Show where the Ural River flows on the map. Ural (Yaik) - river of Eastern Europe

The Ural River is a river in Eastern Europe. Previously it was called Yaik and originates on steep slopes Southern Urals.

The great Ural River flows into the Caspian Sea, flowing through the territories of Kazakhstan and Russia.

Source of the Urals

Where does the Ural River originate? Its source is located 12 km near the village of Voznesenka in southern Russia in the Republic of Bashkortostan. This republic borders on Kazakhstan.

Memorial plaque to the Ural River photo

In appearance, the source of the river is an ordinary spring that comes out of the ground. Conventionally, it is believed that the stream that is the source big river Ural is natural boundary between Asia and Europe. On this occasion, a memorial plaque was installed here.

Characteristics of the Ural River

The length of the river is 2,428 km. The Ural is considered the third longest river in Europe. Volga and Danube took first and second places. The area of the Ural basin is asymmetrical and amounts to 231,000 square kilometers.

The right side is half the size of the right. However, there are more right tributaries. The right tributaries are mountain rivers in nature, and the left tributaries are lowland rivers.

Regime of the Ural River

The river is 70% fed by snow. Not large number precipitation. During floods, the channel of the Urals widens noticeably. Usually the most high level river water falls in April-May. In early November, the river begins to freeze in the upper reaches. In the lower reaches of the Urals it freezes at the end of November. The river is freed from ice in March-April. Ice drift occurs quickly, in a short period.

Flora and fauna

The Urals are rich in fish fauna (more than 40 species). Let's take a look at the most common ones:

Migratory fish: sturgeon; beluga and stellate sturgeon; whitefish.
Semi-anadromous fish: roach; zander; bream; carp.
Resident fish: roach and silver bream; pike and bream; dace and crucian carp; kutum and sinets; ide and carp; chub and char; asp and catfish; rudd and burbot; podust and pike perch; tench and bleak; barbel and perch; gudgeon and goby; ruff and trout.

In the upper reaches of the Urals you can find grayling and taimen. Along the bed of the Urals, throughout its entire course, live a wide variety of animals, for which the Urals have become their home. So, let's get acquainted with the fauna of the Urals:

In the north of the Urals there are representatives of the tundra: reindeer.
In the south of the river there are representatives of the steppes: lizards, snakes, shrews, marmots.
The taiga is rich in predators: lynxes, ermines, sables, foxes, wolverines, wolves and bears. The following representatives of ungulates are also found here: roe deer, deer, moose.
In the river valleys you can find beavers, muskrats and otters.

Cities

The following cities are located along the course of the great Ural River: Verkhneuralsk, Magnitogorsk, Orsk, Novotroitsk, Uralsk, Atyrau.

Tributaries

Right tributaries of the Ural River: Sakmara; Big Dogwood; Tanalyk; Artazim; Guberlya; Irtek and Kindelya.
Left tributaries of the Ural River: Utva; Gumbeyka; Or; Suunduk; Ilek; Big Kumak; Barbasheva.

Tourism on the river

The Ural River attracts tourists. The mountainous sections of the river are quite actively used by tourists for rafting. Various sports centers are located along the river. Here they offer interesting boat excursions along the turbulent river streams.

The Ural River is unique in that one bank of it is in Asia and the other in Europe. The nature on the banks of the river is quite diverse. On the left bank, near the village of Yangelsky, you can enjoy very beautiful landscapes. Quite hard to find best places for picnic, camping and fishing than here.

Ural river photo

Near the steep slopes, rocky cliffs were exposed for 200 meters. Tourists find ancient remains of organisms in the rocks. They also sprout here rare species plants and lichens listed in the Red Book.

Near the village of Chesnokovka is located Kyzlar-Tau (translated from Tatar as Maiden Mountain). The uniqueness of this area is considered to be the layers of red sandstones washed away by water over the years. Thousands of tourists come here to see them. There is a belief that girls came running to this area to dance in circles, and brave horsemen spied on them.

beauty of the Ural river photo

Yours modern name The Urals and Yaik received thanks to the decision of the Great. She signed a decree renaming the Yaik River to the Ural, since the river originates from the Ural Mountains. The outstanding poet mentioned the Urals in his notes as the third longest river in the old world.

flows through the territory of Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions, as well as through the territory of another country - through the Republic of Kazakhstan up to the Caspian Sea.

The Ural River is the third longest river in Europe (second only to the Volga and Danube). The length of the Ural River is 2428 kilometers, most of the way the river flows through the territory of the Orenburg region (1164 km).

The source is on the slopes of the Kruglaya Sopka peak (Uraltau ridge) in the Uchalinsky district of Bashkortostan. In the upper reaches it is a rapid mountain river, it flows into the huge Yaitsky swamp, accumulates strength in it and leaves flat river. The mouth is in the Caspian Sea. The conventional border between Europe and Asia runs along this section of the river.

The ancient name of the river, Yaik, comes from a Turkic word meaning “overflowing, flooding.” Indeed, the river floods during the spring flood, and also often changes its course, “walking” across the steppe. The first written mention was in the 2nd century AD on Ptolemy’s map (called Daix), while in Russian chronicles the first mention of Yaik was in 1140.

This river is one of the few (or maybe the only one in our country?) that changed its name in modern history for the sake of politics. The river was renamed the Ural (after the Ural Mountains) in 1775 by decree of Catherine II while eliminating the consequences of the Peasant War led by Emelyan Pugachev. This war began on Yaik, and the Bashkirs and Yaik Cossacks took an active part in it. In order to erase all reminders of the uprising, the queen ordered the name of this river and Pugachev’s native village to be consigned to oblivion. At the same time, the name of the Yaik River in the Bashkir and Kazakh languages was still preserved.

During the bloody years Civil War It is believed that the legendary Vasily Chapaev drowned in the Urals.

Several reservoirs have been built on the Ural River. The largest and most beautiful among them is Iriklinskoye.

Until recently, the Ural River was navigable up to the city of Orenburg. IN Soviet era There was regular water transport between Orenburg and Uralsk. However, due to changing natural conditions (plowing of steppes, destruction of forests), the river has become very shallow and this process continues. Issues of saving the river are discussed annually, and environmental expeditions are conducted. But while the Urals continue to shallow...

Natural monuments

1. Tract White stone in the floodplain of the Ural River. On the left bank of the Ural River, northeast of the village of Yangelsky. Geological natural monument. On the steep slopes of the Ural River, the White Stone cliffs are exposed, stretching for 150-200 meters. Rocky outcrops of organogenic limestone contain remains of fossil organisms, as well as natural communities, including rare and protected species of lichens, plants and animals.

2. Mount Izvoz. 3 km from Verkhneuralsk, on the right bank of the Ural River. A botanical natural monument, including man-made pine plantings, picturesque rocky outcrops on the top of the mountain, as well as artificial park structures.

3. Kyzlar-Tau (Maiden Mountain). River break Ural near the village Chesnokovka

Ural River in Orenburg. Photo - alexandr-orb

Rafting on the Ural River

The Ural (Yaik) River is suitable for tourist rafting. Of course, in beauty it cannot compete with most Ural mountain rivers, but here you can have a good rest and admire the beautiful scenery. This river is especially interesting for rafting for water tourists. Orenburg region.

There is excellent fishing, a healthy climate, and air rich in steppe grasses.

In some places in the Urals you can even find rocks. The most beautiful section of the Ural River is below Orsk, where it flows into a gorge through the Guberlinsky Mountains. The length of this section is about 45 kilometers.

The most beautiful geological and landscape natural monuments on the Ural River: the Iriklinskoe gorge, the Orskie Gate, the Poperechnaya and Mayachnaya mountains, the Nikolsky section and others.

Due to the fact that the river often changes its winding bed, many oxbow lakes have formed in the Ural valley. Some of the oxbow lakes are rich in fish. It happened more than once that settlements founded on the banks of the river eventually found themselves far away from it - the river “went away” to the side.

The banks are predominantly steep and clayey.

The largest tributary of the Urals, the Sakmara River, is also interesting for tourist rafting.

Fishing on the Ural River

Fishing on the Ural River will bring a lot of joy. In past centuries and until recently, the Ural River was famous for sturgeon. According to some data, at the end of the 1970s, the Ural River's share in world sturgeon production was 33 percent, and in black caviar production - 40 percent. But now sturgeon in the Urals have become rare. However, the fishing here is good.

There are a lot of fish in the Ural River: sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, pike perch, herring, bream, carp, catfish, pike, chub, crucian carp, beluga, white fish, carp, bream, pike perch, roach, pike, roach, kutum, dace, ide, rudd, asp, tench, podust, gudgeon, barbel, bleak, bluefish, crucian carp, char, burbot, perch, ruff, goby. In general, you are unlikely to be left without a catch!

It is the third longest river in Europe, second only to the Volga and Danube in this indicator.

It flows through the territory of Russia (Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk and Orenburg regions) and Kazakhstan (West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions).

It originates in the mountains of the Southern Urals on the slopes of the Kruglaya Sopka peak (Uraltau ridge) in the Uchalinsky region of Bashkortostan. The length is 2428 km, most of the way the river flows through the territory of the Orenburg region (1164 km), in Kazakhstan it is 1082 km. The water horizon is at an absolute height of 635 m.

The old name (before 1775) was Yaik. The hydronym goes back to the ancient Iranian name; The river called *Daiks is shown on Ptolemy's map of the 2nd century AD. e. Currently ancient name The river, having undergone transcription, is official in Kazakhstan and in the Bashkir language.

A. S. Pushkin wrote in “The History of Pugachev”: Yaik, by decree of Catherine II, renamed the Urals, emerges from the mountains that gave it its current name.

On old European maps the Urals are called Rhymnus fluvius.

The first mention in Russian chronicles in 1140: Mstislav drove Polovits beyond the Don beyond the Volga beyond the Yaik.

In Russian, the name Yaik was changed to Ural in 1775 by decree of Catherine II, after the suppression of the Peasant War led by Pugachev, in which the Bashkirs and Yaik Cossacks actively took part.

In the upper reaches to the city of Verkhne-Uralsk it looks like a mountain river; from Verkhne-Uralsk to Magnitogorsk it has the character of a flat river. From Magnitogorsk to Orsk it flows along rocky banks and is replete with riffles. Below the confluence of the river on the right. The Sakmara becomes a typically flat river with a wide winding channel, a calm flow and rare riffles. After the city of Uralsk, the valley widens, and the river forms many channels and oxbow lakes.

In the upper reaches of the Urals the water is shallow, the depth rarely exceeds 1-1.5 m; in the middle and especially lower reaches it is deeper.

In the upper reaches, aquatic vegetation is poorly developed, in the lower reaches it is well developed. The soils in the upper reaches are pebble-sandy, sometimes rocky and silty, in the lower reaches they are silty-sandy, less often clayey.

The Urals freezes in the upper reaches at the beginning of November, in the middle and lower reaches at the end of November, and breaks up from the end of March to mid-April.

The tributaries are small, the largest being the Sakmara and Ilek.

The Urals are rich in feed resources, especially in the lower reaches.

The basin area is 237,000 km² and ranks sixth in size among the rivers of Russia.

Several reservoirs have been built on the Ural River. The largest and most beautiful among them is Iriklinskoye.

The mouth of the Urals is divided into several branches and gradually becomes shallower.

In 1769, Pallas counted nineteen branches, part of which stood out from the Urals 660 meters above its confluence with the sea; in 1821 there were only nine, in 1846 - only three: Yaitskoye, Zolotinskoye and Peretasknoye. By the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s of the 19th century, almost no branches with a constant flow were separated from the Urals until the city of Guryev.

The first branch, separated from the main channel on the left, was Peretask, which was divided into the Peretasknaya and Aleksashkin channels. Even lower, the channel of the Urals was divided into 2 branches - Zolotinsky and Yaitsky, and both the first and second were divided into two mouths: Bolshoye and Maloye Yaitskoye, Bolshoye and Staroye Zolotinskoye. Another branch, Bukharka, flowed into the sea between Peretask and Zolotoy.

The fall of the Urals water is not particularly great; from the upper reaches to Orsk it is about 0.9 meters per 1 kilometer, from Orsk to Uralsk no more than 30 centimeters per 1 kilometer, below - even less. The width of the channel is generally insignificant, but varied. The bottom of the Urals is rocky in the upper reaches, but in most parts of its course it is clayey and sandy, and within the Ural region there are stone ridges. Near the Urals, the river bottom is lined with small pebbles, which are found in several large sizes at "White Hills"; special pebbles made of dense clay, in addition, are found in some places in the lower reaches of the Urals (in the “Pogorelaya Luka”).

The current of the Urals is quite tortuous and forms large number loops The Urals, with a small drop in water, very often changes the main channel along its entire length, digs new passages for itself, leaving deep reservoirs, or “oxbow lakes,” in all directions.

In general, the Ural valley is cut on both sides by oxbow lakes, narrow channels, wide channels, lakes, small lakes; During the spring flood, which occurs from the melting of snow on the Ural Mountains, they are all filled with water, which remains in some until next year. In the spring, rivers and streams carry a lot of melt water into the Urals, the river overflows, overflows its banks, and in the same places where the banks are sloping, the river overflows 3-7 meters. There is also a water supply from the river to the oil fields.

The largest left-bank tributaries of the Urals from the city of Orsk to the mouth of Ilek - Kiyalyburtya, Urtaburtya, Burtya, Berdyanka, Donguz, Chernaya - are typical steppe rivers with short but stormy spring floods. The last two of them - Donguz and Chernaya - practically dry up in the middle of summer due to the construction of large reservoirs on them.

The Ilek River is the largest left-bank tributary of the Urals. Below Ileka, Ural takes another three from the right. significant influx: Kindelyu, Irtek and Chagan. The last of them flows into the Urals outside the Orenburg region. Near the city of Orsk the Or River flows into the Urals.

In the “Gorge” the river cuts almost straight through the Ural ridge, and even lower down the 40-kilometer section of the Khabarninsky Gorge begins. In this section, the Ural receives the waters of the mountain rivers Guberli with Chebakla and Kinderli on the right, and on the left - Ebita, Aituarka and Alimbet.

Source of the Ural River

Most of the tributaries flow into it from the right side, facing the General Syrt; of these are known: Artazim, Tanalyk, Guberlya, Sakmara, Zazhivnaya, lost in the floodplain, not reaching the Urals, in the meadows between the villages of Studenovsky and Kindelinsky, Kindelya and Irtek within the Orenburg region; in the West Kazakhstan region, several shallow rivers flow below the Irtek, including Rubezhka, at the mouth of which were the first settlements of the Yaik Cossacks; the most watery tributary on the right is the river. Chagan, flowing from General Syrt.

On the left flow the rivers Or, Ilek, Utva, Barbasheva (Barbastau) and Solyanka, noticeable only in the spring and drying up in the summer. Contrary to general misconception, the Ural River is a natural water border between Asia and Europe only in its upper reaches in Russia.

The border passes through the cities of Verkhneuralsk and Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk region. In Kazakhstan, the geographical border between Europe and Asia runs south from Orsk along the Mugodzhary ridge.

Thus, the Ural River is an inland European river; only the Russian upper reaches of the river east of the Ural Range belong to Asia.

Preliminary results of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society in Kazakhstan carried out in April - May 2010 showed that drawing the border between Europe and Asia along the Ural River, as well as along the Emba, does not have sufficient scientific grounds.

The fact is that south of Zlatoust the Ural ridge, having lost its axis, breaks up into several parts, then the mountains gradually disappear altogether, that is, the main landmark when drawing the border disappears. The Ural and Emba rivers do not share anything, since the terrain they cross is identical. And the entire West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions of Kazakhstan and half of the Aktobe region are part of Europe.

This factor became decisive in the admission of the Kazakhstan Football Federation to UEFA in 2002.

Natural monuments

The most beautiful geological and landscape natural monuments on the Ural River:

1. Iriklinskoe gorge.

The dam site in the Iriklinsky gorge, which is a narrowing of the Ural valley about 250 meters wide, composed of volcanic rocks - tuffs and lavas of Devonian age, was chosen back in 1932 by Leningrad hydraulic engineers. Topographically, this is the most favorable place for the construction of dams, and volcanic rocks have low permeability, which played a decisive role in the construction of the hydroelectric complex. As a result of filling the bed to the level of 245 meters, a narrow reservoir 73 kilometers long was formed with three large bays in the southern part. The longest of them is Suunduk Bay - 43 kilometers.

2. Orsk Gate.

To the west of Orsk, having taken Or and Kumak on the left, the Urals, contrary to all laws, rushes into the mountains. His further path to the west is blocked by the stone wall of the Guberlinsky Mountains. But the Urals turns sharply to the southeast, bypassing the mountain range. Rounding the first ridge of the Guberlinsky Mountains, the river travels about 6 kilometers. Above it to the right is a hundred-meter-high cliff, to the left is a low bank overgrown with floodplain forest. The Urals here are wide and deep, the current is calm, almost imperceptible, it looks like a narrow and long mountain lake.

But now the deep reach ends. The sound of falling water is heard. Ahead is the Week-Say roll. Here the river bed is a pile of huge boulders and rock fragments. To the right are cliffs that drop straight into the water. The majestic bastion rock approaches on the left; it is composed of very strong rocks - amphibolites and gabbro. The valley here turns into a relatively narrow gorge, and the river flows quickly between two stone walls. Soon the gorge gives way to gentle hills, but it is still a long way to reach the plain. In search of a breakthrough to the west, the Urals again changes its direction and flows north. But his direct path is again blocked by the high mountain Ak-Bik.

At an altitude of about 120 meters, the mountain has a horizontal ledge-terrace 100-120 meters wide. This ledge is the ancient channel of the Urals. About a million years ago, the destroyed Ural Mountains began to gradually rise, and the river was forced to deepen its channel, crashing into the towering Guberlinsky Mountains. This is how the Orsk Gate was formed - the exit of the Urals to the west. Near the mouth of Guberli, the landscape becomes especially picturesque. Peaked hills and jagged cliffs run down to the river, dissected by deep, shadowy gorges. Between the ridges and rocks, streams of rocky screes, composed of fragments of rocks and boulders, slide down. This mountainous country is cut through by deep canyons of the Guberlya, Tonatar, Ebita rivers and their tributaries. The bottoms of the canyons are densely overgrown with black alder, aspen, birch, and viburnum. Sometimes the dark green beards of Cossack juniper creep down from the slopes. But it’s enough to climb up, and the vast expanse of feather grass of the ancient plateau will appear before your eyes. This is the natural phenomenon of the Guberlinsky region of the Ural basin: rocky mountains below, flat steppe above. It is not difficult to find this unique landscape of the Southern Urals on the map. It is located in the north of the Aktobe region, where a small section of the Ural River serves as the border between Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.

3. Mount Transverse.

Below the village of Khabarnogo, a narrow section of the Ural River valley begins, which is called the Khabarninsky Gorge. The narrowing begins from the mouth of the Plakunki stream, where the Utes Rest House is located. From here begins one of the most wonderful stretches in the Urals. To the right, a black-green ridge of a transverse mountain hangs over it; the ridge stretches along the coast for 4 km. The Urals here are wide and deep, the current is calm, almost imperceptible, it looks less like a river, and more like a long mountain lake. When the long reach ends, the rocks retreat from the right bank and the opposite side of the river becomes mountainous. At the turn, you can hear the sound of boiling water - the Noisy rapids are ahead. Those rafting on the river here must be extremely careful and steer the boat or raft close to the bushes on the left bank.

4. Mount Mayachnaya.

Between the Giryalsky ridge (many local historians and most travelers consider it the first Ural mountain on the way from Orenburg to Orsk) and Mount Verblyuzhka on the right bank of the Urals, another hill rises - Mount Mayachnaya. It is a round hill, cut by an extensive network of ravines and hollows with smooth outlines almost to the very top. The absolute elevation of the hill is 284.8 m, and the relative elevation above the Urals is 158 m. The foot of the riverine slope of Mount Mayachnaya is strewn with boulders with a diameter of up to 40-50 cm. At the foot of Mount Ural, an extensive riverbed Mayachnaya backwater forms, which is a valuable spawning ground for bream, carp, asp, pike perch, as well as white fish.

5. Nikolsky open-pit mine.

2 km west of the village of Nikolsk. Geological natural monument, area – 8.0 hectares. A low cliff above the Ural River and above its floodplain with a length of about 800 m. In the cliff there are layers of sandstones, clay-argillites, and clayey limestones steeply falling to the east. This section is the stratotype of the Orenburg stage of the Upper Carboniferous, which was identified by V.E. Ruzhentsev (1945). In terms of its exposure, completeness and paleontological characteristics, it is one of the best sections of coal deposits in the Southern Urals, as evidenced by numerous finds of faunal remains. The most common species found in the section are ammonites, conodonts, and fusulinids. Accumulations of fauna are often contained in loaf-shaped limestone nodules. The section contains interlayers of coarse clastic rocks, in which individual fragments reach a size of 1 m. These are conglomerate-breccias, which are also called olistostromes. The olistostromes are thought to have formed as a result of underwater landslides on the seafloor. The Orenburg stage completes the section of the Carboniferous system and is borderline with the deposits of the Permian system. Based on collections of the fauna of the Nikolsky section, the position of the Carboniferous-Permian boundary is largely substantiated. In the summer of 1991, the section was examined by domestic and foreign geologists at the international congress on the Permian system.

6. The White Stone tract in the floodplain of the Ural River. On the left bank of the Ural River, northeast of the village of Yangelsky. Geological natural monument. On the steep slopes of the Ural River, the White Stone cliffs are exposed, stretching for 150-200 meters. Rocky outcrops of organogenic limestone contain remains of fossil organisms, as well as natural communities, including rare and protected species of lichens, plants and animals.

7. Mount Izvoz. 3 km from Verkhneuralsk, on the right bank of the Ural River. A botanical natural monument, including man-made pine plantings, picturesque rocky outcrops on the top of the mountain, as well as artificial park structures.

8. Kyzlar-Tau (Maiden Mountain). River break Ural near the village Chesnokovka.

Rafting on the Ural River

In some places along the banks of the Urals you can find rocks.

The Ural River after Orsk is especially beautiful. Here the river flows into a gorge through the Guberlinsky Mountains, the length of this section is approximately 45 kilometers. There is excellent fishing, a healthy climate, and air rich in steppe grasses. In some places in the Urals you can even find rocks.

The largest tributary of the Urals, the Sakmara River, is also interesting for tourist rafting.

The government of the Orenburg region pins its hopes on the development of water tourism on the Ural River. In particular, it has been developed water route for kayaks with a total length of 876 kilometers (from Iriklinsky to Orenburg – 523 km, from Orenburg to Ranny – 352 km). Rafting along this route is designed for 28 days. However, it is not necessary to go rafting; you can simply come to the banks of the Ural River on weekends, relax after hard everyday life and go fishing.

ATTRACTIONS OF THE URAL RIVER

Alabaster Mountain

The next mountain on the left bank of the Urals is Alabaster, located 75 km by land and 147 km by water above Uralsk. The mountain is half eaten by a quarry - alabaster was mined here for a long time. To the east of the former quarry stretches a high slope with marly screes. His middle part thickets of powerful oaks for these places, as well as birch, aspen, poplars with bird cherry, viburnum, and goat willow in the undergrowth.

Three kilometers below the Alabaster Mountain, the Ural is washed by the not so high Dolinsky Yar, composed of sandstones, flagstones, and conglomerates. Not many oak and birch trees climb its slopes. We sail through the Urals for another 30 km and on the left bank near Aula-Aksai we again notice chalk outcrops. But the chalk and marly slopes reach their greatest heights somewhat lower, on the Kitayshinsky Yar. Below the mouth of the Rubezhka River and the village of Rubezhinskoye, where the navigable section of the Urals begins, another hill appears on the left bank. The river washes her away twice. The first time is right behind the rapid reach of the Uporny Yar, where the Urals, hitting a high steep marly scree, makes a turn of almost 180°. Here the river reaches the fastest rapid below Orenburg, Saurkin, and breaks into two channels. After 5 km on the path of the Urals there is a second high marly cliff - Polousov Yar. Both ravine cliffs - Saurkin and Polousov - rise above the river by more than 50 m. Their slopes are complicated by giant landslides. In a kind of amphitheater between them lies the natural phenomenon of the Ural valley - the Krasnoshkolny relict forest. One of the slopes of this huge amphitheater is overgrown with a magnificent oak forest, under the cover of which there are hazel, or hazel, and a forest apple tree. The oak forest herbage consists of bracken fern and lily of the valley, May celandine.

Treasure Coast

This tract, inconspicuous at first glance, on the banks of the Urals deserves the most careful attitude. Folk wisdom No wonder she called it the Coast of Treasures - this is one of the most remarkable places on the entire right-bank slope of the Ural valley from Orenburg to Ilek. If up to the mouth of the Ilek the steep bank near the Urals is on the right, then below the Ilek the left bank, which entirely belongs to the Ural region, is much more often steep. In the Ilek-Uralsk section, the river washes away at least six hills, which have salt domes in their core, and on the surface there is chalk, marl, white clay, ferruginous sandstones and flagstones. These. the hills form a single chain of small mountains stretched along the junction of General Syrt and the Caspian lowland. The Ural manages to break through this chain and rush south only south of Uralsk, leaving the seventh dome from Ilek - Chalk Hills on the right.

The first on the path of the Urals is the Utvinsky chalk island. It is located slightly above the mouth of the Utva River, 6-10 km northeast of the village of Burlin in the Ural region. During the spring flood, Utvinsky Island is surrounded by water on all sides, from the north by the Urals, from the west and southwest by Utva, from the south and east by Lake Bumakol and the chalk channels connecting it with the Urals. Only by mid-June is a land road to this unusual island usually established.

At the foot of the ancient ravines

Precipitous banks in the Urals are called ravines, and the high ones with outcrops of bedrock are known among local residents under the names such-and-such mountain, such-and-such forehead, shore. These are usually steep slopes of the river valley, remarkable in landscape geological terms, having the significance of unique natural monuments. One of them is located on the right bank of the Urals between the villages of Pervaya and Vtoraya Zubochistka, Perevolotsky district, Orenburg region.

The steep and high coast of the Urals here is complicated by several cirque-shaped landslides, which were formed as a result of downslope displacements of sections of blocks of sandy-clayey sediments associated with activities groundwater. But there is something else that is interesting here. In this section, the Ural lobe is crossed by a depressed section of the earth's crust about 1 km wide. On both sides there is a decrease in the limitation of layers of Permian red-colored and variegated rocks inclined in different directions. IN mountainous countries such phenomena are called grabens; as a result, rocks appear on the same horizon of different ages and composition. This peculiar graben was formed not in the mountains, but on the plains - in a depression, the sides of which are composed of dense Permian and Triassic rocks formed more than 200 million years ago. Here, gray and white clays, mergues, and sandstones of the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods have been preserved from erosion. Their age ranges from 50 to 130 million years.

Geological structure the Ural coast is complicated by landslide processes in this area. As a result, the coastal slopes are replaced by variegated sandy clays of various shades, marls, calcareous tuffs, and ocher screes. It seems that nature has collected all the colorful gamuts of yellow, gray-green, brown, and red into this unique collection of sedimentary rocks.

Lakes of the Ural floodplain

There are many wonderful landscape features near the lakes of the Ural floodplain. For example, the habitat of the most ancient and amazing relic that has survived to this day, the chilim, has been preserved here. Its continuous thickets, covering the watery surface with rosettes of leaves, have been preserved on the lakes of the Ural floodplain below Orenburg: Bespelyukhin, Orekhovoy, Bolshoi Orlovo. Old Ural, Lipov, Oreshki, Dzhilimny, Forpostno and many others. Several names have been assigned to this plant: chilim, rogulnik, and among the people it is also known as water or devil’s nut, horned nut, live anchor, water chestnut. Fossilized remains of chilim fruits were found in Cretaceous deposits. This means that it has inhabited the fresh water bodies of the Earth for more than 70 million years. But at present, chilim thickets have been preserved in a few places.

It is noteworthy that, having formed continuous thickets on one of the lakes, it no longer settles on neighboring lakes, but sometimes even tens or hundreds of kilometers around. The above indicates the relict nature of chilim, preserved only under certain environmental conditions.

IN recent years Chilim lakes have been taken under protection in Mordovia, Bashkiria, the Altai Mountains, the Far East and many other regions of our country. Chilim is listed in the Red Book.

We find a description of this mountain from P. S. Pallas, who visited here in 1769. He wrote: “Beyond the Or River a mountain range begins, in which the best types of jasper stone are visible. The layers in this mountain, just like in the jasper mountains lying near Yaik, mostly descend into the depths from the western to the eastern side. The local flask has a lot different colors. The best jasper, especially in large spread, has a color that is either coffee or white with red and yellowish stripes. There are also pieces depicting grass and trees. There are Kyrgyz graves on every hill. Nowhere can one find the best pieces of local jasper as on these graves, and it seems that the action of the sun produced a much better color on the outside than on the inside of the stone.”

In the vicinity of Orsk there were already several quarries at that time. Academician A.E. Fersman, describing the minerals of the Soviet Union in the book “Journey for Stone,” placed six pieces of stone on the title of the book, specifically Orsk jasper, to which the scientist devoted many enthusiastic lines: “It is difficult to give an exhaustive description of this jasper - its patterns are so varied and coloring, we know over two hundred varieties of jasper in this area, and the best designs and colors belong specifically to the jaspers of this deposit... It seems to me that we are in a wonderful art gallery. Not every artist will be able to convey such combinations of tones and colors that nature itself has scattered here with a generous hand. It’s like a stormy sea: its greenish waves shimmer with the reddish glow of dawn, here is the white edge of foam, and here are the rocky shores...” and further: “... Orsky jaspers are undoubtedly the national wealth of the country.” In addition to Mount Colonel, along the Urals there are a number of other places where jasper is born. Many of them are not yet widely known; they contain the future glory of the Trans-Ural jasper belt.

According to one version (thanks to Furmanov’s book and especially the film “Chapaev”), it was in the waves of the Urals that Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev died. However, some historians doubt this and insist that Chapaev died in battle and was buried somewhere on the river bank.

V. Pelevin in the novel “Chapaev and Emptiness” metamorphoses the Urals (in which the historical Vasily Chapaev drowned) into the “Conventional river of absolute love.”

- “Ural-batyr” (Bashk. Ural batyr) - Bashkir epic (kubair).

There are many lakes, oxbow lakes, and rivers in the Ural floodplain. And all around there are forests, impassable, overgrown with blackberries, thorny thorns, the berries of which are still called Cossack grapes here, and a hike along this river will be simply unforgettable. There are also mushrooms: boletus, boletus, milk mushrooms. The Urals are beautiful and swift. The steep yars are interspersed with sands, the rifts are interspersed with wide and deep reaches with heaps of cramps, waterways, and backwaters, sometimes extending far into the steppe.

Up to thirty species of fish are found in the river: sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, zander, herring, bream, carp, catfish, pike, chub, crucian carp, beluga, whitefish, carp, roach, roach, kutum, dace, ide, rudd, asp, tench, Podust, gudgeon, barbel, bleak, bluegill, char, burbot, perch, ruff, goby. Local residents don’t even consider pike to be fish. A trifle, if they catch it, it’s in the fall, for drying, when the flies disappear, yes early spring- then every love, because the first. Fishing here has its own specifics.

In 1981 -1983. The conditions and efficiency of sturgeon spawning above the city of Uralsk were studied by the Orenburg Laboratory of Landscape Reclamation and Nature Conservation. Observations have shown that almost all non-silted areas of the river bottom with hard soil in the spring serve as spawning grounds for sturgeon. It was found that spawning is most effective in large fields of riverbed and beach Mechnik, crushed stone and cemented shell rock, where the flow speed during high water reaches 2 m/s, preventing siltation of the soil and deposited eggs. On a 315-kilometer stretch of the river from Uralsk to Ilek, the expedition studied several types of spawning grounds. The most common of them were riverine beaches. They are formed, as is known, along convex shores, where thick layers of coarse material accumulate.

The excess of the beaches above the low-water level of the river reaches 4 m, the width is 40-120 m. The length of the Ural beaches, depending on the radius of the bend, ranges from 200-300 m to 2 km. The longest beaches on the Ilek-Uralsk section are Kambavskie Sands (below the village of Yanvartseva) and Trekinskie Sands (above the city of Uralsk). The most valuable in terms of quality are the Verkhnekirsanovsky and Aksuatsky beaches with a dense pebble surface, located respectively 179 and 36 kilometers above Uralsk. But now sturgeon in the Urals have become rare.

Belorybitsa in the Urals

Belorybitsa - representative salmon fish, very close to whitefish. It reaches 120 cm in length and 20 kg in weight. In its appearance it somewhat resembles the well-known asp. The white fish is a predator, but in the Urals it hardly feeds. The white fish enters the river to spawn no more than twice in its life. She lives until she is 11 years old. The closest relative of the white fish, nelma, lives in the Arctic Ocean basin. It was from there, according to scientists, that at the end of the Ice Age it moved along chains of lakes across the Kama and Volga to the Caspian Sea and, having changed somewhat, became a whitefish. White fish is a valuable commercial fish, but now its fishing is prohibited everywhere.

Through the efforts of scientists and fish farmers, it was possible to maintain its numbers artificially. At the foot of the Volgograd hydroelectric power station dam on the Volga, gravel spawning grounds have been built for white fish. The only natural spawning grounds for this fish are in the Urals.

One of the little-known inhabitants of the Urals and its tributaries is the lamprey. It belongs to the oldest class of cyclostome fish. It has a snake-like body, about 0.5 m long, weighing up to 260 g. The lamprey has a number of features that are not characteristic of other fish species. Her mouth is a deep funnel-suction cup; at the bottom there is a tongue, which, like a piston, either extends or retracts. The tongue serves as a drill to penetrate the fish's skin. The lamprey has a third eye, the parietal one, located near the nasal opening. There is no lens in it; with its help, lampreys perceive only light. They inherited this organ from their ancestors, which were widespread in the Silurian and Devonian periods, that is, more than 400 million years ago. Thus, the lamprey can be considered a kind of “living fossil”.

Sevruga in the Urals

The most numerous sturgeon of the Urals is the stellate sturgeon. The Ural-Caspian fisheries produce up to 70% of the world's stellate sturgeon catches. The main spawning grounds for stellate sturgeon are located in the lower reaches of the river. A small amount of sturgeon rises above Uralsk, reaching Ilek and even Rassypnaya. Stellate sturgeon is represented mainly by the spring form. It spawns later than other sturgeons at water temperatures above 12-14° C. The average length of the Ural stellate sturgeon is about 120-140 cm, weight is about 10-15 kg.

The only resident species of sturgeon in Uralsk is the sterlet. It is found throughout the lower and middle reaches of the river - very rarely everywhere. The usual dimensions of the Ural sterlet are: length about 60 cm, weight 2.5 kg.

Migratory fish in the Urals

It takes a lot of time to restore strength and develop a new portion of reproductive products for re-entering the river to spawn: females - 5-6 years, males - 3-4 years. Therefore, despite the long life expectancy (up to 30 years or more), each breeder can enter the river only a few times in its life. Every year, huge hordes of migratory fish flock to the Urals. Their advanced detachments reach Ilek, Orenburg and even Orsk.

Ichthyological observations 1981 - 1983 It has been established that the largest sturgeon specimens rise to the middle of the river reach. This means that the middle reaches of the Urals are of decisive importance for the conservation of large-sized sturgeon specimens.

The most big fish Caspian basin - beluga. In the 20s of our century, fish weighing up to 12 c were caught in the Urals. In former times, larger specimens were also caught. The usual weight of belugas spawning above Uralsk is 150-300 kg for females and 50-90 kg for males. To this day, beluga whales weighing 600 kg or more are still found.

Sturgeons reached their greatest numbers in the Caspian Sea basin, where 5 of the 23 species of sturgeon in the world are represented - beluga, sturgeon, thorn and stellate sturgeon, which have mastered the food resources of the sea, where they spend most of their lives, Sterlet, which is a marine species, that is, never does not leave the river. Beluga, sturgeon, thorn and stellate sturgeon of the Caspian Sea are migratory fish. They regularly migrate from the Caspian Sea to rivers to breed. Migratory fish are divided into winter and spring races.

Winter fish enter the river in summer and autumn, and after overwintering, they spawn.

Spring fish enter the river in winter and spring and spawn in the same year. Migratory fish in the river, as a rule, do not feed or feed very little. Overcoming the river current during spawning migrations, a long stay in the river and the spawning process itself lead to severe depletion of the producers. It has been established that stellate sturgeon and sturgeon lose up to 30% of their weight during spawning migration, and beluga - up to 50% of their weight. And, as a rule, the greater the energy reserves of a particular individual, the larger it is, the higher along the river it can and tends to rise.

URAL RIVER IN ORENBURG REGION

The largest river in the Orenburg region is the Ural (in ancient times Yaik), the main part of its flow is formed in the Orenburg region. Two other large rivers - Sakmara and Ilek - originate in Bashkiria and Kazakhstan, respectively, but flow into the Urals within the Orenburg region. The Ural is the main water artery of the Orenburg region.

The Ural River crosses the Orenburg region from east to west, flowing through 10 districts of the region for 1164 km. The main feature of the river is the uneven flow. During the spring flood, the Ural turns into a huge watercourse, filling the entire floodplain 6–8 km wide. The first two large Orenburg tributaries of the Urals, Tanalyk and Suunduk, currently flow into the Iriklinskoye reservoir, forming bays of the same name.

The Tanalyk River, 225 km long, originates in the spurs of the Urals, then crosses Irendyk. The average water flow in Tanalyk does not exceed 1.0 m3/s.

In the area of the city of Orsk, two more significant tributaries, the Bolshoi Kumak and the Or, flow into the Urals from the left. Throughout the entire length from the Iriklinsky reservoir to the mouth of the Sakmara, the Ural receives only one significant tributary from the right - the Guberlya. The largest left-bank tributaries of the Urals from the city of Orsk to the mouth of Ilek - Kiyalyburtya, Urtaburtya, Burtya, Berdyanka, Donguz, Chernaya - are typical steppe rivers with short but stormy spring floods. The last two of them - Donguz and Chernaya - practically dry up in the middle of summer due to the construction of large reservoirs on them.

The Ilek River is the largest left-bank tributary of the Urals (623 km). Its sources are located in the Mutojar Mountains. In terms of drainage area (41 thousand km 2), Ilek is one third larger than Sakmara, but bears 2.5 times less water than the most abundant tributary of the Urals (annual flow rate 1569 m3). The Ilek River has a wide, well-developed valley with two terraces above the floodplain. The size of the Ilek valley is sometimes not inferior to the Ural valley. The Ilek floodplain is replete with numerous channels and oxbow lakes.

Below Ilek, the Ural receives three more significant tributaries on the right: Kindelyu, Irtek and Chagan. The last of them flows into the Urals outside the Orenburg region. Near the city of Orsk the Or River flows into the Urals. In the “Gorge” the river cuts almost straight through the Ural ridge, and even lower down the 40-kilometer section of the Khabarninsky Gorge begins. In this section, the Ural receives the waters of the mountain rivers Guberli with Chebakla and Kinderli on the right, and on the left - Ebita, Aituarka and Alimbet.

On the map, the Ural basin resembles a tree bent in one direction with a thick trunk in the middle and very short branches. Only the right tributary, the Sakmara River, flowing for a long distance parallel to the Urals, has a relatively dense branched network of tributaries.

The Ural River is not navigable, its width is 50-170 m, its depth is 3-5 m, the flow speed is 0.3 m/s, the bottom is sandy, there are no fords. The banks are predominantly steep, the height of the cliffs is 5-9 m. The Ural floodplain is wide - 10-12 km, meadow, with significant tracts of forest, a large number of forests, sparse bushes, cut by numerous rivers, oxbow lakes and channels, and many lakes.

Now it is difficult to say what the word “Daix” meant in the time of Ptolemy, when the Iranian-speaking Sarmatian tribes were still roaming the Urals basin. The Russian form “Yaik” is first found in the Russian chronicle of 1229. It is considered to be a derivative of the common Turkic base “Zhaik” with the meaning “wide river bed” or “spreading widely.”

The Sakmara River is largest influx Ural. The length of Sakmara within the Orenburg region is about 380 km. In the upper reaches of the Sakmara it is a typical mountain river with steep banks and narrow terraces, in the middle and lower reaches its valley is wide, asymmetrical with well-defined two terraces and a populated floodplain.

The Urals are simply dotted with numerous and beautiful rivers with clear cold water and picturesque rocky shores, and the most interesting rapids and rifts make them also extremely attractive for active recreation. Mysterious rocks, keeping many stories and legends, are surrounded by endless taiga. Bones of unprecedented animals have been found here more than once, gems, gold, unknown rock paintings... The waterways of the Urals are mysterious and attractive, we will tell you about several of them.

Ural Mountains

First of all, we should talk about these mysterious mountains. The Ural Ridge stretches for two and a half thousand kilometers, from the icy shores of the northernmost ocean to the hot semi-deserts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, being the watershed of many rivers on the eastern and western slopes, the real border of the worlds of Asia and Europe. The ridge also separates the Russian and West Siberian Plains. The rivers are very numerous and have their own interesting features. There are more than five thousand rivers belonging to the basins: Kara Sea, Barents Sea, Caspian Sea.

An interesting feature of this region is the large number of artificial reservoirs - reservoirs, as well as ponds (more than three hundred with a total area of about 4.2 thousand square kilometers). Together with numerous hydroelectric power stations, for the most part artificial reservoirs are a hydraulic technical part of the Ural plant network.

Natural and climatic features

The enormous length of the mountain range creates extremely diverse natural and climatic conditions for the rivers and lakes of the Urals, which inevitably affects their characteristics.

The climate of the region is continental, with cold, snowy winters and warm summer. The northern part of the Urals experiences strong climatic influence northern seas and the Arctic Ocean, while the middle part of the mountain range is in the zone of influence of the Atlantic (especially the western part, where greatest number precipitation). The steppe and forest-steppe zones of the Ural Mountains are characterized by insufficient moisture, which directly affects the water abundance of the rivers flowing here, while the taiga and tundra zones, on the contrary, are characterized by excessive moisture.

in different parts of the Urals

In the Polar Urals, a small number of high-water rivers begin their flow, such as the Khara-Matalou, Sob, Yelets and others.

In the Northern and Subpolar parts of the mountains flow rapids, fast and large rivers of the Urals, such as the Pechora and its numerous tributaries (Shugor, Ilych, Kosyu, Podcherem, etc.). They replenish the Barents Sea with their waters. On the eastern slopes, the mountain rivers of the Northern Urals and the Arctic Region are rocky, shallow, and fast. They are rich in rapids and rifts. These rivers flow into the Malaya Ob, Severnaya Sosva and then carry their waters into the Kara Sea. The rivers in the north of the mountains are navigable for 5-6 months.

The Middle Urals, Western Cis-Urals, Eastern Trans-Urals - numerous rivers have their sources here. Here the streams that make up the Kama water system begin their run. This is the most powerful and full-flowing river in the region.

The rivers of the Southern Urals, like the Northern ones, have very high speed currents. Their riverbeds are characterized by a large number of rapids, riffles, and waterfalls. The flow of the rivers of the Middle Urals is much calmer and slower.

Features of rivers on different slopes of the ridge

The rivers of different slopes of the Ural ridge also differ from each other. The western slope receives more precipitation due to the influence of the Atlantic, thanks to the westerly transport air masses. Therefore, the rivers here are fuller than on the eastern slope, where there is less moisture. Among the rivers of the western slopes, such large rivers of the Urals as Vishera, Belaya, Kama, Ufa, Sylva stand out. And on the eastern slopes the largest are Sosva, Tavda, Iset, Lozva, Tura, Pyshma. The valleys of these rivers extend, as a rule, in the latitudinal direction. The Chusovaya River is unique, which with its bed (the only one of all!) captures both the western and eastern slopes of the mountain range.

Description of the river Ural

The Ural River flows through Eastern Europe on the territory of the countries of Russia and Kazakhstan. This river carries its waters from Bashkiria to the Caspian Sea. Belongs to the rivers of the Southern Urals. Length - 2428 kilometers. It is the third longest in Europe after such waterways as the Volga and Danube. Even the Dnieper is ahead in length. The Ural River originates at an altitude of 637 meters on the slopes of the Round Hill (Uraltau Range) in Bashkortostan.

Then it flows along the edge of the Chelyabinsk region from north to south. Passes the cities of Verkhneuralsk and Magnitogorsk. At the same time, it receives the tributaries Gumbeyka and B. Kizil. Meeting the plateau of the Kazakh steppe on its way, the Ural River sharply changes its direction to the north-west. Further deviating now to the west, now to the east, it reaches the Caspian Sea. The Ural River flows into the sea, breaking up into many branches.

The ancient name of the river. Ural

This river also has an ancient name. Until 1775, the Ural River was called Yaik. This name is official in Kazakhstan. In the Bashkir language, the river also has this name. It was first mentioned in the chronicles of the Russian people in 1140. It was renamed Ural on January 15, 1775 by order of Catherine II. Then many geographical objects were renamed in order to erase from people’s memory the Pugachev uprising, which burned from 73 to 75.

Pechora River

It is one of the rivers of the Northern Urals. Its name means cave, and is popular among fishermen and raftsmen. Its length is 1,809 thousand kilometers, the Pechora flows through the territory of two subjects Russian Federation- Komi Republic and Nenets Autonomous Okrug, has total area catchment area is 0.322 million square kilometers. It flows into the Barents Sea, the annual flow is approximately 0.13 million cubic kilometers of water. The Pechora has a huge number of tributaries, about 35 thousand. In the river basin Pechora has 60 thousand lakes! Its main food source is snow.

The largest tributary of the Pechora is the Usa River, 500 kilometers long. Other large tributaries of the Pechora include the Northern Mylva, Unya, Lemyu, Velyu, Kozhva, Izhma, Lyzha, Neritsa, Tsilma, Pizhma, Sula, Ilych, Borovaya, Podcherye, Usa, Shugor, Laya, Sozva, Kuya, Ersa, Shapkina. The most interesting of them for tourism are Unya (excellent fishing) and Usa (excellent rafting).

The largest marinas are Ust-Tsilma, Naryan-Mar, Pechora.

Up to the point where the Unya River flows into it, Pechora has a typically mountainous character. Its banks in this area are formed of pebbles, and there are many rapids, rocky ledges, and rifts in the riverbed. And in its middle and lower parts, the nature of the river changes to flat. The shores are clayey or sandy. The waters of Pechora spread wide, reaching a width of two kilometers. In this part you can see branches, channels, and Pechora islands.

The area of the Pechora River is considered difficult to reach; the road network here is extremely underdeveloped. For this reason, a lot of untouched natural areas have been preserved in the region, and one of the largest biosphere reserves in Russia has been organized between the Pechora tributary Ilych and the Pechora itself.

Kara

Another of the most interesting rivers of the Ural Mountains is one that flows in the Polar part of the ridge. Its length is 0.257 thousand kilometers with a basin area of 13.4 thousand square kilometers. The river flows through the regions of Russia: Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Komi Republic.

It originates at the confluence of two rivers - the Malaya and the Bolshaya Kara. It flows parallel to the Pai Khoi ridge. Along its entire length, the river flows through mostly deserted and extremely picturesque places. Here you can see several beautiful canyons, many rapids and waterfalls, the most famous of which, of course, is Buredan (9 kilometers below the confluence of the Nerusoveyakha River).

The only one along the entire length of the river. Kara settlement - village. Ust-Kara is located near the very mouth of the river. On its banks you can find, perhaps, temporary dwellings of local peoples - the plague, and even then extremely rarely.

It is interesting that the Kara Sea got its name from the Kara River, where in the eighteenth century one of the detachments of the so-called “Great Northern Expedition” under the leadership of S. Malygin and A. Skuratov spent the winter.

Rafting on the rivers of the Urals

This is a very popular type of active rafting on the rivers: Ufa, Belaya, Ai, Chusovaya, Serge, Sosva, Yuryuzan, Rezh, Usva, Neiva. They can last from 1 day to a week. Rafting on the rivers of the Urals allows you to visit many attractions without covering the distance on foot, but on a catamaran, trimaran or raft. Walking along the Serebryanka River, which then flows into Chusovaya, water tourists repeat the path of Ermak. Also notable on Chusovaya are its rocky shores. The Belaya or Agidel River, flowing through the Republic of Bashkortostan, also attracts rafters. Combined hikes with visiting caves are possible here. The Kapova Cave or Shulgan-Tash is widely known.

They raft along the Vishera, which is considered one of the most picturesque rivers of the Urals. It begins in the Vishera Nature Reserve. It is inhabited by grayling, taimen, burbot, char, and stud. The Pyshma River is notable for its rocks; the Kuryi resort is located on the river and national park"Pripyshmensky forests". The Kara River also has its own interesting sights. This harsh northern river passes through several canyons and sometimes forms waterfalls, the largest is called Buredan. It is also very interesting for rafters. West of the river There is a meteorite crater with a diameter of 65 kilometers.

Ural (Bashk. Yayi ҡ , Kaz. Zhaiyk) is a river in Eastern Europe, flows through Russia and Kazakhstan, flows into the Caspian Sea.

The ancient name (before 1775) was Yaik. The hydronym goes back through Turkic media to the ancient Iranian name: under the name *Daiks the river is shown on the map of Ptolemy of the 2nd century AD. Currently, the ancient name of the river is official in Kazakhstan, as well as in the Bashkir language.

It is the third longest river in Europe, second in this indicator only to the Volga and Danube (even longer than the Dnieper!).

On old European maps the Urals are called Rhymnus fluvius. The first mention in Russian chronicles was in 1140.

Geography

It originates on the slopes of the Kruglaya Sopka peak (Uraltau ridge) in the Uchalinsky region of Bashkortostan. Flows into the Caspian Sea.

Pyotr Rychkov in his book “Topography of Orenburg” wrote:

Yaik has a peak behind the Ural Mountains on the Siberian Road, in the Kupakan volost, from a mountain called Kalgan Tau, which means: The extreme or remaining mountain in the Urals

This river has been dividing the Bashkirtsov and the Kirgis Kaisaks since ancient times

URAL RIVER BASIN

At the beginning, the Ural flows from north to south, but having met the elevated plateau of the Kazakh steppe, it turns sharply to the northwest, after Orenburg it changes direction to the southwest, near the city of Uralsk the river makes a new sharp bend to the south and in this main direction, meandering now to the west, now to the east, flows into the Caspian Sea. The mouth of the Urals is divided into several branches and gradually becomes shallower.

In 1769, Pallas counted nineteen branches, part of which stood out from the Urals 66,000 meters above its confluence with the sea; in 1821 there were only nine, in 1846 - only three: Yaitskoye, Zolotinskoye and Peretasknoye. By the end of the 50s and the beginning of the 60s of the 19th century, almost no branches with a constant flow were separated from the Urals until the city of Guryev. The first branch, separated from the main channel on the left, was Peretask, which was divided into the Peretasknaya and Aleksashkin channels.

Even lower, the channel of the Urals was divided into 2 branches - Zolotinsky and Yaitsky, and both the first and second were divided into two mouths: Bolshoye and Maloe Yaitskoye, Bolshoye and Staroye Zolotinskoye. Another branch, Bukharka, flowed into the sea between Peretask and Zolotoy.

URAL RIVER NEAR THE CITY OF URALSK

The Ural basin ranks sixth in size among the rivers of Russia and is equal to 237,000 km². The length of the river itself is estimated at 2428 km.

The water horizon is at an absolute height of 635 m.

SOURCE OF THE URAL RIVER - BASHKIRIA

The width of the channel is generally insignificant, but varied. The bottom of the Urals is rocky in the upper reaches, but in most parts of its course it is clayey and sandy, and within the Ural region there are stone ridges. Near the Uralsk, the river bottom is lined with small pebbles, which are found in somewhat larger sizes at the “White Hills”; special pebbles made of dense clay, in addition, are found in some places in the lower reaches of the Urals (in the “Pogorelaya Luka”). The current of the Urals is quite tortuous and forms a large number of loops. The Urals, with a small drop in water, very often changes the main channel along its entire length, digs new passages for itself, leaving deep reservoirs, or “oxbow lakes,” in all directions.

Thanks to the changing flow of the Urals, many Cossack villages that were previously near the river later ended up on oxbow lakes; residents of other villages were forced to move to new places only because their old ashes were gradually undermined and demolished by the river. In general, the Ural valley is cut on both sides by oxbow lakes, narrow channels, wide channels, lakes, small lakes; During the spring flood, which occurs from the melting of snow on the Ural Mountains, they are all filled with water, which remains in some until next year.

In the spring, rivers and streams carry a lot of melt water into the Urals, the river overflows, overflows its banks, and in those places where the banks are sloping, the river overflows 3-7 meters. The Urals are not very navigable. Sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, carp, catfish, pike perch, bream, catfish, and chubak are found here. There is also a water supply from the river to the oil fields.

SEVEN BROTHERS RESERVE IN THE CHELYABINSK REGION

Tributaries

Most of the tributaries flow into it from the right side, facing the General Syrt; of them are known: Artazim, Bolshoi Kizil, Tanalyk, Guberlya, Sakmara, Zazhivnaya, lost in the floodplain, not reaching the Urals, in the meadows between the villages of Studenovsky and Kindelinsky, Kindelya and Irtek within the Orenburg region; in the West Kazakhstan region, several shallow rivers flow below the Irtek, including Rubezhka, at the mouth of which were the first settlements of the Yaik Cossacks; the most watery tributary on the right is the river. Chagan, flowing from General Syrt.

The following rivers flow in from the left: Gumbeyka, Suunduk, Bolshoi Kumak, Or, Ilek, Utva, Barbasheva (Barbastau) and Solyanka, noticeable only in spring and drying up in summer.

Border between Asia and Europe

Memorial sign “Europe - Asia” on the banks of the Urals in Verkhneuralsk

Contrary to general misconception, the Ural River is a natural water border between Asia and Europe only in its upper reaches in Russia. The border passes through the cities of Verkhneuralsk and Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk region. In Kazakhstan, the geographical border between Europe and Asia runs south from Orsk along the Mugodzhary ridge. Thus, the Ural River is an inland European river; only the Russian upper reaches of the river east of the Ural Range belong to Asia.

Preliminary results of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society in Kazakhstan in April - May 2010 showed that drawing the border between Europe and Asia along the Ural River, as well as along the Emba, does not have sufficient scientific grounds. The fact is that south of Zlatoust the Ural ridge, having lost its axis, breaks up into several parts, then the mountains gradually disappear altogether, that is, the main landmark when drawing the border disappears. The Ural and Emba rivers do not share anything, since the terrain they cross is identical.

URAL RIVER - ORENBURG CITY

URAL RIVER IN ORENBURG REGION

The largest river in the Orenburg region is the Ural (in ancient times Yaik), the main part of its flow is formed in the Orenburg region.

Two other large rivers - Sakmara and Ilek - originate in Bashkiria and Kazakhstan, respectively, but flow into the Urals within the Orenburg region. The Ural is the third river in Europe in terms of its length; in length it is second only to the Volga and Danube. Even the Dnieper is 249 kilometers shorter than the Urals.

The Ural is the main water artery of the Orenburg region. The Ural River crosses the Orenburg region from east to west, flowing through 10 districts of the region for 1164 km. The main feature of the river is the uneven flow. During the spring flood, the Ural turns into a huge watercourse, filling the entire floodplain 6 - 8 km wide.

The Ural is the third river in Europe in terms of its length; in length it is second only to the Volga and Danube. Even the Dnieper is 249 kilometers shorter than the Urals.

The first two large Orenburg tributaries of the Urals, Tanalyk and Suunduk, currently flow into the Iriklinskoye reservoir, forming bays of the same name. The Tanalyk River, 225 km long, originates in the spurs of the Uralau, then crosses Irendyk. The average water flow in Tanalyk does not exceed 1.0 m3/s.

In the area of the city of Orsk, two more significant tributaries, the Bolshoi Kumak and the Or, flow into the Urals from the left.

Throughout the entire length from the Iriklinsky reservoir to the mouth of the Sakmara, the Ural receives only one significant tributary from the right - the Guberlya.

The Ilek River is the largest left-bank tributary of the Urals. Below Ilek, the Ural receives three more significant tributaries on the right: Kindelyu, Irtek and Chagan. The last of them flows into the Urals outside the Orenburg region.

Near the city of Orsk the Or River flows into the Urals. In the “Gorge” the river cuts almost straight through the Ural ridge, and even lower down the 40-kilometer section of the Khabarninsky Gorge begins. In this section, the Ural receives the waters of the mountain rivers Guberli with Chebakla and Kinderli on the right, and on the left - Ebita, Aituarka and Alimbet.

In ancient sources the names of the Ural River are found - Likos, Daiks, Daikh, Dzhaikh, as well as Ruza, Yaik, Yagak, Yagat, Ulusu, Zapolnaya River. The name of the river Yaik and its consonant names Daiks, Daikh, Yagak, etc. have been found for about two thousand years. Now it is difficult to say what the word “Daix” meant in the time of Ptolemy, when the Iranian-speaking Sarmatian tribes were still roaming the Urals basin. The Russian form “Yaik” is first found in the Russian chronicle of 1229.

It is considered to be a derivative of the common Turkic stem “Zhaik” with the meaning “wide river bed” or “spreading widely.”

GOLDEN AUTUMN ON THE URAL RIVER

THE LARGEST TRIBUTORS OF THE URAL IN THE ORENBURG REGION

Sakmara River- this is the largest tributary of the Urals. The length of Sakmara within the Orenburg region is about 380 km.

In the upper reaches of the Sakmara it is a typical mountain river with steep banks and narrow terraces, in the middle and lower reaches its valley is wide, asymmetrical with well-defined two terraces and a populated floodplain.

Ilek River- the largest left-bank tributary of the Urals (623 km). Its sources are located in the Mutojar Mountains. In terms of drainage area (41 thousand km2), Ilek is one third larger than Sakmara, but carries 2.5 times less water than the most abundant tributary of the Urals (the annual flow rate is 1569 m3).

The Ilek River has a wide, well-developed valley with two terraces above the floodplain. The size of the Ilek valley is sometimes not inferior to the Ural valley. The Ilek floodplain is replete with numerous channels and oxbow lakes.

FOREST-STEPPE VALLEY OF THE URAL RIVER

ATTRACTIONS OF THE URAL RIVER

Alabaster Mountain

The next mountain on the left bank of the Urals is Alabaster, located 75 km by land and 147 km by water above Uralsk. The mountain is half eaten by a quarry - alabaster was mined here for a long time. To the east of the former quarry stretches a high slope with marly screes. Its middle part is overgrown with powerful oaks for these places, as well as birch, aspen, poplars with bird cherry, viburnum, and goat willow in the undergrowth.

We sail through the Urals for another 30 km and on the left bank near Aula-Aksai we again notice chalk outcrops. But the chalk and marly slopes reach their greatest heights somewhat lower, on the Kitayshinsky Yar.

Below the mouth of the Rubezhka River and the village of Rubezhinskoye, where the navigable section of the Urals begins, another hill appears on the left bank. The river washes her away twice. The first time is right behind the rapid reach of the Uporny Yar, where the Urals, hitting a high steep marly scree, makes a turn of almost 180°. Here the river reaches the fastest rapid below Orenburg, Saurkin, and breaks into two channels. After 5 km on the path of the Urals there is a second high marly cliff - Polousov Yar. Both ravine cliffs - Saurkin and Polousov - rise above the river by more than 50 m. Their slopes are complicated by giant landslides. In a kind of amphitheater between them lies a natural phenomenon of the Ural valley - the Krasnoshkolny relict forest. One of the slopes of this huge amphitheater is overgrown with a magnificent oak forest, under the cover of which there are hazel, or hazel, and a forest apple tree. The oak forest herbage consists of bracken fern and lily of the valley, May celandine.

Treasure Coast

This tract, inconspicuous at first glance, on the banks of the Urals deserves the most careful treatment. It was not without reason that popular wisdom called it the Coast of Treasures - this is one of the most remarkable places on the entire right-bank slope of the Ural valley from Orenburg to Ilek.

If up to the mouth of the Ilek the steep bank near the Urals is on the right, then below the Ilek the left bank, which entirely belongs to the Ural region, is much more often steep. In the Ilek-Uralsk section, the river washes away at least six hills, which have salt domes in their core, and on the surface there is chalk, marl, white clay, ferruginous sandstones and flagstones. These. the hills form a single chain of small mountains stretched along the junction of General Syrt and the Caspian lowland. The Ural manages to break through this chain and rush south only south of Uralsk, leaving the seventh dome from Ilek - Chalk Hills on the right.

At the foot of the ancient ravines

One of them is located on the right bank of the Urals between the villages of Pervaya and Vtoraya Zubochistka, Perevolotsky district, Orenburg region. The steep and high coast of the Urals here is complicated by several cirque-shaped landslides, which were formed as a result of downslope displacements of blocks of sandy-clayey sediments associated with the activity of groundwater.

But there is something else that is interesting here. In this section, the Ural lobe is crossed by a depressed section of the earth's crust about 1 km wide. On both sides there is a decrease in the limitation of layers of Permian red-colored and variegated rocks inclined in different directions. In mountainous countries, such phenomena are called grabens; As a result, rocks of different ages and compositions appear on the same horizon. This peculiar graben was formed not in the mountains, but on the plains - in a depression, the sides of which are composed of dense Permian and Triassic rocks formed more than 200 million years ago. Here, gray and white clays, mergues, and sandstones of the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods have been preserved from erosion. Their age ranges from 50 to 130 million years. The geological structure of the Ural coast is complicated by landslide processes in this area. As a result, the coastal slopes are replaced by variegated sandy clays of various shades, marls, calcareous tuffs, and ocher screes. It seems that nature has collected all the colorful gamuts of yellow, gray-green, brown, and red into this unique collection of sedimentary rocks.

Lakes of the Ural floodplain

Fossilized remains of chilim fruits were found in Cretaceous deposits. This means that it has inhabited the fresh water bodies of the Earth for more than 70 million years. But at present, chilim thickets have been preserved in a few places. It is noteworthy that, having formed continuous thickets on one of the lakes, it no longer settles on neighboring lakes, but sometimes even tens or hundreds of kilometers around. The above indicates the relict nature of the chilim, preserved only in certain environmental conditions. In recent years, chilim lakes have been taken under protection in Mordovia, Bashkiria, the Altai Mountains, the Far East and in many other regions of our country. Chilim is listed in the Red Book.

Jasper Mountain Colonel

We find a description of this mountain from P. S. Pallas, who visited here in 1769. He wrote: “Beyond the Or River a mountain range begins, in which the best types of jasper stone are visible. The layers in this mountain, just like in the jasper mountains lying near Yaik, mostly descend into the depths from the western to the eastern side. The local flask has many different colors. The best jasper, especially in large spread, has a color that is either coffee or white with red and yellowish stripes. There are also pieces depicting grass and trees. There are Kyrgyz graves on every hill. Nowhere can one find the best pieces of local jasper as on these graves, and it seems that the action of the sun produced a much better color on the outside than on the inside of the stone.” In the vicinity of Orsk there were already several quarries at that time.

Academician A.E. Fersman, describing the minerals of the Soviet Union in the book “Journey for Stone,” placed six pieces of stone on the title of the book, specifically Orsk jasper, to which the scientist devoted many enthusiastic lines: “It is difficult to give an exhaustive description of this jasper - its designs are so varied and coloring, we know over two hundred varieties of jasper in this area, and the best designs and colors belong specifically to the jaspers of this deposit... It seems to me that we are in a wonderful art gallery. Not every artist will be able to convey such combinations of tones and colors that nature itself has scattered here with a generous hand. It’s like a stormy sea: its greenish waves shimmer with the reddish glow of dawn, here is the white edge of foam, and here are the rocky shores...” and further: “... Orsky jaspers are undoubtedly the national wealth of the country.”

In addition to Mount Colonel, along the Urals there are a number of other places where jasper is born. Many of them are not yet widely known; they contain the future glory of the Trans-Ural jasper belt.

FISHING AND FISH ON THE URAL RIVER

Fish spawning in the Urals

Observations have shown that almost all non-silted areas of the river bottom with hard soil in the spring serve as spawning grounds for sturgeon. It was found that spawning is most effective in large fields of riverbed and beach Mechnik, crushed stone and cemented shell rock, where the flow speed during high water reaches 2 m/s, preventing siltation of the soil and deposited eggs.

On a 315-kilometer stretch of the river from Uralsk to Ilek, the expedition studied several types of spawning grounds. The most common of them were riverine beaches. They are formed, as is known, along convex shores, where thick layers of coarse material accumulate. The excess of the beaches above the low-water level of the river reaches 4 m, the width is 40-120 m. The length of the Ural beaches, depending on the radius of the bend, ranges from 200-300 m to 2 km. The longest beaches on the Ilek-Uralsk section are Kambavskie Sands (below the village of Yanvartseva) and Trekinskie Sands (above the city of Uralsk). The most valuable in terms of quality are Verkhnekirsanovsky and Aksuatsky beaches with a dense pebble surface, located respectively 179 and 36 kilometers above Uralsk.

UPPER URAL RIVER

Belorybitsa in the Urals

White fish is a representative of salmon fish, very close to whitefish. It reaches 120 cm in length and 20 kg in weight. In its appearance it somewhat resembles the well-known asp. The whitefish is a predator, but in the Urals it hardly feeds. The white fish enters the river to spawn no more than twice in its life. She lives until she is 11 years old.

The closest relative of the white fish, nelma, lives in the Arctic Ocean basin. It was from there, according to scientists, that at the end of the Ice Age it moved along chains of lakes across the Kama and Volga to the Caspian Sea and, having changed somewhat, became a whitefish.

White fish is a valuable commercial fish, but its catch is now prohibited everywhere. Through the efforts of scientists and fish farmers, it was possible to maintain its numbers artificially. At the foot of the Volgograd hydroelectric power station dam on the Volga, gravel spawning grounds have been built for white fish. The only natural spawning grounds for this fish are in the Urals.

URAL RIVER, GUBERLIN MOUNTAINS

Sevruga in the Urals

In addition to sturgeon, other species of migratory fish are found in the Urals. The most interesting of them are white fish and lamprey.

The whitefish is endemic to the Caspian basin; it is not found anywhere in the world except the Caspian Sea and its tributaries. Just recently, the white fish was threatened with complete extinction. After the construction of a cascade of Volga hydroelectric power stations, it almost completely lost its natural spawning grounds located in the Ufa River. In the 50s and 60s, a small Caspian herd of whitefish was supported by spawning grounds in the Urals.

The spawning sites of these fish in the Urals have not been precisely established. Belorybitsa enters the river from the Caspian Sea from October to March. Its spawning occurs in October - November on gravel and pebble soils. In the early 80s, individual specimens of white fish were caught in the Urals near Orenburg, Sakmara, and Bolshoi Ika. One of the spawning grounds of the whitefish is probably located under Mount Mayachnaya in the Belyaevsky district, 200 km above Orenburg. The number of whitefish spawning in the Urals is apparently estimated at several hundred specimens, since scientists now count about 20 thousand individuals of this species in the entire Caspian herd.

TRIBUTAR OF THE URAL RIVER - GUBERLIA RIVER

Migratory fish in the Urals

It takes a lot of time to restore strength and develop a new portion of reproductive products to re-enter the river to spawn: females - 5-6 years, males - 3-4 years. Therefore, despite the long life expectancy (up to 30 years or more), each breeder can enter the river only a few times in its life.

Every year, huge hordes of migratory fish flock to the Urals. Their advanced detachments reach Ilek, Orenburg and even Orsk. Ichthyological observations 1981 - 1983 It has been established that the largest sturgeon specimens rise to the middle of the river reach. This means that the middle reaches of the Urals are of decisive importance for the conservation of large-sized sturgeon specimens.

The largest fish in the Caspian basin is the beluga. In the 20s of our century, fish weighing up to 12 c were caught in the Urals. In former times, larger specimens were also caught. The usual weight of belugas spawning above Uralsk is 150-300 kg for females and 50-90 kg for males. To this day, beluga whales weighing 600 kg or more are still found.

Sturgeon in the Urals

Sturgeons are freshwater fish, many of them have adapted to live in brackish and even sea waters. But not a single species of sturgeon can reproduce outside freshwater bodies. Sturgeons reached their greatest numbers in the Caspian Sea basin, where 5 of the 23 species of sturgeon in the world are represented - beluga, sturgeon, thorn and stellate sturgeon, which have mastered the food resources of the sea, where they spend most of their lives, Sterlet, which is a marine species, that is, never does not leave the river.

Beluga, sturgeon, thorn and stellate sturgeon of the Caspian Sea are migratory fish. They regularly migrate from the Caspian Sea to rivers to breed. Migratory fish are divided into winter and spring races. Winter fish enter the river in summer and autumn, and after overwintering, they spawn. Spring fish enter the river in winter and spring and spawn in the same year.

Migratory fish in the river, as a rule, do not feed or feed very little. Overcoming the river current during spawning migrations, a long stay in the river and the spawning process itself lead to severe depletion of the producers. It has been established that stellate sturgeon and sturgeon lose up to 30% of their weight during spawning migration, and beluga lose up to 50% of their weight. And, as a rule, the greater the energy reserves of a particular individual, the larger it is, the higher along the river it can and tends to rise.

FISHING ON THE URAL RIVER

This time we decided to go to Krasnaya Luka with the whole family. It attracted my father because he, a lover of fishing for bait, always left here with a good catch. Unmarked place - not far from the city, rarely visited by fishermen. It is also convenient because in the afternoon there was shade under the yar, saving from the sweltering heat. At the top, a ravine overgrown with green grass approached the very shore. There stood a group of silver poplars right there.

The sun was still high when we arrived at the place. A man was rising heavily towards us, bending under the weight of a backpack from which carp tails were sticking out. We looked at each other silently. He looked at us and our gear unkindly and contemptuously. I asked naively, running my finger along the trembling carp’s tail:

- Did you catch it here? On fishing rods?

“Here, but not about your honor,” he answered and, muttering: “Fishermen for me too,” he turned onto the path. We could hope that the parking lot where the carp was fattening was open; for a good catch - hardly: where are we, really, with our fishing rods. And I had no experience.

In the morning, when the coastal pebbles burned my feet with cold, I took my short donkeys and went upstream, where the ravine went steeply under the water. I looked around. Cigarette butts were lying around. Broken shells glittered like mother-of-pearl. On the trampled small area there are holes from fishing rods. There was no doubt: that unfriendly uncle was fishing here yesterday. The rapids, hitting the sheer wall of the ravine, moved away at a slight angle to the fairway, forming a small pool. The water flowed smoothly and calmly, which indicated great depth. Unwinding my unsightly fishing rods, designed for small change, I shuddered: about fifteen meters away, where the shadow from the ravine ended, a carp jumped out. Then again. And one more thing. Gold bars of fish marked the surface of the water in radiating circles. The breeze carried the whitish strands of fog into the tuft matted with dew. I cast... And then the end of the rod trembled, bent down, frozen in that position for several seconds. Then he straightened up and nodded smoothly, widely...

I don’t remember how I pulled out the fish. Everything happened as if in a cloud. But this was it, my first carp. I ran along the shore, slipping and stumbling, clutching the fish tightly to my chest with both hands, and shouted triumphantly:

- Caught! Got it!

Now, many years later, I ironically, but with satisfaction, laugh at myself: no, perhaps it was not I who caught the carp, but he caught me, and so that I cannot escape for the rest of my life!

In the Urals there are two types of carp: the migratory carp - the one that rises to the upper reaches from the sea, and the local one. The guest is silvery-pale in color, long, and wiry. His own is the color of red gold with an orange tail fin, humpbacked, high in the back, and shorter. This is a handsome man. He is much stronger, more careful and... fatter than the passing one.

There used to be a lot of carp. They caught him easily and without any exciting sporting interest: just think, he lost it, someone else will grab him! About twenty years ago, the fishing collective farms of the Guryev region were not well equipped technically, and there were not enough people in the fisheries.

Now the picture is completely different. At the mouth of the Urals, day and night, dozens of seines from both banks scoop up fish for spawning. If earlier the carp reached Orenburg, now it does not reach Uralsk every year. There was much less of it in the river. And the more honorable the trophy is when you catch not a skinny, hungry alien, but a violent “master” who is capable of any tricks.

The common bait for carp in May and June is forest worms, of which there are a lot in the local coastal forests, which are flooded during high water. Later, if rainfall is rare and there are few worms, shells of different colors serve as bait: white, yellow, pink, gray with black, reddish. However, the best bait is considered to be a combined bait: a shell or a piece of fish fillet and an earthworm. At the end of August and September it is good to fish for bread, mainly in creeks where the current is not strong.

The second-ranking fish in the Urals is asp. Who hasn’t seen his robber raids on the little things fattening on the shallows? Who hasn’t admired its powerful splashes in the waters, under the yar? But it is not so easy to catch this wary fish. However, I don’t know how it is in other bodies of water, but in the Urals, catching asp is not that difficult.

I believe that the asp is not picky about bait. In my practice, there has never been a case where he refused a live fish, a frog, a grasshopper, a brush of worms, or an oscillating spoon.

I remember such a case. One day at the end of October, after an unsuccessful fishing trip in a quarry (deep hole), I was returning through the Transshipment Grove. A gusty cold wind blew, and it rained at times. There were steep waves on the river. I don’t remember how I came out onto the coastal sand. Somewhere in my mind it flashed: “My hopes for biting bluegill and bream in the quarry did not come true. Maybe there will be pike perch here? This place has a two-meter depth and a smooth, moderate current. Without thinking for a long time, I baited the bottom with a piece of fish and threw it away. Soon the line tightened, the tip smoothly bent towards the water. Undercut - empty.

I cast again, and again a bite immediately followed. This time I felt that a large fish was resisting in the depths. Who? Pike perch don't behave like that. This is a large-mouthed asp with a golden rim around its eyes. After him, I pulled out another one and that’s it: there were no more bites. Accident? Just a month ago, even two weeks, asps were caught using a spoon, which was thrown under a ravine where insects fell, and in upper layers bleaks scurried about in the water. Now the small fry have gone into quiet water, hid in snags, the grasshoppers have disappeared, and the predator has nothing to do here. It is equally useless to look for it on the rifts: it does not chase the fry, does not hit, and does not make itself known. And yet, as it turned out, there are asps in small places, although my trophies at that time could not be considered convincing evidence.

If on a calm day we look at the river from an elevated position, we can distinguish yellow and dark spots. These are underwater shallows, alternating with holes. Sometimes the shallows have the shape of an arc, parallel to the shore and sharply plunging into the water. In such places, shallow pits are formed. The ridge of the sandbank (the mane), which slopes gently down to the middle of the river, is clearly visible. Behind the manes are the asp’s favorite places. Here he hunts for minnows.

And so I came here again. Now with spinning. It was a quiet day, and the bottom topography was clearly visible. I made several casts: no chase, no escapes. The spoon lay about a meter further than the ridge. I had to increase the cast from 20 m to 40-50. And as soon as the metal bait touched the water, a sharp jerk immediately followed - breakers appeared on the calm water. So in three hours I caught several asps.

And again doubt: the reason for the luck, perhaps, was in favorable weather - quiet, sunny, and the asp came out onto the sandbank. A few days later I fished in these places again. This time a strong westerly wind was blowing, steep waves were moving across the Urals, heavy clouds hung low above the ground, ready to burst into rain or snow. It had been drizzling all night the night before, and the sands, previously golden, became gray and gloomy. Cold, damp. But the asp still grabbed the spoon. Moreover, it is large - up to 2-3 kg. Then I made another discovery for myself: in the fall, predators do not walk around like in the summer, but stand in one place. And as soon as the lure appears near their camp, one of them rushes at it.

I even mentally drew a circle for myself on the water: hit it - there is an asp, miss - throw it again. The most catchy spoon is a medium-sized one, the “Baikal” type, painted on the inside with red lead. But when fishing with a spinning rod on the sands, you need a certain skill. Don't forget that you are fishing in shallow waters. Immediately after casting, you need to take a few steps back in order to quickly pick up the line that has sagged due to the wind, while simultaneously reeling it onto the reel. At the same time, the rod is raised almost vertically, so that the reel is at chest level.

I love fishing with a fishing rod and spinning rod, but still, in my opinion, fly fishing is the most exciting, fascinating and interesting form of fishing. At the same time, it is important that there is no need to carry around a bunch of fishing rods, main and spare weights for bottoms, bags of worms, shells...

You, of course, have more than once seen ides and chubs leisurely strolling in calm water, in the shade of trees hanging over the water. You just waved your hand, and the fish seemed to melt into the depths. Was:. - and no. I can’t even believe that there were red-feathered beauties standing not far from evil. It is very difficult to catch them with a simple fishing rod in August. The most delicious attachments are useless. And then fly fishing comes to the rescue.

In the evening, before sunset, you hurry into a hollow, densely overgrown with grass: dew appears in the lowlands earlier. And the grasshoppers, whose wings become fluffy, are helpless. Now it’s no longer difficult to quickly fill a jar with them. Over my shoulder is a fish bag, in my hand is a light three-meter fishing rod. That's all the equipment. Convenient, easy.

While it is light, you choose an area (so that there are no bushes on the shore) with shallow depths, with sand, pebbles, and wait. You watch how wagtails, squeaking and flying from hillock to hillock, settle down for the night. Behind them appear crows, silent in the evening. Next are the magpies. Dawn is quite good. Silence envelops you like cotton wool. Somewhere a fox is yapping, an eagle owl is hooting, a large fish is striking. A light wind either brings a wave of tart meadow infusion, or dry heat from the steppe. But in the west a scarlet stripe is already barely noticeable flowing. It's time. You go down to the water. You unwind the fishing line and meter by meter, pull it out strongly so that there are no rings or kinks. Meadow grasshoppers are small, and therefore you put several on the hook. Then you gently tilt the rod back, wait a second or two for the line to fly out to its full length. Swing forward, and about nine meters from you the nozzle falls onto the water. Letting the current pull the line, you pull it towards you, slightly moving it to the side.

The moon rises, and a golden path lies on the river. Nightingales are singing in the coastal forest. And the hand, over and over again, sends a fishing line with a nozzle from behind the back to, downstream, where small things are busy near the shore. Another cast, another... And suddenly a blow! The small fry shivers to the sides. Something alive and heavy is pulling the fishing line. Finally, it dawns on him that there is a fish on the hook. It’s not hard to guess which one: the chub immediately throws itself out of the water; the asp goes into the depths; In its own way, with a short twitch, the ide resists.

The summer night passes unnoticed. Behind us is about three kilometers of road through rubble and steep slopes... After all, when fly fishing it’s like this: you catch one or two ides - and move on. Meanwhile, the sun shows its sleepy eye over the forest, pink fog rises over the river. Sonya. Silence. And fatigue... There are several ides and chubs in the bag. It's time to go home. The last mandatory procedure is bathing. Reluctantly you take off your clothes and, after hesitating, rush into the water. It seems like it wasn’t sleepless night, severe fatigue. Refreshed, invigorated, as if the river had poured some of its inexhaustible energy into you, you walk along the road. The way back seems shorter and easier.

The Urals are rich in fish. There is a lot of it in lakes, oxbow lakes, and steppe rivers. You can get to any intended place by bus or car, which now go to all areas of the region.

RECREATION IN THE URALS

There are many oxbow lakes in the river valley. The banks are mostly steep.

The winding bed of the river often changes, as a result it often turned out that villages standing on the river eventually ended up on an oxbow or even far from the water.

There are several reservoirs on the river, the largest and most beautiful among them is Iriklinskoye.

In the past, the Ural was a large river and was navigable. In particular, water transport ran from Orenburg to Uralsk. However, every year in the summer the river becomes shallower, it can be forded, and navigation is a thing of the past. The causes of shallowing mainly lie in the plowing of steppes and the destruction of forest belts.

Scientists and social activists sounded the alarm. Plans began to be developed to save the river, restore its ecosystem and fill it with water, and environmental expeditions were organized every summer. I would like to hope that the river will be saved.

And although the Ural River has lost its navigability, it is quite suitable for tourist rafting. Of course, it is not comparable in beauty to rivers such as Chusovaya or Ai, but here you can have an interesting time and have a good rest.

In some places along the banks of the Urals you can find rocks. The Ural River after Orsk is especially beautiful. Here the river flows into a gorge through the Guberlinsky Mountains, the length of this section is approximately 45 kilometers.

In the Urals you can see such beautiful geological and landscape natural monuments as the Iriklinskoye Gorge, Orskie Gates, the Poperechnaya and Mayachnaya mountains, the Nikolsky section and others. There is good fishing on the river. In the past, the Ural River was famous for sturgeon. At the end of the 1970s, the share of the Ural River in the world production of sturgeon was 33 percent, and in the production of black caviar - 40 percent!.. Unfortunately, now the sturgeon population has decreased by more than 30 times.

The government of the Orenburg region pins its hopes on the development of water tourism on the Ural River. In particular, a water route for kayaks with a total length of 876 kilometers has been developed (from Iriklinsky to Orenburg - 523 km, from Orenburg to Ranny - 352 km). Rafting along this route is designed for 28 days.

However, it is not necessary to go rafting; you can simply come to the banks of the Ural River on weekends, relax after hard everyday life and go fishing.

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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:

http://prirodaurala.ru/reka-ural/

http://www.orenobl.ru/priroda/ural.php

Wikipedia website.

http://www.inforybaku.ru/rybolovnye-puteshestviya/460-ural-ural-reka.html

http://www.kraeved74.ru/