The Emba ( kk, Ембі ''Embı'' or ''Jem'', russian: Эмба) in west
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
rises in the
Mugodzhar Hills
Mugodzhar Hills ( kk, Мұғалжар тауы, ''Mūğaljar tauy''; russian: Мугоджары, Мугоджарский хребет) or Mugodzhar RangeCaspian 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 A ...
. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .
Эмба (река)
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 ...
It flows through the north of the Ust-Urt plateau, and reaches the Caspian by a series of shallow lagoon
A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...
s, which were navigable in the 18th century. The lower course traverses an area of salt domes and the petroleum-rich Emba fields. It is sometimes regarded as a definition for the natural boundary between Europe and Asia.
In its upper course, the Emba is a small river, its valley barely over wide. Lower down, after the waters of the Temir River flow into it, the Emba's valleys widen to almost . The Emba flows in a single channel, only breaking off into little arms in places. But around before it enters the Caspian Sea, it breaks off in places to form several lakes, which are connected to each other through slender channels that only run during flooding. The Emba is a snow-fed river. It freezes over in winter, a process that begins in November and lasts until March.
Oil basin
The oil basin of the Emba lies between the Mugodzhar Hills
Mugodzhar Hills ( kk, Мұғалжар тауы, ''Mūğaljar tauy''; russian: Мугоджары, Мугоджарский хребет) or Mugodzhar RangeVolga
The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catch ...
in the west. This area was known since olden days as ''maily kiyan'', which means the land blessed with miracle oil. The British merchant Gok mentioned in the mid-17th century that during his travels he came to a spring near the Emba River that spouted oil instead of water.Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
s tried to build the Algemba railway and pipeline from Alexandrov Gay
Alexandrov Gay (russian: Алекса́ндров Гай; kk, Алғай, ''Alǵaı'') is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Alexandrovo-Gaysky District of Saratov Oblast, Russia, located near the Russo- Kazakh border. ...
, so as to provide a means of conveying the oil from the recently captured oil field to the centre of Russia. However, due to logistical problems, the project failed with substantial loss of life.
Places on the banks of the Emba
* Embi (town)
* Zhem (town)
References
Rivers of Kazakhstan
Tributaries of the Caspian Sea
{{Kazakhstan-river-stub