The Ob (; ) is a major river in Russia. It is in western
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, and with its tributary the
Irtysh
The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob (river), Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world.
The river's source lies in the Altai Mountains, Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern p ...
forms the world's
seventh-longest river system, at . The Ob forms at the confluence of the
Biya and
Katun which have their origins in the
Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...
. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five oceanic divisions. It spans an area of approximately and is the coldest of the world's oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...
(the other two being the
Yenisei and the
Lena). Its flow is north-westward, then northward.
The main city on its banks is
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
, the largest city in Siberia, and the
third-largest city in Russia. It is where the
Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the river.
The
Gulf of Ob is the world's longest
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 enviro ...
.
Names
The internationally known name of the river is based on the Russian name ''Обь'' (''Obʹ'', ). Possibly from
Proto-Indo-Iranian ''
*Hā́p-'', "river, water" (compare
Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit, also simply referred as the Vedic language, is the most ancient known precursor to Sanskrit, a language in the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is atteste ...
''áp-'',
Persian ''āb'',
Tajik ''ob'', and
Pashto
Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
''obə'', "water"). Katz (1990) proposes
Komi ''ob'' 'river' as the immediate source of derivation for the Russian name. Katz's proposal of a common Finno-Ugric root, borrowed early on from a pre-Indo-Iranian source related to Sanskrit ''ambhas-'' 'water' is deemed improbable by Rédei (1992), who prefers to analyse this as a later loan from a descendant of the non-nasal root form ''*Hā́p-''.
The Ob is known to the
Khanty people
The Khanty (), also known in older literature as Ostyaks (), are a Ob-Ugric languages, Ugric Indigenous people, living in Khanty–Mansi Autonomous Okrug, a region historically known as "Yugra" in Russia, together with the Mansi people, Mansi. I ...
as the ''As'' (the source of the name "
Ostyak"), ''Yag'', ''Kolta'' and ''Yema''; to the
Nenets people as the ''Kolta'' or ''Kuay''; and to the
Siberian Tatars as the ''Umar'' or ''Omass''.
Geography
The Ob forms southwest of
Biysk in
Altai Krai at the confluence of the
Biya and
Katun rivers. Both these streams have their origin in the
Altai Mountains
The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central Asia, Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob River, Ob have their headwaters. The ...
, which gradually give way to the
Ob Plateau.
[Приобское плато](_blank)
; ''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 ...
'' in 30 vols. — Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov. – 3rd ed. – M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978. The Biya has its sources in
Lake Teletskoye and the long Katun in a glacier on
Mount Byelukha.
The Ob itself is in Russia. Its tributaries extend into northern
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
, a western corner of China and a tiny upland parcel of the western tip of Mongolia, where the wider borders match the drainage basin almost precisely. The river splits into more than one arm after the large
Irtysh
The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob (river), Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world.
The river's source lies in the Altai Mountains, Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern p ...
flows into it at about 69° E. Originating in China, the Irtysh is the furthest source of the Ob. From their respective sources to the confluence, the Irtysh measures 4,248 kilometers (2,640 mi) and the Ob 2,538 km (1,577 mi). Other noteworthy tributaries are: from the east, the
Tom,
Chulym,
Ket,
Tym and
Vakh rivers; and, from the west and south, the
Vasyugan, Irtysh (with the
Ishim and
Tobol rivers), and
Severnaya Sosva.
The Ob zigzags west and north until it reaches 55° N, where it curves to the northwest, south of the
Siberian Uvaly, at the western end of which it bends northwards, wheeling finally eastwards into the
Gulf of Ob, a bay of the
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...
, separating the
Yamal Peninsula
The Yamal Peninsula () is located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of northwest Siberia, Russia. It extends roughly 700 km (435 mi) and is bordered principally by the Kara Sea and its Baydaratskaya Bay on the west, and by the G ...
from the
Gyda Peninsula.
The combined Ob-Irtysh system, the
fourth-longest river system of Asia (after
Yenisei, and China's
Yangzi and
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...
rivers), is long, and the area of its basin .
The river basin of the Ob consists mostly of
steppe
In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes.
Steppe biomes may include:
* the montane grasslands and shrublands biome
* the tropical and subtropica ...
,
taiga
Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...
, swamps,
tundra
In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...
, and
semi-desert topography. The floodplains of the Ob are characterised by many tributaries and lakes.
The Ob is icebound at southern
Barnaul from early in November to near the end of April, and at northern
Salekhard
Salekhard ( ; Khanty language, Khanty: , ''Pułñawat''; , , formerly Obdorsk) is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative centre of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The town lies on the Arctic Circle, ...
, above its mouth, from the end of October to the beginning of June.
The Ob River crosses several climatic zones. The upper Ob valley, in the south, supports grapes, melons and watermelons, whereas the lower reaches of the Ob are Arctic tundra. The most temperate climates on the Ob are at
Biysk, Barnaul, and
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
.
Human use
The Ob provides irrigation, drinking water, hydroelectric energy, and fishing (the river hosts more than 50 species of fish).
There are several hydroelectric power plants along the Ob river, the largest being Novosibirskaya GES.
The navigable waters within the Ob basin reach a total length of .
The importance of navigation in the Ob basin for transport was particularly great before the completion of the
Trans-Siberian Railway, since, despite the general south-to-north direction of the flow of Ob and most of its tributaries, the width of the Ob basin provided for (somewhat indirect) transport in the east–west direction as well.
History
The
Novgorodians were aware of the lands of western Siberia from at least the 11th century, which were designated by the Russian word ''
Yugra''. Novgorod established two trade routes to the Ob River, both starting from the town of
Ustyug.
The first route went along the
Sukhona and
Vychegda
The Vychegda (; ) is a river in the European part of Russia, a tributary of the Northern Dvina. Its length is about . Its source is approximately west of the northern Ural Mountains. It flows roughly in a western direction, through the Komi Re ...
, then along the
Usa to the lower reaches of the Ob.
The second route went down the
Northern Dvina, then along the coasts of the
White Sea
The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...
and
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...
, before reaching the mouth of the Ob.
The Russian settlements of
Beryozov and
Obdorsk were founded towards the end of the 16th century on the lower reaches of the Ob, while
Surgut was founded on the middle course of the Ob.
Until the early 20th century, a particularly important western river-port was
Tyumen
Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...
, located on the
Tura, a tributary of the
Tobol. Reached by an extension of the
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg (, ; ), alternatively Romanization of Russian, romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( ; 1924–1991), is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia. The ci ...
–
Perm railway in 1885, and thus obtaining a rail link to the
Kama and
Volga
The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...
rivers in the heart of Russia, Tyumen became an important railhead for some years until the railway extended further east. In the eastern reaches of the Ob basin,
Tomsk
Tomsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, on the Tom (river), Tom River. Population:
Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. It has six univers ...
on the
Tom functioned as an important terminus.
Tyumen had its first
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
in 1836, and steamboats have navigated the middle reaches of the Ob since 1845. In 1916, there were 49 steamers on the Ob; 10 on the Yenisei.
In an attempt to extend the Ob navigable system even further, a
system of canals, utilising the
Ket, long in all, was built in the late 19th-century to connect the Ob with the
Yenisei, but soon abandoned as being uncompetitive with the
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
.
The Trans-Siberian Railway, once completed, provided for more direct, year-round transport in the east–west direction. But the Ob river-system still remained important for connecting the huge expanses of
Tyumen Oblast
Tyumen Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject (an oblast) of Russia. It is located in Western Siberia, and is administratively part of the Ural Federal District. The oblast has administrative jurisdiction over two autonomous ...
and
Tomsk Oblast with the major cities along the Trans-Siberian route, such as Novosibirsk or
Omsk
Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...
. In the second half of the 20th century, construction of rail links to
Labytnangi,
Tobolsk, and the oil and gas cities of
Surgut, and
Nizhnevartovsk provided more railheads, but did not diminish the importance of the waterways for reaching places still not served by the rail.
A dam built near Novosibirsk in 1956 created the then-largest artificial lake in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, called
Novosibirsk Reservoir.
From the 1960s through 1980s, Soviet engineers and administrators contemplated a gigantic project to
divert some of the waters of Ob and Irtysh to
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
and the Soviet
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
n republics, replenishing the
Aral Sea as well. The project never left the drawing board, abandoned in 1986 for economic and environmental considerations.
Pollution
The water in the river is significantly polluted. In the lower reaches, the maximum permissible concentrations of petroleum products are exceeded by 9–10 times. The oxygen content in the water is 4 times lower than normal
Tributaries
The
Irtysh
The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob (river), Ob and is also the longest tributary in the world.
The river's source lies in the Altai Mountains, Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern p ...
is the major
tributary
A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...
of the Ob. The larger tributaries along its course are:
In addition, the
Nadym and the
Pur River flow into the
Gulf of Ob and the
Taz into the
Taz Estuary, a side arm of the Gulf of Ob.
Cities
Cities along the river include:
*
Barnaul
*
Kamen-na-Obi
*
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
(Russia's third largest city and Siberia's largest by population)
*
Kolpashevo
*
Langepas
*
Megion
*
Nizhnevartovsk
*
Surgut
*
Khanty-Mansiysk
*
Beryozovo
*
Labytnangi
*
Salekhard
Salekhard ( ; Khanty language, Khanty: , ''Pułñawat''; , , formerly Obdorsk) is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative centre of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The town lies on the Arctic Circle, ...
Bridges
From a confluence to a source:
*
Surgut Bridge
*Railway bridge in
Surgut
*Shegarsky bridge
*The bridge of "northern bypass" of
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
*
Dimitrov bridge in Novosibirsk
*First railway bridge across the Ob (
Trans-Siberian Railway)
*
Communal (October) bridge in Novosibirsk
*
Metro bridge in Novosibirsk – longest
Metro Bridge in the world
*
Bugrinsky Bridge
*Komsomol railway bridge in Novosibirsk
*The bridge above the lock of Novosibirskaya HPP
*Railway bridge in
Kamen-na-Obi
*Communal bridge (railway, automobile) in
Barnaul
*New bridge in Barnaul
See also
*
List of rivers of Russia
Russia can be divided into a European and an Asian part. The dividing line is generally considered to be the Ural Mountains. The European part is drained into the Arctic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea. The Asian part is drained i ...
*
Siman Island
References
External links
The Top Ten: Longest Rivers of the World
{{Authority control
Rivers of Altai Krai
Rivers of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug
Rivers of Novosibirsk Oblast
Rivers of Tomsk Oblast
Rivers of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug
Rivers of Novosibirsk
Geography of Siberia
Braided rivers in Russia
West Siberian Plain