The Katun ( ; ) is a river in the

Altai Republic The Altai Republic, also known as the Gorno-Altai Republic, is a republic of Russia located in southern Siberia. The republic borders Kemerovo Oblast to the north, Khakassia to the northeast, Tuva to the east, Altai Krai to the west, as well ...

and the Altai Krai of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It forms the Ob as it joins the Biya some southwest of Biysk.Катунь

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

The Katun is long, and its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

covers ., erroneously named "БИЯ" It originates in the Katun

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s on the southwestern slope of Belukha Mountain. The river freezes up in late November or early December and breaks up in early or mid-April. The main tributaries of the Katun are, from source to mouth: Koksa (left), Kucherla (right), Argut (right), Chuya (right), Ursul (left), Sema (left) and Isha (right). The river is navigable. Katun

In its upper reach of the Katun flows down the distant and sparsely populated area, but a few kilometers downstream near the village Kuyus, the coastal population density grows steadily and the area downstream of the village Ust-Sema is the most populated. There are numerous buildings, holiday camps and various guest houses in the pine forest near the village. The main settlements along the Katun are, from source to mouth: Ust-Koksa, Katanda, Inya, Chemal, Manzherok, Souzga, Aya, Mayma, Srostki and Verkh-Katunskoye.

References

Rivers of Altai Krai Rivers of the Altai Republic {{Siberia-river-stub

See also

References