The Kuloy (russian: Кулой) is a river in Pinezhsky and

Mezensky District Mezensky District (russian: Мезе́нский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.Law #65-5-OZ As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Mezensky Municipal District.Law ...

s of

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya, as well as the Solov ...

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

. Its mouth is located in the

Mezen Bay The Mezen Bay (russian: Мезенская губа) is located in Arkhangelsk Oblast and Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Northwestern Russia. It is one of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Dvina Bay, the Onega Bay, an ...

of the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...

. It is long, and the area of its basin . The principal

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the Kuloy are the Kyolda (left), the Nemnyuga (right), and the Soyana (left). In the upper course, the Kuloy is known as the Sotka; the total length of the Sotka and the Kuloy is . In the low course, the Sotka approaches the middle course of the

Pinega Pinega (russian: Пинега) is a rural locality (a settlement), formerly a town, in Pinezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pinega River (hence the name). It serves as the administrative center of Pi ...

and passes within several kilometers from the Pinega. In this place, close to the settlement of

, the

Kuloy-Pinega Canal The Kuloy-Pinega Canal (russian: Кулой-Пинежский канал) is a canal connecting the rivers Kuloy (White Sea), Kuloy and Pinega (river), Pinega in Northern Russia at their closest points. The length of the canal is . The canal was ...

was constructed in 1926—1928, however, currently the canal is pretty much neglected. Below the mouth of the canal the river is known as the Kuloy; above the mouth, the river is known as the Sotka. The lower of the course of Kuloy, downstream from the selo of Kulogory, are navigable; the course adjacent to the canal is not navigable anymore. There is no passenger navigation on the Kuloy. The river basin of the Kuloy is huge and includes almost all the area in the north-east of Arkhangelsk Oblast between the White Sea and the Mezen and Pinega rivers. This area is spread over five districts, Pinezhsky, Mezensky, Primorsky, and minor areas in Leshukonsky and

Kholmogorsky District Kholmogorsky District (russian: Холмого́рский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. Municipally, it is incorporated as Kholmogorsky Municipal District.Law #258-vneoc ...

s. From the confluence of the canal, the Kuloy flows north, crosses from Pinezhsky District into Mezensky District, where it accepts the Nemnyuga from the right. Below the mouth of the Soyana, the valley of the Kuloy starts broadening and turns into the

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environmen ...

, which turns north-east and enters the Mezen Bay. The selo of Dolgoshchelye is located at the right bank of the estuary.

History

The area was populated by

Finnic peoples The Finnic or Fennic peoples, sometimes simply called Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finnic (now commonly '' Finno-Permic'') language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of ...

and then colonized by the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mo ...

. In the 13th century the Novgorod merchants already reached the

. The Kuloy was used by Novgorod merchants as the trading route to the basin of the

Pechora Pechora (russian: Печо́ра; kv, Печӧра, ''Pećöra'') is a town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the Pechora River, west of and near the northern Ural Mountains. The area of the town is . Population: History Pechora ...

. From the

Northern Dvina , image = dvina.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Northern Dvina starts as the confluence of Yug River (on left) and Sukhona River (on top) near Veliky Ustyug (photo 2001) , source1 = Confluence o ...

, they went upstream the Pinega and took the boats by land to the Kuloy at the place where the canal now is. The boats then were taken from the Kuloy to the Mezen. The selo of Dolgoshchelye, in the

of the Kuloy, is a historical

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

fishermen village.

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://textual.ru/gvr/index.php?card=163362, script-title=ru:Река Кулой, publisher=State Water Register of Russia, language=Russian, accessdate=4 August 2011 Rivers of Arkhangelsk Oblast