The Yenisei River is one of the three major rivers in Siberia, employed into the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea of the Arctic Ocean. With a flow of 19,830 cubic meters per second, it is the largest river in Siberia.
The basic situation of the Yenisei River is as follows:
1. The Yenisei River has a long history and is the fifth longest river in the world, and Lake Baikal belongs to its basin
The Yenisei River is one of the great rivers of the world. If the Great Yenisei River, which originates in the area of the Sayan Mountains, is the source, the Yenisei River is 4,810 kilometers long. For example, the Selenga River in Mongolia is the source, which is 5539 kilometers long (Yenisei-Angara-Seranga River). It is the fifth longest river in the world, after the Nile, Amazon, Yangtze and Mississippi.
The wonder of the Yenisei River lies in its relationship with Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal is home to 336 rivers, including the Selenga River, with an area of 36,000 square kilometers, and is the sixth largest lake in the world, with a maximum depth of 1,820 meters and an average depth of more than 800 meters, storing one-sixth of the world's freshwater resources.
There is only one outlet to Lake Baikal, and that is the Angara River. The Angara River flows from the northwestern side of Lake Baikal, flows north through Irkutsk, and then turns west and flows into the Yenisei River.
Thus, if we take the source of the Lenga River, which flows into Lake Baikal, and pass through the Selenga River and Lake Baikal, the length of the Yenisei River is much longer than that of the Grande Yenisei River, which is the source of the Yenisei River.
2. The Yenisei River basin covers a vast area, with numerous and huge tributaries
With an area of about 2,605,000 square kilometers, the Yenisei River basin is the second largest river in Asia, after the Ob River (2,990,000 square kilometers). The Yenisei River basin is dominated by mountains and plateaus, with the northern plains (West Siberian Plain) and lowlands (North Siberian Lowlands) accounting for only 6-7% of the basin area.
The Yenisei River is a typical asymmetrical water system. Its western side is closely connected with the Ob River basin, with some highlands in the eastern part of the West Siberian Plain as a watershed, so that most of the tributaries on the western side of the Yenisei River are relatively short, and the main stream extends northward along the western boundary of the basin.
The eastern basin of the Yenisei River is wide, with numerous and long tributaries, including the entire Central Siberian Plateau, which belongs to the Yenisei River Basin, and is bounded by the Lena River in the eastern part of the Central Siberian Plateau.
The tributaries of the eastern bank of the Yenisei are mainly the Angara, the Middle Tunguska, the Lower Tunguska and the Stone Spring Tunguska. These tributaries are more than 2 kilometers long and have a huge volume of water, extending from east to west, forming the east-west passage of the Siberian region.
Moreover, the upper sources of these tributaries were often close to the Lena River valley, which facilitated the expansion of the Russian Cossacks in Siberia, making it easy to enter the Lena River valley from the Yenisei River valley until the entire Far East was occupied.
3. The Yenisei River has a huge amount of water and is rich in water resources and forest resources
The Yenisei River basin has a higher latitude and less evaporation, while the Angara River, which originates in the south, has a very stable volume due to the presence of Lake Baikal.
With the inflow of several large rivers in the middle reaches, the Yenisei River has increased its volume a lot, and when it reaches the mouth of the Yenisei Gulf of the Kara Sea, the volume of water reaches 18,100 cubic meters per second, making it the largest river in Siberia.
Compared to the Ob River to the west and the Lena River to the east, its flow is more stable and does not vary much from year to year. The Yenisei River, which also flows from south to north, also has a huge spring flood every year.
The Yenisei River Basin belongs to the subarctic coniferous forest climate, and the basin is full of primitive subarctic coniferous forests, and the forest resources are very rich, with a forest coverage rate of up to 49%. At present, only the estuary areas along the banks of the Yenisei River and into which its tributaries are fed have been relatively fully developed, forming large cities such as Krosyanorsk and Yeniseisk, and most of the other small cities are mainly wood-processing.
The upper reaches of the Yenisei River flow through the mountainous areas of southern Siberia, with abundant water and large river drops, and huge water resources to be developed, and large water conservancy hubs such as the Angara Hydropower Station, the Sayanshushchensk Hydropower Station, and the Yenisei Hydropower Station have been built. The Yenisei River basin is rich in coal and iron.
(Picture from the Internet)