gradual conquest of the area by
Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to:
*Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555
* Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...
in the 16th century.
The Don Cossacks, who settled the fertile valley of the river in the 16th and 17th centuries, were named after the river.
The fort of ''Donkov'' was founded by the princes of
Ryazan
Ryazan ( rus, Рязань, p=rʲɪˈzanʲ, a=ru-Ryazan.ogg) is the largest city and administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the banks of the Oka River in Central Russia, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census ...
in the late 14th century. The fort stood on the left bank of the Don, about from the modern town of
Dankov
Dankov (russian: Данко́в) is a town and the administrative center of Dankovsky District in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Don River northwest of Lipetsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: It was previously known ...
, until 1568, when it was destroyed by the
Crimean Tatars
, flag = Flag of the Crimean Tatar people.svg
, flag_caption = Flag of Crimean Tatars
, image = Love, Peace, Traditions.jpg
, caption = Crimean Tatars in traditional clothing in front of the Khan's Palace
...
, but was soon restored at a better fortified location. It is shown as ''Donko'' in
Mercator __NOTOC__
Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to:
People
* Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer
* Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer
* Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer
** Mercator 1569 ...
's ''Atlas'' (1596).
Donkov was again relocated in 1618, appearing as ''Donkagorod'' in
Joan Blaeu
Joan Blaeu (; 23 September 1596 – 21 December 1673) was a Dutch cartographer born in Alkmaar, the son of cartographer Willem Blaeu.
Life
In 1620, Blaeu became a doctor of law but he joined the work of his father. In 1635, they published ...
's map of 1645.
Both Blaeu and Mercator follow the 16th-century cartographic tradition of letting the Don originate in a great lake, labeled ''Resanskoy ozera'' by Blaeu. Mercator follows Giacomo Gastaldo (1551) in showing a waterway connecting this lake (by Gastaldo labeled ''Ioanis Lago'', by Mercator ''Odoium lac. Iwanowo et Jeztoro'') to Ryazan and the Oka River. Mercator shows
Mtsensk
Mtsensk (russian: Мценск) is a town in Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Zusha River (a tributary of the Oka) northeast of Oryol, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 28,000 (1970).
History
It was first mentioned in ...
(''Msczene'') as a great city on this waterway, suggesting a system of canals connecting the Don with the
Zusha
The Zusha (russian: Зуша) is a river in Tula and Oryol Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Oka. The length of the river is 234 km. The area of its basin is 6,950 km².Upa (''Uppa'') centered on a settlement ''Odoium'', reported
as ''Odoium lacum'' (''Juanow ozero'') in the map made by Baron
Augustin von Mayerberg
The Mayerberg Album is a collection of drawings and descriptions of the 17th-century Tsardom of Russia, made by
Augustin von Mayerberg (also ''Meyerberg''), a German baron (''Freiherr''), who together with Horatio Gugliemo Clavuccio was sent on an ...
, leader of an embassy to Muscovy in 1661.
In modern literature, the Don region was featured in the work '' And Quiet Flows the Don'' by
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life a ...
, a Nobel-prize winning writer from the
stanitsa
A stanitsa ( rus, станица, p=stɐˈnʲitsə; uk, станиця, stanytsya) is a village inside a Cossack host ( uk, військо, viys’ko; russian: казачье войско, kazach’ye voysko, sometimes translated as "Cossack Arm ...
of
Veshenskaya
VyoshenskayaAlso tranliterated Veshenskaya. ( rus, Вёшенская, p=ˈvʲɵʂɨnskəjə), colloquially known as Vyoshki (russian: Вёшки, is a rural locality (a ''stanitsa'') and the administrative center of Sholokhovsky District of R ...
.
Dams and canals
At its easternmost point, the Don comes within 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 ...
. The Volga-Don Canal, 101 kilometres (65 mi), connects the two. It is a broad, deep waterway capable of transporting oil tanker size vessels. It is one of two which enables ships to depart the
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 other, a series, connected to the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
. The level of the Don where connected is raised by the Tsimlyansk Dam, forming the
Tsimlyansk Reservoir
Tsimlyansk Reservoir or Tsimlyanskoye Reservoir (russian: Цимля́нское водохрани́лище) is an artificial lake on the Don River in the territories of Rostov and Volgograd Oblasts at . Completed in 1952, the reservoir ...
.
For the next below the Tsimlyansk Dam, the sufficient depth of the Don is maintained by the sequence of three dam-and-ship-lock complexes: the Nikolayevsky Ship Lock (Николаевский гидроузел), Konstantinovsk Ship Lock (Константиновский гидроузел), and the best known of the three, the Kochetovsky Ship Lock (Кочетовский гидроузел). The Kochetovsky Lock, built in 1914–19 and doubled in 2004–08, is downstream of the discharge of the
Seversky Donets
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...
and upstream of
Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
. It is at . This facility, with its dam, maintains a navigable head of water locally and into the lowermost stretch of the Seversky Donets. This is presently the last lock on the Don; below it, deep-draught navigation is maintained by dredging.
In order to improve shipping conditions in the lower reaches of the Don, the waterway authorities support plans for one or two more low dams with locks. These will be in
Bagayevsky District
Bagayevsky District (russian: Бага́евский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #340-ZS and municipalLaw #217-ZS district (raion), one of the forty-three in Rostov Oblast, Russia. It is located in the southwestern central part of the o ...
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
from source to mouth:
*
Nepryadva
The Nepryadva (russian: Непрядва) is a right tributary of the Don river in Tula Oblast, Russia.
The river is 67 km long and its catchment area comprises 799 square kilometers.
Near the mouth of the river the Battle of Kulikovo
...
*
Krasivaya Mecha
Krasivaya Mecha (russian: Краси́вая Ме́ча) is a river in Tula Oblast, Tula and Lipetsk Oblast, Lipetsk oblasts in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Don (river), Don, and is long, with a drainage basin of .
*
Bystraya Sosna
The Bystraya Sosna (russian: Бы́страя Сосна́) is a river in Oryol and Lipetsk oblasts in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Don, and it is long, with a drainage basin of .Veduga
The Veduga (russian: Ве́дуга) is a right tributary of the river Don, flowing through the northwestern corner of Voronezh Oblast in Russia. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Voronezh
Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...
*
Tikhaya Sosna
Tikhaya Sosna (russian: Ти́хая Сосна́) is a river in Belgorod and Voronezh oblasts of Russia. It is a right tributary of the river Don. It is long, with a drainage basin of .Bityug
The Bityug (russian: Битюг) is a river in Voronezh Oblast, Russia, a left tributary of the Don. Its upper reaches are located in Tambov Oblast
Tambov Oblast (russian: Тамбо́вская о́бласть, ''Tambovskaya oblast'') is a ...
*
Osered
The Osered (russian: Осере́дь) is a river in Voronezh Oblast in Russia. It is a tributary of the Don. It has a total length of and a drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water ...
Seversky Donets
The Seversky Donets () or Siverskyi Donets (), usually simply called the Donets, is a river on the south of the East European Plain. It originates in the Central Russian Upland, north of Belgorod, flows south-east through Ukraine (Kharkiv, Done ...
Manych
The Manych (russian: Маныч) is a river in the Black Sea–Caspian Steppe of Southern Russia. It flows through the western and central part of the Kuma–Manych Depression. In ancient times, it was known as the Lik.
A tributary of the Don, it ...
Temernik
The Temernik (russian: Темерник, also Temernichka russian: Темерничка) is a small river in Rostov Oblast of Russia. It is a right tributary of the Don, and is 33 km long, with a drainage basin
A drainage basin is an a ...
See also
*
Don goat
The Don goat breed from the Don River of the Lower Volga territory in Russia is used for the production of wool, goatskin, and milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutri ...
Mikhail Sholokov
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov ( rus, Михаил Александрович Шолохов, p=ˈʂoləxəf; – 21 February 1984) was a Russian novelist and winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is known for writing about life ...