The Great Yenisey (russian: Большой Енисей ''Bolshoy Yenisey''; tyv, Бии-Хем ''Bii-Xem'') is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

in the

Republic of Tuva Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

, the right source of the

Yenisey The Yenisey (russian: Енисе́й, ''Yeniséy''; mn, Горлог мөрөн, ''Gorlog mörön''; Buryat: Горлог мүрэн, ''Gorlog müren''; Tuvan: Улуг-Хем, ''Uluğ-Hem''; Khakas: Ким суғ, ''Kim suğ''; Ket: Ӄук ...

, at its confluence with the

Little Yenisey The Little Yenisey (russian: Малый Енисей ''Maly Yenisey'') a river in northern Mongolia and in Tuva, Russia. At its confluence with the Great Yenisey in Kyzyl (Tuva), the Yenisey is formed. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . It ...

.Большой Енисей,

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...

in 30 vols. / Ch. ed.

A.M. Prokhorov Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Про́хоров; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Soviet-Russian physicist known ...

- 3rd ed. - M, 1969-1978. The name Bii-Khem in Tuvan means "big river".

Course

The length of the Great Yenisey is , its basin area is . The river is navigable for from the mouth. It flows out of Lake Kara-Balik. High water level of the river is due to the fact that the catchment area of the river includes the Todzha Basin, which relief forms a wide catchment area. The river receives numerous tributaries, the largest of them are right Toora-Khem, Khamsara, Systyg-Khem. The basin of the Bolshoy Yenisey is a mountainous region, which borders in the north and east are the administrative boundaries of

Tuva Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...

with

Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...

Irkutsk Oblast Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizh ...

and

Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Krai ( rus, Красноя́рский край, r=Krasnoyarskiy kray, p=krəsnɐˈjarskʲɪj ˈkraj) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), with its administrative center in the city of Krasnoyarsk, the third-largest city in Siber ...

. The river flows through the Tuva basin in its lower course. Near the city of

Kyzyl Kyzyl (; Tuvan and russian: Кызыл; , ) is the capital city of the republic of Tuva, Russia. The name of the city means "red" or "crimson" in Tuvan (and in many other Turkic languages). Its population was History The city was founded in 1 ...

it joins the Kaa-Hem, forming the Ulug-Khem, which is actually the beginning of the Upper Yenisey. The whole Todzhinsky District of the Republic of Tuva is located in the basin of the river, its centre, Toora-Khem, is located at the confluence of the Toora-Khem tributary.

Protected area

The upper course of the river is virtually untouched virgin territory, with the Azas Plateau, including nine extinct volcanoes with unique geological features. A beautiful lake

Azas Azas is a commune in the Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefec ...

(its other name is Todzha) is located on the Toora-Khem tributary, the lake is one of the tourist sites of the Republic. Almost the entire lake and the area of the river are included in the

Azas Federal Reserve Azas is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population The inhabitants of the commune are known as Azassiens. See also *Communes of the Haute-Garonne department The following is a list of the 586 communes of ...

.Озеро Азас - Protected areas of Russia
/ref>

References

External links

Fishing in Russia
Rivers of Tuva Rivers of Kyzyl {{Russia-river-stub