The Vychegda (; ) is a river in the European part 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 ...

, a

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

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 ...

. Its length is about . Its source is approximately west of the northern

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

. It flows roughly in a western direction, through 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

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 ...

. The largest city along the Vychegda is

Syktyvkar Syktyvkar (, , ; , ) is the capital city of the Komi Republic in Russia, as well as its largest city. It is also the administrative center of the Syktyvkar Urban Okrug. Until 1930, it was known as Ust-Sysolsk after the Sysola, Sysola River. Ety ...

, the capital of the Komi Republic. The Viled, the Yarenga, and the Vym are among its main tributaries. The Vychegda flows into the Northern Dvina in

Kotlas Kotlas () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Northern Dvina and Vychegda Rivers. Population: Kotlas is the third-largest town of Arkhangelsk Oblast in terms of p ...

(Arkhangelsk Oblast). The river basin of the Vychegda comprises vast areas in Arkhangelsk Oblast and in the Komi Republic, as well as less extended areas in

Kirov Oblast Kirov Oblast ( rus, Кировская область, p=ˈkʲirəfskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. As of the 2010 census, the population ...

and

Perm Krai Perm Krai (, ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a Krais of Russia, krai), located in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is Perm, Russia, Perm. The population of the krai was 2,532,405 (2021 Russian census, 2021 ...

. About of the Vychegda is navigable. In 1822 the Vychegda was connected to the river

Kama ''Kama'' (Sanskrit: काम, ) is the concept of pleasure, enjoyment and desire in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It can also refer to "desire, wish, longing" in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Sikh literature.Monier Williamsका� ...

, a tributary of the river

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 ...

, by the Northern Catherine Canal, which, however, has been disused since 1838. In summer, there is regular passenger navigation connecting Kotlas and Soyga (located approximately halfway between Solvychegodsk and Yarensk).

History

The area was originally populated by

Finno-Ugric peoples Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th century ...

, and was home to

Vychegda Perm Vychegda Perm, also known as Little Perm or Old Perm was a medieval state and later vassal of the Novgorod Republic and Muscovy, which was based in along the Vychegda River. Vychegda Perm was originally a tribal state and was an important fur tr ...

, which was then later 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 ...

Solvychegodsk Solvychegodsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Kotlassky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located on the right-hand bank of the Vychegda, Vychegda River, about northeast of Kotlas, the administrative center of the ...

was founded in the 14th century, Yarensk has been known since 1374. The area was attractive in the first instance because of the fur trading. From the Northern Dvina, the merchants went to the Vychegda, and further they could get directly to the river 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 ...

via either the Cherya and the Izhma, or via the Mylva.

Name

The Russian name – ''Vychegda'' – is believed to come from an ancient Ob-Ugric name with the meaning "meadow river" (reconstructed as *''vič-oxt'', compare Mansi ''wānsi'' "grass" and ''āxt'' "stream"). Komi ''Ežva'' is a calque from this name: ''eža'' "meadow" and ''va'' "water, river".

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Arkhangelsk Oblast Rivers of the Komi Republic