Siberian River Routes were the main ways of communication in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part o ...

before the 1730s, when

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

began to be built. The rivers were also of primary importance in the process of Russian conquest and

exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

of vast Siberian territories eastwards. Since the three great Siberian rivers, the Ob, 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 ...

, and the

Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

all flow into the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

, the aim was to find parts or branches of these rivers that flow approximately east-west and find short

portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

s between them. Since Siberia is relatively flat, portages were usually short. Despite resistance from the Siberian tribes, Russian Cossacks were able to expand from the Urals to the Pacific in only 57 years (1582-1639). These river routes were crucial in the first years of the Siberian fur trade as the furs were easier to transport over water than land. The rivers connected the major fur gathering centers and provided for relatively quick transport between them.

Southern Route

Distances are straight lines and only approximate. Siberian rivers can be very crooked. Dates usually refer to the foundation of the first Russian settlement. Kitchen-21-Russia-Angara-2815

Over the Urals: From the

Volga River 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 catchm ...

, up the

Kama ''Kama'' (Sanskrit ) means "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsकाम, kāmaMonier-Williams Sanskrit English Dictionary, pp 271, see 3rd column Kama often connotes sensual pleasure, se ...

to Perm (1472), then up the Chusovaya River, or the Vishera (see Cherdyn Route). The Urals here are only about 350 meters high, about 150 meters above the surrounding lowlands. Down either the Tavda River or

Tura River The Tura (), also known as Dolgaya (Long River, ) is a historically important Siberian river which flows eastward from the central Ural Mountains into the Tobol, a part of the Ob basin. The main town on it is Tyumen. Description From about 16 ...

and a short way up the Tobol River to its juncture with the

Irtysh River The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'er ...

Tobolsk Tobolsk (russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. Founded in 1590, Tobolsk is the second-oldest Russian settlement east of the Ural Mountains in Asian Russia, ...

(1582). This was the approximate route used by

Yermak Yermak Timofeyevich ( rus, Ерма́к Тимофе́евич, p=jɪˈrmak tʲɪmɐˈfʲejɪvʲɪtɕ; born between 1532 and 1542 – August 5 or 6, 1585) was a Cossack ataman and is today a hero in Russian folklore and myths. During the reign ...

. Tobolsk is about 700 km east of Perm and 1800 km east of Moscow. The Siberian Route, a road begun in the 1730s, ran southeast from Perm to Kungur, then over another low pass to

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administrat ...

(1723) and

. By 1885 there was a railway from Perm to Yekaterinburg. Another branch of the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the eas ...

(1891) goes south of the Urals through

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

(1736),

Omsk Omsk (; rus, Омск, p=omsk) is the administrative center and largest city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia, and has a population of over 1.1 million. Omsk is the third largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk ...

(1716) and

Novosibirsk Novosibirsk (, also ; rus, Новосиби́рск, p=nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk, a=ru-Новосибирск.ogg) is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Census, ...

(1893). Ob Basin: Near Tobolsk was the capital of the Khanate of Sibir, which was conquered in 1582. North down the Irtysh to its juncture with the Ob River, then 750km up the Ob to Narym (1594), and up the

Ket River image:Siberiariverroutemap.png, 300px, The Ket was a part of the Siberian River Routes. The Ket (russian: Кеть), also known in its upper reaches as the Bolshaya Ket (russian: Большая Кеть) is a west-flowing river in the Krasnoyarsk ...

(1602) about 300 km to its headwaters. Here a portage leads to the

Yenisei River 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 ...

Yeniseysk Yeniseysk ( rus, Енисейск, p=jɪnʲɪˈsʲejsk) is a town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. Population: 20,000 (1970). History Yeniseysk was founded in 1619 as a stockaded town—the first town on the Yenise ...

(1619). Yeniseysk is about 1400 km from Tobolsk and 3200 km from Moscow. An alternative route led from the Irtysh-Ob juncture 450 km up the Ob to the Vakh, 500 km up the Vakh, then portage to the Sym, down it to the Yenisei, upstream to Yenisesk. Yenisey and Lena Basins: Yeniseysk is on the

just north of its juncture with the Angara River. From Yeniseysk east up the Angara to the

Ilim River The Ilim (russian: Илим) is a river in Irkutsk Oblast in Russia, a right tributary of the Angara. It flows north between and parallel to the rivers Angara and Lena, and then swings west to join the Angara south of Ust-Ilimsk. Geography The ...

, upstream to

Ilimsk Ilimsk (russian: link=no, Илимск) was a small town in Siberia, within today's Irkutsk Oblast of Russia. The town was flooded by the Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir in the mid-1970s. Ilimsk was founded in 1630 on the Ilim River, a tributary of the ...

(1630), portage to Kuta River, short trip downstream to Ust-Kut (1631) on the

Lena River The Lena (russian: Ле́на, ; evn, Елюенэ, ''Eljune''; sah, Өлүөнэ, ''Ölüöne''; bua, Зүлхэ, ''Zülkhe''; mn, Зүлгэ, ''Zülge'') is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean ...

. From here northeast down the Lena about 1400 km to

Yakutsk Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one ...

, which is 4900 km east of Moscow. Yakutsk is a major stopping point and administrative center. Then 125 km down the Lena to the Aldan, up the

Aldan River The Aldan (russian: Алдан) is the second-longest, right tributary of the Lena in the Sakha Republic in eastern Siberia.Ust-Maya, then up the Maya River or its right branch, the

Yudoma River The Yudoma (russian: Юдома) is a river in eastern Siberia in the Yudoma-Maya Highlands near the Okhotsk Coast. It joins the Maya which joins the Aldan which joins the Lena which flows into the Arctic Ocean. Its northern headwaters are in ...

. Okhotsk: From either of the last two, it is about 150 km over 2000 ft mountains to the Pacific ( Okhotsk Coast 1639, Okhotsk town, 1647). Pack horses were used here. Okhotsk is 800 km east southeast of Yakutsk and 5,600 km east of Moscow. After 1715 there were shipbuilding facilities at Okhotsk, allowing sea travel to the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...

, the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

, the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin, "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, ...

and Alaska. To the Amur: From 1643 to 1689 the Russians attempted to penetrate from the Lena south to the Amur region but were driven back by the Manchus. See Russian-Manchu border conflicts. From 1689 to 1859 the Russo-Chinese border was the Argun River and the Stanovoy Mountains. In 1859 Russia annexed the Amur region. From the west, the Russians penetrated to

Ulan-Ude Ulan-Ude (; bua, Улаан-Үдэ, , ; russian: Улан-Удэ, p=ʊˈlan ʊˈdɛ; mn, Улаан-Үд, , ) is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located about southeast of Lake Baikal on the Uda River at its confluence wi ...

(1666), Chita (1653) and

Nerchinsk Nerchinsk ( rus, Не́рчинск; bua, Нэршүү, ''Nershüü''; mn, Нэрчүү, ''Nerchüü''; mnc, m=, v=Nibcu, a=Nibqu; zh, t=涅尔琴斯克（尼布楚）, p=Niè'ěrqínsīkè (Níbùchǔ)) is a town and the administrative ce ...

(1654) toward the Argun. From 1727 much Russo-Chinese trade shifted to

Kyakhta Kyakhta (russian: Кя́хта, ; bua, Хяагта, Khiaagta, ; mn, Хиагт, Hiagt, ) is a town and the administrative center of Kyakhtinsky District in the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located on the Kyakhta River near the Mongolia–Rus ...

near where the Selenge River crosses the current Russo-Mongol border.

Northern Route

From at least the 12th century, Russian

Pomors Pomors or Pomory ( rus, помо́ры, p=pɐˈmorɨ, ''seasiders'') are an ethnographic group descended from Russian settlers, primarily from Veliky Novgorod, living on the White Sea coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a ...

navigated the White and Barents Seas. At some date, they entered the Ob Gulf or portaged across the Yamal Peninsula. From the Gulf of Ob to the Taz Estuary, up the Taz River, past Mangazeya (1601), portage to Yanov Stan on the Turukhan River, leading to

Turukhansk Turukhansk (russian: Туруха́нск) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of Krasnoyarsk, at the confluence of the Yenisey and Nizhnyaya ...

(1607) on the Yenisei at its juncture with the Lower Tunguska. East up the Lower Tunguska. Where it turns south, portage to the

Chona River The Chona ( rus, Чона; sah, Чуона) is a river in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. It is a right hand tributary of the Vilyuy, and is long, with a drainage basin of . The Russian Geographical Society organized a ...

, a tributary of the Vilyuy River - the junction of these two rivers has now been flooded, forming the Viluyskoe Reservoir. East along the Vilyuy to the

, and then up the Lena to Yakutsk. It was also possible to continue up the Lower Tunguska to near Kirensk (1630) (175 km northeast of Ust-Kut), make a short portage to the Lena, and down the Lena to Yakutsk. Yakutsk is about 2400 km from the Taz Estuary. After about 1700 most trade shifted south and the route west of Turukhansk was largely abandoned.

Northeast

From the mouth of the

, along the coast to the mouth of the

Kolyma River The Kolyma ( rus, Колыма, p=kəlɨˈma; sah, Халыма, translit=Khalyma) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. The Kolyma is froze ...

, up to

Bolshoy Anyuy River The Bolshoy Anyuy (russian: Большой Анюй; "Great Anyuy") is a river in the Kolyma basin in Far East Siberia. Administratively most of the basin of the Bolshoy Anyuy and its tributaries belong to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug of Russia. ...

, portage, down the

Anadyr River The Anadyr (russian: Ана́дырь; Yukaghir: Онандырь; ckt, Йъаайваам) is a river in the far northeast of Siberia which flows into the Gulf of Anadyr of the Bering Sea and drains much of the interior of Chukotka Autonomous ...

Anadyrsk Anadyrsk was an important Russian ostrog (fortified settlement) in far northeastern Siberia from 1649 to 1764. It was on the Anadyr River, near the head of small-boat navigation, about 300 miles upstream, 12 miles northeast of the present Marko ...

(1650). One could continue down the Anadyr to the Pacific, but the area was too barren to be of interest. The area northeast of this route was avoided because of the warlike Chukchis. About 1700 Russians entered the

from Anadyrsk and later sailed there from Okhotsk. It is 1800 km from Yakutsk to the Bering Strait.

Southwest

After the conquest of

Astrakhan Astrakhan ( rus, Астрахань, p=ˈastrəxənʲ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in Southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of ...

in 1566, Russia expanded southeast around the southern base of the Urals. This involved increasing political control over the Nogai Horde, the

Kalmyks The Kalmyks ( Kalmyk: Хальмгуд, ''Xaľmgud'', Mongolian: Халимагууд, ''Halimaguud''; russian: Калмыки, translit=Kalmyki, archaically anglicised as ''Calmucks'') are a Mongolic ethnic group living mainly in Russia, w ...

and the northern

Kazakhs The Kazakhs (also spelled Qazaqs; Kazakh: , , , , , ; the English name is transliterated from Russian; russian: казахи) are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group native to northern parts of Central Asia, chiefly Kazakhstan, but also part ...

, followed by varying degrees of peasant colonization. Another route was up the

Irtysh The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'er ...

toward the Altai country ( Semipalatinsk, 1718).

Decline of the River Route

By the beginning of the 18th century the number of fur-bearing animals had declined sharply across Siberia as trappers and traders collected furs without any thought for sustainable population control, and in 1913 a ban was put on

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

hunting in order to keep this animal from extinction. The Babinov Road was the first overland path across the Urals. It was established by Artemy Babinov in the late 1590s. In 1598 Verkhoturye was founded along this road as the gateway to Siberia.

Road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

building in Siberia began in the 1730s, and from the 1760s the overland route from Yekaterinburg to

began to replace the Siberian rivers. When the ground was frozen solid this might take 70 or 80 days. The

began in 1891. In the twentieth century the Trans-Siberian Highway was built, and the stretch north of the Amur was completed in 2013. The result is a pattern in which the Russians form a long narrow belt along the southern border with some extensions northward, mainly to where minerals can be found. The rivers are still used, but largely for north-south transport to and from the Trans-Siberian Railway.

References