Irtysh River

Irtysh River

Infobox River
river_name = Irtysh River


caption = The Ob-Irtysh Watershed
origin = Altay Mountains
mouth = Ob River
basin_countries = Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia
length = 4,248 km (2,640 mi)
elevation =
discharge = 2,150 m³/s (near Tobolsk)
watershed = 1,643,000 km²

Irtysh ( _ru. Иртыш ; Kazakh: "Ertis / Эртiс" ; _tt. Иртеш|İrteş ; Chinese: "Erqisi / 额尔齐斯河") a river in Siberia, the chief tributary of the river Ob. Its name means White River. It is actually longer than the Ob to their confluence. Irtysh's main affluent is Tobol River. The Ob-Irtysh form a major basin in Asia, encompassing most of Western Siberia and the Altay Mountains.

Geography

From its source as "Kara-Irtysh" (Black Irtysh) in the Mongolian Altay mountains in Xinjiang, China, Irtysh flows NW through Lake Zaysan, Kazakhstan until it meets the Ob near Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia, Russia after 4,248 km (2,640 mi).

Economic use

Passenger, freight boats and tankers navigate most of the river between April and October, when it is not frozen. Omsk is home to the headquarters of the state-owned Irtysh River Shipping Company, and the largest river port in Western Siberia. Major hydroelectric plants at Ust-Kamenogorsk and Bakhtarminsk (1959) use the Irtysh near the Kazakhstan-Chinese border.

Some of the Northern river reversal proposals, widely discussed in the 1960-70s, would see the direction of the Irtysh flow reversed, the river being used to supply water to central Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. While these gigantic water management schemes were not implemented, a smaller Irtysh-Karaganda irrigation canal ( _ru. Канал Иртыш — Караганда) was built between 1962 and 1974 to supply water to the dry Kazakstani Steppes, and to one of the country's main industrial centers, Karaganda. In 2002, pipelines were constructed to supply water from the canal to the Ishim River and Kazakhstan's capital, Astana.

In the 2000s, projects for diverting a significant amounts of Irtysh water within China, such as the proposed Black Irtysh - Karamai Canal, have been decried by Kazakh and Russian environmentalists. [ [http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civilsociety/articles/pp071606.shtml KAZAKHSTAN: ENVIRONMENTALISTS SAY CHINA MISUSING CROSS-BORDER RIVERS] . By Gulnoza Saidazimova, 7/16/2006.]

History

The river banks were occupied by Chinese, Kalmyks, and Mongols until the Russians arrived in the late 16th century. The Russian conquest of the Irtysh basin was completed by the early 19th century.

Cities along the river

The main cities on the Irtysh, from source to mouth, are:
* in Kazakhstan: Öskemen/Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semey/Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar.
* in Russia: Omsk, Tara, Tobolsk, Khanty-Mansiysk.

ee also

* Geography of China
* Geography of Kazakhstan
* Geography of Russia

External Links

* [http://www.suvenirograd.ru/sights.php?lang=2&id=77&filtr_s=77/ Interesting places on the Irtysh River] English

References

* "Great Soviet Encyclopedia"


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  • river — river1 riverless, adj. riverlike, adj. /riv euhr/, n. 1. a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels. 2. a similar stream of something other than water: a… …   Universalium

  • Irtysh — [ir tish′] river in central Asia, flowing from NW China northwestward into the Ob: c. 1,850 mi (2,977 km): also sp. Irtish …   English World dictionary

  • Ob River — River, western Russia. Flowing across western Siberia northwestward from the Altai of central Asia, it courses through the Gulf of Ob into the Kara Sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is about 2,268 mi (3,650 km) long. Its middle course is through taiga …   Universalium

  • Tobol River — ▪ river, Asia Kazak  Tobyl        river, left bank tributary of the Irtysh (Ertis) River, flowing through northern Kazakhstan into southern Russia. After rising in the low mountains of the Torghay Plateau, it flows northeast across the West… …   Universalium

  • Irtysh — /ir tish /, n. a river in central Asia, flowing NW from the Altai Mountains in China through NE Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation to the Ob River. ab. 1840 mi. (2960 km) long. Also, Irtish. * * * …   Universalium

  • Irtysh — Ir•tysh or Ir•tish [[t]ɪrˈtɪʃ[/t]] n. geg a river in central Asia, flowing NW from the Altai Mountains in China through NE Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation to the Ob River. ab. 1840 mi. (2960 km) long …   From formal English to slang

  • Irtysh — /ɪəˈtɪʃ/ (say ear tish) noun a river in central Asia, rising in Mongolia in the Altai Mountains and flowing north west into Russia to join the river Ob. About 3701 km. Also, Irtish …  

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