“The place is nice, high and red,” - so the first settlers said about the Yenisei. He inspired not only the Cossack pioneers. Handsome and mighty, the Yenisei at all times was considered the main wonder of Siberia.
The second longest river in the country, one of the deepest in the world, the Yenisei passes through the whole of Eastern Siberia, influencing the climate, people and history.
Its drainage basin is often compared to the tributaries of the Amazon. And the volume of water that the Yenisei dumps into the ocean every year is incomparable with anything - over 620 billion tons.
Everything connected with this river is unusual and amazing. And people still have to discover many interesting things about this great river. Here are just the most curious of the known facts.
Throughout Siberia
The Eastern Sayan is officially considered the source of the river. There, in the vicinity of Kyzyl, the Big and Small Yenisei merge. There is a point of view that it is worth taking into account all the rivers that form the great waterway. Then the Khangai Mountains in Mongolia can be considered the source of the Yenisei. In any case, the biodiversity of the river is incredible - from the camels of Tuva to the polar bears of the Arctic.
Over an area of more than 3, 5 thousand kilometers, the river carries its waters from the geographical center of Asia to the Arctic Ocean. On the way, collecting the waters of all East Siberian rivers. There are about 500 large tributaries alone. And the length of all rivers flowing into the Yenisei, in total, is comparable to the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
At the mouth of the Yenisei, there are two famous ports of the Northern Sea Route - Igarka and Dudinka. Large ocean liners go there.
The name was given by the merchants
Since the river flows through the territory of Tyva, Khakassia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory, each nationality gave it its own name. The Tuvans called the river Ulug-Khem, the Khakases - Kim. Chum salmon inhabiting some territories of the Krasnoyarsk Territory called the Khuk River. And the Evenks are Ionesi. Translated from all languages, this meant "/>
The last name was liked by the merchants who traded on the river. And it gradually transformed into the Yenisei. Only Siberian merchants always added the respectful "father" to the name.
River reserves
The river divides Western and Eastern Siberia throughout the territory. On the left bank the West Siberian plain ends, and the right one begins with the East Siberian taiga.
Due to the amazing variety of climatic zones, flora and fauna, there are many state-protected reserves located around the river:
- Sayano-Shushensky,
- Putoransky,
- Krasnoyarsk Pillars,
- Central Siberian,
- Tunguska,
- Taimyr,
- Big Arctic.
And also the national parks "Shushensky Bor" and "Ergaki", 3 federal nature reserves and 27 regional ones.
Fifteen bridges and one tunnel
Our country is one of the few that is called the country of bridges. And rightfully so: in the vast expanses of Russia there are incredibly many rivers of different widths and lengths. It is not surprising that 15 bridges were built on such a river as the Yenisei, of which only in Krasnoyarsk - 4. When paper "dozens" were in use, everyone managed to admire the Krasnoyarsk Communal Bridge on this bill.
And the tunnel is the only structure in the world under a river of such width and depth. Building a tunnel under the Yenisei was something that only the USSR could aim at. Construction began in Zheleznogorsk, an industrial town near Krasnoyarsk. The most complex object was created for an underground plutonium plant. To transport radioactive waste through the tunnel to the burial site.
Restructuring saved the local ecology. The construction of the plant was stopped. A unique tunnel over 2 km long remained. Now it is used to transport various goods from one coast to another, reducing the distance by more than 100 kilometers. Well, do not waste the same good.
Abandoned dream
Incredible fact: at the end of the 19th century, a canal was built to connect the two longest rivers in Russia. The initiators were, of course, Siberian merchants. Not because they were haunted by the laurels of the Suez Canal. Industrialists dreamed of developing Siberian shipping. At their own expense, they organized surveys for the construction of a canal connecting the Ob and Yenisei. The multitude of plans faced, as usual, the scarcity of government funding.
Instead of a full-fledged one, a canal was built, which functioned at full capacity only during high water. By the end of the summer, only small barges passed through it. With the development of the Transsib, the man-made artery was abandoned. Today it is used for educational purposes. The walls of the canal and sluices are still surprising with the quality of the building. The tightly fitted huge larch trees are bolted together that are still not rusty. Everything from channel digging to bolt forging was done by hand!
Ships pass through the dam
This can be called a triumph of the thought of Soviet engineers. The construction of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station, and in 1967 it was the largest in the world, it was a triumph for the country. It could be overshadowed by the overlap of the navigable Yenisei. Specialists from Lenhydroproject came to the rescue, and then Lenhydrostal. They created a unique ship lift, which at that time was also the only one in the world.
The platform can move river vessels weighing up to 1,500 tons. The mechanism simply lifts them up and carries them across the dam.
Milestone in history
Little-known fact: on the banks of the Yenisei, they also fought against the Nazis. In 1942, the Nazis received information from Japanese intelligence about a caravan with strategic raw materials. He entered the Bering Strait from Vladivostok. The Nazis decided to seize the caravan. However, nature ordered otherwise, and the Soviet caravan got stuck in the ice in the area of Cape Chelyuskin.
Then the German sailors received another task - to seize the headquarters with maps and codes on Dixon Island. And also to mine the Russians out of the Yenisei Bay into the ocean. Despite the unequal forces, Dixon's defenses were held tight. After several hours of battle, the fascist ships received significant damage and retreated. There is a monument to its defenders on the island.
