Siberia is a vast region located in the northeast of Eurasia. Siberian land is rich in various types of resources. One of them is the great rivers flowing through the expanses lying to the east of the Ural Mountains. The largest rivers in Siberia are the Ob, Yenisei and Lena.
The largest Siberian rivers
The Ob, one of the longest rivers in Russia, originates in the Altai mountains. It is there that it is formed after the connection of Katun and Biya. The river has both left and right tributaries, the main of which is the Irtysh. The Ob carries its waters to the Kara Sea, where it forms a picturesque bay called the Ob Bay. There is a reservoir on the river near Novosibirsk, which serves as a resting place not only for local residents, but also for tourists from other regions of Russia. There are many sanatoriums and other spa facilities here.
The mighty Yenisei is ranked among the deepest and largest rivers on a global scale. This river has several hundred tributaries of various sizes. The Yenisei serves as a natural border between Western and Eastern Siberia. All along this majestic waterway, amazing landscapes can be observed.
On one side of the Yenisei are the vast plains of Western Siberia, on the other side of the river you can observe the mountain kingdom with taiga forests.
The largest river in the north-east of Siberia is the Lena. Its origins are located on the slopes of the Baikal ridge. The endless and impassable taiga stretches for many hundreds of kilometers around the Lena. The coastal areas are almost unoccupied. Only closer to Yakutsk near the river there is a revival - villages appear, small boats, barges and passenger ships are found. This river is considered the main transport artery of Yakutia.
Features of the rivers of Siberia
Almost all Siberian rivers carry their waters to the Arctic Ocean. The main waterways of Siberia, in terms of their length and fullness, are among the ten largest rivers by world standards. The large rivers of Siberia have many tributaries.
Although each of the Siberian rivers has its own unique appearance, they have common features. They flow from the southern regions to the north, therefore, in their upper reaches, they are frozen in ice for a relatively short time. The waterways of Siberia are fed, as a rule, by melted snow and rain waters.
On all large rivers in this part of Eurasia, strong ice drifts and powerful blockages from ice blocks are noted in the spring. Impressive floods are not uncommon here, usually occurring in late spring.
In the upper reaches of the rivers of Siberia, floods usually begin in mid-April, which comes to the tundra in early summer. This period lasts approximately two to three months. By autumn, the runoff of groundwater and rainwater significantly decreases, and from October freezing begins in the upper reaches of the rivers. Shallower water bodies often freeze to a considerable depth. For the rivers of Eastern Siberia, ice is especially characteristic, which appears after the release of waters on an icy surface.
