Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/404

* RTJgSIA. 366 ETJSSIA. Upper Volga, idcly separated from this area of elevation by the Valley of the Donetz are the .so-called Mountains of the Donetz, extending east and west, rising to 1225 feet and extending tins enseniblu of elevations almost to the Sea of Azov. The Heights of the Volga have a direction roughly parallel to those of Central Russia. They extentl on the right bank of the river from Nizhni-Xovgorod and Kazan to Tsaritsin, a dis- tance north and south of 730 miles, attaining 1121 feet near Samara and 1314 feet to the west of Saratov. The greatest width of this area of elevation is about 230 miles. Farther cast, on the edge of Asia, the Ural Jlountains (q.v. ) break the monoton.y of the plains. They are broken by deep gaps dividing them into three main st'cticms known as the Xorthcrn, Central, or Permian (from the Province of Perm) , and Southern Urals. The Urals extend from north to south approximately along the meridian of 60° E. for 1500 miles, rising in the north and south to upward of 5000 feet, with gentle slopes on their European face and more abrupt descents on the Asiatic side. The Central Urals, where the rainfall is much heavier than in its other sections, have on this account been more deeply denuded, are low in elevation, and the detritus has been scattered far over the plain on both sides of the range to a depth of 500 feet. The traveler approaching from the west observes nothing suggestive of mountains till he jjasses the water divide and looks down upon the plains of Siberia. With the exception of the south coast of the Crimea, where the Yaila Mountains and their spurs descend steeply to the sea. there are no other prominent elevations in Russia IJi'oper. The most uniijue feature of the topog- raphy of Russia is the area of depression below the sea level in the southeast part of the country along the coasts of the Caspian, a region of sunken plains that is larger than all other de- pressions below sea level in the world. While the dominant character of the plain of Russia is monotony, and this feature is maintained through- out the i'm|iire over wide expanses of tlat and low lands, the new parts of the empire have manifold topographic aspects, .so that the Russian domain as a whole has many varieties of land and scenery, from the. tundras, plains, and low pla- teaus of Russia in Europe to the steppes both high and low in Asia, and the lofty and wild mountain chains of Caucasia, and the many par- allel belts of mountains, gridironed with trans- verse ranges and spurs, which fill Eastern Si- beria and terminate in Kamchatka. Hydeocraphy. The river system of the great plain of Russia serves most to distinguish it from all other plains. The vast extent of these lowlands favored the development of the largest river sy.stems of Europe (the Danube alone ex- cepted ), and all these rivers have reached the advanced stage of mature adjustment to the land, have drained their ancient lakes, established their individualit.v, and deepened their channels in manv cases sutliciently to extend navigation for light-draught vessels almost to their sources. It is the streams flowing from the low plateau known as the Heights of Central Russia which give birth to most of the more important rivers of the country. The chief rivers may be classi- fied according to their respective basins : Basin OF THE Caspiajn' Sea. The Volga (q.v.). the largest river in Europe, is continuously navi- gable for 1800 miles. Two of the Volga's tribu- taries are especially prominent in commerce. The Oka (q.v.), entering the river from the south at Nizhni-Novgorod, waters the most fertile part of South Central Russia. The Kama (q.v.) drains the western slope of the Central Urals and its basin embraces an area larger than that of Great Britain. The Ural (q.v.) is shallow and ehietlj' noted for its prolific fisheries and its enormous fleets of small fishing boats. Basin of the Sea of Azov. The Sea of Azov receives the Don, the third longest river of Eu- ropean Russia. This stream is greatly impaired for navigation b,v the irregularity of its flow. It is one of the great highwaj-s to the sea of the wheat of the eastern black soil region. Its chief tributary is the Donetz, navigable only in its lower course. Basin of the Black Sea. The basin of the Dnieper, Russia's second longest river, is as large as Frajice. Among its several important tributaries the Pripet is the most noteworthj'. The Bug and the Dniester are the only navi- gable rivers west of the Dnieper. Basin of the B.ltic. The Vistula (q.v.) is Polish throughout its course in the domain of Russia, the great highwa_y being used by the Poles to ship their cereals, timber, and other ex- port products to the Prussian port of Danzig. Its principal tributary is the Northern Bug, which receives the Narev. The Diina or Western Dvina is another large river entering the Baltic. It is navigable almost from the Heights of Central Russia, where it rises, to the Gulf of Riga, into which it empties, but navigation is rendered ditti- eult by rapids in one part of its course. Still another atHuent of the BalWc is the Niemen, which takes the name of Memel on entering Prus- sia. The Narova carries the waters of Lake Peipus through a series of rapids to the Gulf of Finland, the great eastern arm of the Baltic; and the Neva, the outlet of Lake Ladoga, like- wise empt.ving into the Gulf of Finland, though only 43 miles long, discharges more water into the sea than any river of Europe outside of Russia, excepting the Danube. Basi.n of the Arctic. The most important rivers tributary to the Arctic Ocean are the Pe- tchora, rising among the Northern Urals; the Northern Dvina, a mighty stream; the Dvina, emptying into the White Sea at Archangel ; and the Onega, which drains Lake Bielo-Ozero to the White Sea. Russia is extraordinarily rich in lakes. Fin- land and the northwestern provinces of Olonetz. Novgorod. Saint Petersburg, and Pskov contain thousands of them. The largest of these lakes is Ladoga, with an area of more than 7000 square miles (about equal to that of Lake Ontario). Onega, about half as large, and Peipus. Most of the lakes throughout the whole region near the Baltic, where they are clustered, are con- nected with one another; and between them and the Arctic Ocean great expanses of moorlauil and swamp cover the low flat country. The lakes arc a large element in the interior navigation. In the middle and south of European Russia there are few lakes excepting the small bodies of salt water on the sterile steppes of the south- cast. Climate and Soil. As Russia has a distinctly continental climate, the winters are colder and the summers hotter than in Western Europe in