The Vashka () is a river in Udorsky District of the

Komi Republic The Komi Republic (; ), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the northeast of European Russia. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Syktyvka ...

and Leshukonsky and

Mezensky District Mezensky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the administrative divisions of Arkhangelsk Oblast, twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.Law #65-5-OZ As a subdivisions of Russia#Municipal divisions, municipal division, it is ...

s of

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast ( rus, Архангельская область, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲskəjə ˈobɫəsʲtʲ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz ...

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 is a left and the biggest

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 Mezen. It is long, and the area of its basin . The principal tributaries of the Vashka are the Mytka (left), the Loptyuga (right), the Yortom (left), the Yevva (right), the Sodzim (right), the Puchkoma (left), the Zyryanskaya Yezhuga (left), and the Chulas (right). The source of the Vashka is in the south-west of Udorsky District, close to the border with Arkhangelsk Oblast. The river flows in the general direction of north-west. In the upper course, the Vashka flows in the hilly landscape, and in the lower course it meanders leaving a big number of lakes. The urban type settlement of Blagoyevo is located on the Venyu River, several kilometers east of the Vashka, and the selo of

Leshukonskoye Leshukonskoye () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, rural locality (a ''village#Russia, selo'') and the administrative center of Leshukonsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Vashka River. It also se ...

, the administrative center of Leshukonsky District, is located on the left bank of the river just upstream from its confluence with the Mezen. The Vashka freezes up in late October and remains icebound until early May. The river was used for

timber rafting Timber rafting is a method of transporting felled tree trunks by tying them together to make rafts, which are then drifted or pulled downriver, or across a lake or other body of water. It is arguably, after log driving, the second cheapest mea ...

till the 1990s. The Vashka is navigable downstream from the village of Keba, which is almost the whole course of the river within Leshukonsky District.

History

The area was populated by

Finnic peoples The Finnic peoples, or simply Finns, are the nations who speak languages traditionally classified in the Finno-Permic languages, Finnic language family, and which are thought to have originated in the region of the Volga River. Currently, the l ...

and then colonized by the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic () was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod. The ...

. By the 13th century, the Novgorod merchants had already reached 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 ...

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

Pechora Pechora (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Komi Republic, Russia, located on the Pechora (river), Pechora River, west of and near the northern Ural Mountains. The area of the town is . Population: History Pechor ...

which was attractive because of the fur. From the

Northern Dvina The Northern Dvina (, ; ) is a river in northern Russia flowing through Vologda Oblast and Arkhangelsk Oblast into the Dvina Bay of the White Sea. Along with the Pechora River to the east, it drains most of Northwest Russia into the Arctic O ...

, they went upstream the Pukshenga, then moved to the Pokshenga and downstream to the

Pinega Pinega () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, 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 administr ...

. From the Pinega, they used the Yozhuga, the Zyryanskaya Vashka and the Vashka to get to the Mezen, and subsequently the Pyoza and the Tsilma to get to the Pechora. After the fall of Novgorod, the area became a part of the

Grand Duchy of Moscow The Grand Principality of Moscow, or Muscovy, known as the Principality of Moscow until 1389, was a late medieval Russian monarchy. Its capital was the city of Moscow. Originally established as a minor principality in the 13th century, the gra ...

. The middle course of the Mezen, including the lower course of the Vashka, was where Russian and Komi cultures mixed the most. In the lower course of the Mezen, currently

, Russians dominated, whereas in the upper course, currently Udorsky District, Komi dominated.

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://textual.ru/gvr/index.php?card=162435, script-title=ru:Река ВАШКА, publisher=State Water Register of Russia, language=ru, access-date=10 August 2011 Rivers of the Komi Republic Rivers of Arkhangelsk Oblast