The Zeya (; from indigenous
Evenki word "djee" (blade); zh, 结雅; mnc, m= ,
Mölendroff: jingkiri bira) is a northern, left
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
Amur
The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...
in
Amur Oblast
Amur Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The oblast borders Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the south.
The administrati ...
,
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 long, and has a
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, ...
of .
The average flow of the river is .
History
The first Russian documented to enter the area was
Vassili Poyarkov.
Course
It rises in the
Toko-Stanovik mountain ridge, a part of the
Stanovoy Range
The Stanovoy Range (, ''Stanovoy khrebet''; ) is a mountain range located in the Sakha Republic and Amur Oblast, Far Eastern Federal District. It is also known as Sükebayatur and Sükhbaatar in Mongolian language, Mongolian, or the Stanovoy M ...
.
The Zeya flows through the
Zeya Reservoir, at the junction of the
Tukuringra Range and
Dzhagdy Range, and joins the
Amur
The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...
near
Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk ( rus, Благовещенск, p=bləɡɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Amur River, Amur and the ...
, at the border with China. Regulation of river discharge by
Zeya Dam mitigates extremities of river flow down to 5000 m³/s. The Zeya contributes around 16% of both the average and maximum flow of de Amur because of the flow regulations. In the past, the Zeya could have contributed up to almost 50% of the Amur's maximum flow of approximately 30,000 m³/s.
The main tributaries of the Zeya are
Tok,
Mulmuga,
Bryanta,
Gilyuy, and
Urkan on the right, and
Kupuri,
Argi,
Dep,
Selemdzha, and
Tom on the left.
[Зея (река в Амурской обл.)]
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 river freezes from November to May. When it is unfrozen, the river is navigable with the most important river ports being
Zeya,
Svobodny, and
Blagoveshchensk
Blagoveshchensk ( rus, Благовещенск, p=bləɡɐˈvʲeɕːɪnsk, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Amur Oblast, Russia. It is located at the confluence of the Amur River, Amur and the ...
.
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 ...
References
External links
*
Rivers of Amur Oblast
{{AmurOblast-geo-stub