The Moskva (russian: река Москва, Москва-река, ''Moskva-reka'') is a river running through western Russia. It rises about west 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 roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About southeast of Moscow, at the city of Kolomna, it flows into 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 mort ...

, itself a tributary of the

Volga 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 ...

, which ultimately flows into 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 A ...

History

In addition to Finnic tribes, the Moskva River is also the origin of Slavic tribes such as the Vyatichi tribe. Moskva river 2020-07 Beloozersky

Etymology

''Moskva'' and ''Moscow'' are two different renderings of the same Russian word ''Москва''. The city is named after the river. Finnic

Merya Merya may refer to: * Merya people The Meryans, also ''Merya'' (Russian: меря) were an ancient Finnic people that lived in the Upper Volga region. The Primary Chronicle places them around the Nero and Pleshcheyevo lakes. They were assimilat ...

and Muroma people, who originally inhabited the area, called the river ''Mustajoki'', in English: ''Black river''. It has been suggested that the name of the city derives from this term, although several theories exist. To distinguish the river and the city, Russians usually call the river ''Moskva-reka'' (Moskva river) instead of just ''Moskva''.

Hydrology

The river is long (or ), and the area of its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

is .«Река МОСКВА»
Russian State Water Registry It has a vertical drop of (long-term average). The maximum depth is above Moscow city limits, and up to below it. Normally, it freezes in November–December and begins to thaw around late March. In Moscow, the river freezes occasionally; during an unusually warm winter in 2006–2007, ice began melting on January 25. The absolute water level in downtown Moscow is above sea level (long-term average of summer lows after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

); a historical maximum of above sea level was set by the 1908 flood.Russian: Носарев В.А., Скрябина, Т.А., "Мосты Москвы", М, "Вече", 2004, стр.194 (''Bridges of Moscow'', 2004, p.194)

Sources of water

The main tributaries of the Moskva are, from source to mouth: * Ruza (left) * Istra (left) * Skhodnya (left) *

Setun Setun (russian: Сетунь) was a computer developed in 1958 at Moscow State University. It was built under the leadership of Sergei Sobolev and Nikolay Brusentsov. It was the most modern ternary computer, using the balanced ternary numeral sys ...

(right) * Yauza (left) *

Pakhra The Pakhra (russian: Пахра́) is a river in Moscow Oblast and the city of Moscow, Russia, a right tributary of the Moskva. It is 135 km in length. The area of its basin is 2580 km².Pekhorka The Pekhorka (russian: Пехо́рка) is a river in the Moscow Region in Russia, a left tributary of the Moskva. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .

(left) *

Nerskaya The Nerskaya (russian: Не́рская) is a river in Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is a left tributary of the Moskva. It is 92 km in length, with a drainage basin of 1,510 km².Severka (right) Sources of water are estimated as 61% thaw, 12% rain and 27% subterranean. Since completion of the

Moscow Canal The Moscow Canal (russian: Кана́л и́мени Москвы́), named the Moskva–Volga Canal until 1947, is a canal in Russia that connects the Moskva River with the Volga River. It is located in Moscow itself and in the Mosc ...

(1932–1937), the Moskva River has also collected a share of

Upper Volga The Volga Region (russian: Поволжье, ''Povolzhye'', literally: "along the Volga") is a historical region in Russia that encompasses the drainage basin of the Volga River, the longest river in Europe, in central and southern European Rus ...

water. This has enabled reliable commercial shipping, which was previously interrupted by summer droughts (older dams built in 1785, 1836 and 1878 were not effective). The average

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from ser ...

, including Volga waters, varies from near

Zvenigorod Zvenigorod (russian: Звени́город) is an old town in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: History The town's name is based either on a personal name (cf. Zvenislav, Zvenimir) or on a hydronym (cf. the Zvinech, Zvinyaka, Zveniga Rivers) ...

to at the Oka inlet. The speed of the current, depending on the season, varies from (winter, dams closed) to (May, dams open).

Cities and towns

(), the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of Russia, is situated on its banks. The river also flows through the towns of Mozhaysk,

, Zhukovsky, Bronnitsy, Voskresensk, and — at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka — Kolomna. As of 2007, there are 49 bridges across the Moskva River and its canals within Moscow city limits; the first stone bridge,

Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge (russian: Большой Каменный мост, ''Greater Stone Bridge'') is a steel arch bridge spanning Moskva River at the western end of the Moscow Kremlin. Its predecessor was the first permanent stone bridge in ...

, was erected in 1692. Within the city, the river is wide, the narrowest point being under the Kremlin walls. Drinking water for the city of Moscow is collected from five stations on the Moskva River and from the Upper Volga reservoirs (north and north-west of the city).

Islands

Canals, built within

city limits, have created a number of islands. Some of them have names in Russian, some have none. Major, permanent islands (west to east) are: * Serebryany Bor. Separated from the mainland in the 1930s. * Tatarskaya Poyma, commonly known as ''Mnyovniki''. Separated from the mainland in the 1930s * Balchug Island, also known as Bolotny Ostrov, lying just opposite the Kremlin. The island was formed by the construction of the Vodootvodny Canal in the 1780s, and has no official name in Russian. Moscow residents informally call it "Bolotny Ostrov" (Bog Island) while members of Moscow's English-speaking community refer to it as ''Balchug''. *One uninhabited island north of Nagatino. *Three uninhabited islands east of Nagatino, connected by the Pererva dam and lock system.

Recreation

There is a fleet of river ice-breaker cruisers which ply routes from moorings at the

Hotel Ukraine Hotel Ukraine ( ua, Готель Україна), also referred to as Hotel Ukrayina, is a four-star hotel located in central Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It was built in 1961 as the Hotel "Moscow" in a location which originally was occupied b ...

and Gorky Park to the

Novospassky Monastery Novospassky Monastery (''New Monastery of the Savior'', russian: Новоспасский монастырь) is one of the fortified monasteries surrounding Moscow from the south-east. Like all medieval Russian monasteries, it was built by the Ru ...

and back. Duration of trips ranges from 1.5 to 3 hours.

References

External links

{{Authority control Rivers of Moscow Oblast Rivers of Smolensk Oblast Rivers of Moscow