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81-701: Distances are straight lines and only approximate. Siberian rivers can be very crooked. Dates usually refer to the foundation of the first Russian settlement. Over the Urals: From the Volga River , up the Kama to Perm (1472), then up the Chusovaya River , or the Vishera (see Cherdyn Route ). The Urals here are only about 350 meters high, about 150 meters above the surrounding lowlands. Down either

162-419: A Western or European construct. The culture of neighboring peoples had a significant influence on the fairy tale (bylina) tradition of Pomorye. The most popular ones here are long fairy tales about adventures, in which the action is often connected with the sea. Usually the main character of such tales is a poor man. Fairy tales with a female protagonist are no less common. They share all the trials equally with

243-688: A connection with the hydronym Irtesh . The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the Kama . Thus, a left tributary to the Kama was named the Aq Itil 'White Itil' which unites with the Kara Itil 'Black Itil' at the modern city of Ufa . The name Indyl ( Indɨl ) is used in the Cherkess language. In Asia the river was known by its other Turkic name Sarı-su 'yellow water', but

324-702: A free, fluid and diverse conception of religion and may celebrate traditional holidays like the Pomor New Year in September or the Roe Deer Festival, partake in Orthodox pilgrimages or meditate in places of power where they may also leave ribbons and coins. These traditions are however often combined into a single syncretic worldview with a topographical basis that includes local locus cults and hierotopic practices without clear boundaries between

405-511: A key role in Pomor mythology as it is also represented by the Bird of Happiness in Pomor households. One of the critical aspects of the Pomor spiritual world was the sacred status of the bathhouse, which was viewed as an archaic sanctuary-temple. The bathhouse played a central role in initiatory and medical rituals that symbolized the "second birth" of a person, just like the festivals connected to

486-400: A large role in daily life, as it is a part of the "Pomor fate" to actively engage in this battle, which is not only shaped by actions but also the words of the shaman or starinshchik, the person who has knowledge of the ritual turns of speech and sacred formulas. The winter is considered a dreamtime , which is ended by localized celebrations of symbolic rebirth that greet the sun, which plays

567-539: A length of about 160 kilometres (99 miles) and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans , flamingos , and lotuses may be found. The Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year. The Volga drains most of Western Russia . Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal ,

648-771: A portage leads to the Yenisei River at Yeniseysk (1619). Yeniseysk is about 1400 km from Tobolsk and 3200 km from Moscow. An alternative route led from the Irtysh-Ob juncture 450 km up the Ob to the Vakh , 500 km up the Vakh, then portage to the Sym, down it to the Yenisei, upstream to Yenisesk. Yenisey and Lena Basins: Yeniseysk is on the Yenisei River just north of its juncture with

729-501: A significant mythopoetic meaning as a threshold between the world of the living and the world of the dead. This view of the sea as a boundary endowed navigation with profound religious significance. The Pomors regarded the northeast wind, or "polunoshnik," as a sacred force, connecting the mundane world to the mystical realms of the North, where contact with the otherworldly was inevitable. The sea, with its destructive and creative powers,

810-419: Is pivotal to Pomor philosophy , reminiscent of concepts like Yin and Yang . This highlights the importance of liminal spaces and thresholds. Even the sacred always has a dark side which is in this case represented by the "guardians of the threshold" while the "axis of the world" or "northern mountain" which was believed to exist behind the sea was recognized as a paradise . However, it is not possible to enter

891-479: Is preserved in many Slavic languages, vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Bulgarian vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Czech vláha 'dampness', Serbo-Croatian : vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Slovene vlaga 'moisture', Polish wilgoć 'moisture' and Macedonian vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', among others. The Scythian name for the Volga was Rahā , literally meaning 'wetness'. This

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972-461: Is related to the Avestan name for a mythical stream, Raŋhā ( 𐬭𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬁 ), which means "wet" or "moisture", and was derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁res- or *h₁ers- ). This name can be compared to several Indo-Iranic terms, such as: The Scythian name survives in modern Moksha as Rav ( Рав ). The Greek author Herodotus recorded two more ancient Iranic names of

1053-692: 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 3,531 km (2,194 mi), and a catchment area of 1,360,000 km (530,000 sq mi). It is also Europe's largest river in terms of average discharge at delta – between 8,000 m /s (280,000 cu ft/s) and 8,500 m /s (300,000 cu ft/s) – and of drainage basin . It

1134-789: Is the Ob – Irtysh river system. It belongs to the closed basin of the Caspian Sea , being the longest river to flow into a closed basin. The source of the Volga lies in the village of Volgoverkhov'e in Tver Oblast . Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 meters (738 ft) above sea level northwest of Moscow and about 320 kilometers (200 mi) southeast of Saint Petersburg , the Volga heads east past Lake Sterzh , Tver , Dubna , Rybinsk , Yaroslavl , Nizhny Novgorod , and Kazan . From there it turns south, flows past Ulyanovsk , Tolyatti , Samara , Saratov and Volgograd , and discharges into

1215-488: Is widely regarded as the national river of Russia . The hypothetical old Russian state, the Rus' Khaganate , arose along the Volga c.  830 AD . Historically, the river served as an important meeting place of various Eurasian civilizations. The river flows in Russia through forests , forest steppes and steppes . Five of the ten largest cities of Russia , including the nation's capital, Moscow , are located in

1296-410: The 2018–2020 Shies protests under the motto “Pomorye is not a trash heap” with more than 30,000 participants that successfully blocked the creation of a landfill at Shiyes station and led to the resignation of Governor of Arkhangelsk Oblast Igor Orlov and Komi Republic Governor Sergei Gaplikov. The movement was influenced by Pomor separatists that seek an independent Pomorye or Biarmia One of

1377-823: The Angara River . From Yeniseysk east up the Angara to the Ilim River , upstream to Ilimsk (1630), portage to Kuta River , short trip downstream to Ust-Kut (1631) on the Lena River . From here northeast down the Lena about 1400 km to Yakutsk , which is 4900 km east of Moscow. Yakutsk is a major stopping point and administrative center. Then 125 km down the Lena to the Aldan, up the Aldan River to Ust-Maya , then up

1458-653: The Arab world . Khazars were replaced by Kipchaks , Kimeks and Mongols , who founded the Golden Horde in the lower reaches of the Volga. Later their empire divided into the Khanate of Kazan and Khanate of Astrakhan , both of which were conquered by the Russians in the course of the 16th century Russo-Kazan Wars . The Russian people's deep feeling for the Volga echoes in national culture and literature, starting from

1539-792: The Battle of Stalingrad , possibly the bloodiest battle in human history, in which the Soviet Union and the German forces were deadlocked in a stalemate battle for access to the river. The Volga was (and still is) a vital transport route between central Russia and the Caspian Sea, which provides access to the oil fields of the Absheron Peninsula . Hitler planned to use access to the oil fields of Azerbaijan to fuel future German conquests. Apart from that, whoever held both sides of

1620-690: The Buzan river in the Astrakhan Oblast . Buzhan ( Persian : بوژان‎ , romanized :  Būzhān ; also known as Būzān ) is also a village in Nishapur , Iran . In late 8th century the Russian state Russkiy Kaganate is recorded in different Northern and Oriental sources. The Volga was one of the main rivers of the Rus' Khaganates culture. Subsequently, the river basin played an important role in

1701-712: The Kamchatka Peninsula from Anadyrsk and later sailed there from Okhotsk . It is 1800 km from Yakutsk to the Bering Strait. After the conquest of Astrakhan in 1566, Russia expanded southeast around the southern base of the Urals. This involved increasing political control over the Nogai Horde , the Kalmyks and the northern Kazakhs , followed by varying degrees of peasant colonization. Another route

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1782-894: The Kuril Islands , the Aleutian Islands and Alaska. See also History of fur trade by Sea of Okhotsk . To the Amur: From 1643 to 1689 the Russians attempted to penetrate from the Lena south to the Amur region but were driven back by the Manchus. See Russian-Manchu border conflicts . From 1689 to 1859 the Russo-Chinese border was the Argun River and the Stanovoy Mountains . In 1859 Russia annexed

1863-584: The Maya River or its right branch, the Yudoma River . Okhotsk: From either of the last two, it is about 150 km over 2000 ft mountains to the Pacific ( Okhotsk Coast 1639, Okhotsk town, 1647). Pack horses were used here. Okhotsk is 800 km east southeast of Yakutsk and 5,600 km east of Moscow. After 1715 there were shipbuilding facilities at Okhotsk, allowing sea travel to the Kamchatka Peninsula ,

1944-763: The Northern Dvina , Mezen , Pechora and Onega estuaries and founded settlements along the sea coasts of Bjarmaland . Kholmogory served as their chief town until the rise of Arkhangelsk in the late 16th century. From their base at Kola , they explored the Barents Region and the Kola peninsula and Novaya Zemlya . Later the Pomors discovered and maintained the Northern Sea Route between Arkhangelsk and Siberia . With their ships ( koches ),

2025-563: The Oirats also used their own name, Ijil mörön or 'adaptation river'. Presently the Mari , another Uralic group, call the river Jul ( Юл ), meaning 'way' in Tatar . Formerly, they called the river Volgydo , a borrowing from Old East Slavic . The Volga is the longest river in Europe , and its catchment area is almost entirely inside Russia , though the longest river in Russia

2106-475: The Pomorian Church still has around 400 thousand members. Pomor Christianity has traditionally coexisted and been infused with an animism , which is based on sacral geography, in a syncretic manner, resulting in a strong environmental ethic . This led to the classification of certain animals like the beluga whale as holy and resistance to modern fishing techniques in the 20th century. As part of

2187-593: The Tavda River or Tura River and a short way up the Tobol River to its juncture with the Irtysh River at Tobolsk (1582). This was the approximate route used by Yermak . Tobolsk is about 700 km east of Perm and 1800 km east of Moscow. The Siberian Route , a road begun in the 1730s, ran southeast from Perm to Kungur , then over another low pass to Yekaterinburg (1723) and Tobolsk . By 1885 there

2268-793: The Volga–Don Canal , and the Volga–Baltic Waterway form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea , the Baltic Sea , the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea . High levels of chemical pollution have adversely affected the river and its habitats. The fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat and other agricultural produce, and also has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centers on

2349-469: The White Sea coasts and the territory whose southern border lies on a watershed which separates the White Sea river basin from the basins of rivers that flow south. Genetically, though, they are more closely related to indigenous Uralic ethnicities of the area and show no affiliations to Novgorod populations. As early as the 12th century, explorers from Novgorod entered the White Sea through

2430-965: The Yamal Peninsula . From the Gulf of Ob to the Taz Estuary , up the Taz River , past Mangazeya (1601), portage to Yanov Stan on the Turukhan River , leading to Turukhansk (1607) on the Yenisei at its juncture with the Lower Tunguska . East up the Lower Tunguska. Where it turns south, portage to the Chona River , a tributary of the Vilyuy River - the junction of these two rivers has now been flooded, forming

2511-425: The sacred and the profane. Affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church is low. In Pomorye traditionally exists the social role of "raspetushya", persons of indeterminate sex, who can be either born intersex or a biological male with appearance, behavior, lifestyle and occupations that are closer to a woman. According to society, these people did not have a certain gender and therefore had to wander around

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2592-400: The 12th century Lay of Igor's Campaign . The Volga Boatman's Song is one of many songs devoted to the national river of Russia. Construction of Soviet Union -era dams often involved enforced resettlement of huge numbers of people, as well as destruction of their historical heritage. For instance, the town of Mologa was flooded for the purpose of constructing the Rybinsk Reservoir (then

2673-436: The 12–15th centuries, Pomor'e was considered an extensive colony of the state of Veliky Novgorod . By the early 16th century the annexation of Pomor'e by Moscow was completed. In the 17th century, in 22 Pomor'e districts, the great bulk of the population consisted of free peasants. A portion of the land belonged to monasteries and to the Stroganov merchants. There were no landlords in Pomor'e. The population of Pomor'e districts

2754-444: The 2002 census , respondents had the option to identify as "Pomors", this group being tabulated by the census as a subgroup of the Russian ethnicity. However, only 6,571 persons did so, almost all of them in Arkhangelsk Oblast (6,295) and Murmansk Oblast (127). Pomors are mostly Orthodox Christians in faith. Prior to the Revolution of 1917 a large percentage of Russians from Pomorje (or Pomors) were practicing Old Believers ,

2835-408: The 8th centuries, the Alans settled in the Middle Volga region and in the steppes of Russia's southern region in the Pontic–Caspian steppe . The area around the Volga was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of Vyatichs and Buzhans , by Finno-Ugric , Scandinavian , Baltic , Hunnic and Turkic peoples ( Tatars , Kipchaks ) in the first millennium AD, replacing the Scythians . Furthermore,

2916-411: The Amur region. From the west, the Russians penetrated to Ulan-Ude (1666), Chita (1653) and Nerchinsk (1654) toward the Argun. From 1727 much Russo-Chinese trade shifted to Kyakhta near where the Selenge River crosses the current Russo-Mongol border. From at least the 12th century, Russian Pomors navigated the White and Barents Seas. At some date, they entered the Ob Gulf or portaged across

2997-400: The Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. The Volga has many tributaries , most importantly the Kama , the Oka , the Vetluga , and the Sura . The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which flows through an area of about 1,350,000 square kilometres (521,238 square miles) in the most heavily populated part of Russia. The Volga Delta has

3078-416: The East Slavs. The Russian ethnicity in Western Russia and around the Volga river evolved to a very large extent, next to other tribes, out of the East Slavic tribe of the Buzhans and Vyatichis . The Vyatichis were originally concentrated on the Oka river. Furthermore, several localities in Russia are connected to the Slavic Buzhan tribe, like for example Sredniy Buzhan in the Orenburg Oblast , Buzan and

3159-420: The Middle East met the Varangian people of the Nordic countries through trading. In the 8th and 9th centuries colonization also began from Kievan Rus' . Slavs from Kievan Rus' brought Christianity to the upper Volga, and a portion of non-Slavic local people adopted Christianity and gradually became East Slavs . The remainder of the Mari people migrated to the east far inland. In the course of several centuries

3240-426: The Pomor based on the sea included animal hunting, whaling and fishing; in tundra regions they practiced reindeer herding. The Pomor traded by sea in corn and fish with Northern Norway , which became important to both sides. This trade was so intensive that a kind of Russian-Norwegian pidgin language Moja på tvoja (or Russenorsk ) developed on the North Norwegian coast that was used from 1750 to 1920. In

3321-461: The Pomors derives from the Pomorsky (literally, "maritime") coast of the White Sea (between Onega and Kem ), having the root of more ( море , meaning "sea"; derived from an Indo-European root ). The same root appears in the toponym Pomerania ( Polish : Pomorze ) and Armorica ( Gaulish : Aremorica ) and also in the Gaulish ethnonym Morini . The term Pomor, which in the 10th–12th centuries meant "a person who lived near sea", gradually

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3402-401: The Pomors penetrated to the trans- Ural areas of Northern Siberia, where they founded the settlement of Mangazeya east of the Yamal Peninsula in the early 16th century. Tatyana Bratkova has reported that some historians speculate that in the early 17th century, Pomors settled the isolated village of Russkoye Ustye in the delta of the Indigirka , in north-eastern Yakutia . The name of

3483-456: The Slavs assimilated the indigenous Finnic populations, such as the Merya and Meshchera peoples. The surviving peoples of Volga Finnic ethnicity include the Maris , Erzyas and Mokshas of the middle Volga. Also Khazar and Bulgar peoples inhabited the upper, middle and lower of the Volga River basin. Apart from the Huns , the earliest Turkic tribes arrived in the 7th century and assimilated some Finno-Ugric and Indo-European population on

3564-411: The Urals. It was established by Artemy Babinov in the late 1590s. In 1598 Verkhoturye was founded along this road as the gateway to Siberia. Road building in Siberia began in the 1730s, and from the 1760s the overland route from Yekaterinburg to Kyakhta began to replace the Siberian rivers. When the ground was frozen solid this might take 70 or 80 days. The Trans-Siberian Railway began in 1891. In

3645-399: The Viluyskoe Reservoir. East along the Vilyuy to the Lena River , and then up the Lena to Yakutsk. It was also possible to continue up the Lower Tunguska to near Kirensk (1630) (175 km northeast of Ust-Kut), make a short portage to the Lena, and down the Lena to Yakutsk. Yakutsk is about 2400 km from the Taz Estuary. After about 1700 most trade shifted south and the route west of Turukhansk

3726-402: The Volga formed the boundary between the territories of the Cimmerians in the Caucasian Steppe and the Scythians in the Caspian Steppe. After the Scythians migrated to the west and displaced the Cimmerians, the Volga became the boundary between the territories of the Scythians in the Pontic and Caspian Steppes and the Massagetae in the Caspian and Transcaspian steppes. Between the 6th and

3807-534: The Volga valley. Other resources include natural gas , salt , and potash . The Volga Delta and the Caspian Sea are fishing grounds . A number of large hydroelectric reservoirs were constructed on the Volga during the Soviet era . They are: The Volga– Oka region has been occupied for at least 9,000 years and supported a bone and antler industry for producing bone arrowheads, spearheads, lanceheads, daggers, hunters knives, and awls. The makers also used local quartz and imported flints. During classical antiquity ,

3888-537: The Volga's drainage basin. Because the Volga drains into the Caspian Sea , which is an endorheic body of water, the Volga does not naturally connect to any of the world's oceans. Some of the largest reservoirs in the world are located along the Volga River. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture – Russian literature and folklore often refer to it as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga). The Russian hydronym Volga ( Волга ) derives from Proto-Slavic * vòlga 'wetness, moisture', which

3969-417: The Volga, slightly smaller on some of the other rivers and canals) and it spans many thousands of kilometers. A number of formerly state-run, now mostly privatized, companies operate passenger and cargo vessels on the river; Volgotanker , with over 200 petroleum tankers , is one of them. In the later Soviet era , up to the modern times, grain and oil have been among the largest cargo exports transported on

4050-664: The Volga. Until recently access to the Russian waterways was granted to foreign vessels on a very limited scale. The increasing contacts between the European Union and Russia have led to new policies with regard to the access to the Russian inland waterways. It is expected that vessels of other nations will be allowed on Russian rivers soon. Pomors Pomors or Pomory ( Russian : помо́ры , lit.   'seasiders', Russian pronunciation: [pɐˈmorɨ] ) are an ethnographic group thought to be descended from Russian settlers (primarily from Veliky Novgorod ) according to traditional Russian historiography, living on

4131-450: The Volga: The Turkic peoples living along the river formerly referred to it as Itil or Atil . In modern Turkic languages , the Volga is known as İdel ( Идел ) in Tatar , Atăl ( Атӑл ) in Chuvash , Iźel in Bashkir , Edıl in Kazakh , and İdil in Turkish . The Turkic names go back to the ancient Turkic form " Etil / Ertil ", the origin and meaning of which are not clear. Perhaps this form has

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4212-403: The Whites eastward, from the Middle Volga at Kazan to the Kama and eventually to Ufa on the Belaya . During the Civil War, Joseph Stalin ordered the imprisonment of several military specialists on a barge in the Volga and the sinking of a floating prison in which the officers perished. During World War II, the city on the big bend of the Volga, currently known as Volgograd , witnessed

4293-461: The ancestors, ensuring the stability of the ethnic group’s sacred traditions. In Pomor belief, these island-topos served as symbolic models of the universe, where the three co-temporal and co-spatial domains of the dead, the living, and the descendants intersected, creating a space where the past, present, and future were fused into a single continuum. Ritual remembrance, particularly through the act of memorial rites conducted on these islands, reinforced

4374-474: The broader category of "cold societies" that are based around the concept of eternal return like the neighboring Sami , Nenets or Komi the Pomor worldview reflects a complex interaction between ancient piety, shamanism , and ritualistic practices aimed at maintaining homeostasis within their communities. This homeostasis however, is an active and fluid concept called dynamic constancy and does not represent absolute standstill. The Pomors believed that preserving

4455-425: The depopulation of vast areas that are now used for military purposes. By 2012, 50% of all Pomor villages had been destroyed, dubbed a genocide by P. Esipov, the first leader of the Pomor national-cultural autonomy as registered by the Russian Ministry of Justice . Many Pomor villages are only reachable by helicopter and have lacking infrastructure, large parts of Pomorye are now used as garbage dumps. This led to

4536-462: The development of modern Russians. Among the first recorded people along the upper Volga were also the Finnic Mari (Мари) and Merya (Мäрӹ) people. Where the Volga flows through the steppes the area was also inhabited by the Iranian people of the Sarmatians from 200 BC. Since ancient times, even before Rus' states developed, the Volga river was an important trade route where not only Slavic, Turkic and Finnic peoples lived, but also Arab world of

4617-405: The eternal memory of the ancestors and the sacred geometry of the cosmos, thereby preserving the cultural identity of the Pomors. These traditions live on in modern Pomor society where a syncretic belief is widespread next to a number of (new) religious movements, that are based on traditional Pomor worldviews, which emerged after the fall of the atheist Soviet Union . Modern Pomor people have

4698-498: The farewell to sea like a funeral played a key role in the light of these philosophical elements. During the main holiday, the conjunction of Old and New Year, the demiurge defeats the bearer of chaos and death each year anew, emphasizing the concept of cyclical time and eternal return. The total sacrifice and descend into chaos which leads to the poiesis of a new world is all-encompassing and does not only apply to people, but also gods and beasts . These spiritual beliefs also played

4779-405: The lakes of the North ( Lake Ladoga , Lake Onega ), Saint Petersburg and the Baltic Sea are possible through the Volga–Baltic Waterway ; and commerce with Moscow has been realised by the Moscow Canal connecting the Volga and the Moskva River . This infrastructure has been designed for vessels of a relatively large scale (lock dimensions of 290 by 30 metres (951 ft × 98 ft) on

4860-410: The largest artificial lake in the world). The construction of the Uglich Reservoir caused the flooding of several monasteries with buildings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. In such cases the ecological and cultural damage often outbalanced any economic advantage. During the Russian Civil War , both sides fielded warships on the Volga. In 1918, the Red Volga Flotilla participated in driving

4941-406: The men or turn out to be his wonderful assistant. Though, in a number of tales, girls are also innocent victims of a treacherous enemy. Nowadays the Pomors are a minority in Arkhangelsk Oblast where most people are descendants of non-native Russians but there is still a thriving cultural scene with international outreach. However, the Pomor villages are not protected by the state which has taken

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5022-406: The middle and lower Volga. The Turkic Christian Chuvash and Muslim Volga Tatars are descendants of the population of medieval Volga Bulgaria . Another Turkic group, the Nogais , formerly inhabited the lower Volga steppes. The Volga region is home to a German minority group, the Volga Germans . Catherine the Great had issued a manifesto in 1763 inviting all foreigners to come and populate

5103-528: The movements of peoples from Asia to Europe . A powerful polity of Volga Bulgaria once flourished where the Kama joins the Volga, while Khazaria controlled the lower stretches of the river. Such Volga cities as Atil , Saqsin , or Sarai were among the largest in the medieval world. The river served as an important trade route connecting Scandinavia , Finnic areas with the various Slavic tribes and Turkic, Germanic , Finnic and other people in Old Rus' , and Volga Bulgaria with Khazaria , Persia and

5184-402: The other side from the banks of the river. In these battles, the Soviet Union was the main offensive side, while the German troops used a more defensive stance, though much of the fighting was close quarters combat , with no clear offensive or defensive side. Many different ethnicities lived on the Volga river. Numerous were the Eastern Slavic Vyatchi tribes which took a decisive role in

5265-412: The realm of the sacred without experiencing its ambivalence and dark aspects, represented by the guardians. Elements like the "wind rose", which helped Pomor sailors navigate, were also considered to be sacred knowledge. The concept of islands also held a sacred significance in Pomor rituals, particularly in burial and memorial practices. Islands were seen as chthonic spaces that connected the living with

5346-470: The region, offering them numerous incentives to do so. This was partly to develop the region but also to provide a buffer zone between the Russians and the Mongols to the east. Because of conditions in German territories, Germans responded in the largest numbers. Under the Soviet Union a slice of the region was turned into the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . The Volga, widened for navigation purposes with construction of huge dams during

5427-414: The right to fish and hunt animals away from the Pomors, banned the traditional Pomor trade of Greenland seals and expropriates their lands to then auction them to foreign investors, turning traditional houses to firewood and banning the people from entering their ancestral grounds. Russian laws target the indigenous population and even if promised the Pomors do not receive any compensation. This has led to

5508-495: The river could move forces across the river, to defeat the enemy's fortifications beyond the river. By taking the river, Hitler's Germany would have been able to move supplies , guns , and men into the northern part of Russia. At the same time, Germany could permanently deny this transport route by the Soviet Union, hampering its access to oil and to supplies via the Persian Corridor . For this reason, many amphibious military assaults were brought about in an attempt to remove

5589-612: The river played a vital role in the commerce of the Byzantine people . The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentions the lower Volga in his Geography (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the Rha , which was the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the Hyperborean Mountains. Between 2nd and 5th centuries Baltic people were very widespread in today's European Russia. Baltic people were widespread from Sozh River till today's Moscow and covered much of today's Central Russia and intermingled with

5670-412: The static structure of their society was essential for survival in the environment of Pomorye , where the poet-storyteller (starinshchik) as a keeper of "deified memory" played a key role in maintaining this balance through mythopoetic expression. The passage from winter to summer was culturally connected to rebirth and rituals like making a sacrificial vow to the "sea god" Nikola Morsky and celebrating

5751-412: The sun. The connection between the bathhouse and the forge is notable, as both were considered marginal spaces associated with transformation and rebirth, drawing from their symbolic links to fire and water . The sacred geography of the Pomors placed the bathhouse on the periphery of the settlement, reinforcing its chthonic associations with both life and death. The sea, central to Pomor life, held

5832-641: The three universities of Arkhangelsk was named the Pomor State University (now merged into Northern (Arctic) Federal University ). In line with the current Russian trend towards amalgamating the least populated federal subjects into larger entities, a merger of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts, the Komi Republic , and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug has been proposed , one of the possible names of this new territory being

5913-873: The twentieth century the Trans-Siberian Highway was built, and the stretch north of the Amur was completed in 2013. The result is a pattern in which the Russians form a long narrow belt along the southern border with some extensions northward, mainly to where minerals can be found. The rivers are still used, but largely for north-south transport to and from the Trans-Siberian Railway. Volga River 8,103.078 m /s (286,157.5 cu ft/s) 2,806.467 m /s (99,109.4 cu ft/s) Yaroslavl (Basin size: 153,657.8 km (59,327.6 sq mi): 1,008.277 m /s (35,607.0 cu ft/s) The Volga ( Russian : Волга , pronounced [ˈvoɫɡə] )

5994-456: The villages. However, they were also seen as people with magical knowledge and secret skills like healing. While never being able to be a full part of society outside of intermediate positions, they were able to have social contacts and could for example sing together with the women. Nowadays, the LGBT community of the region embraces the identity instead of the term " third gender " which is seen as

6075-484: The years of Joseph Stalin 's industrialization , is of great importance to inland shipping and transport in Russia: all the dams in the river have been equipped with large (double) ship locks , so that vessels of considerable dimensions can travel from the Caspian Sea almost to the upstream end of the river. Connections with the river Don and the Black Sea are possible through the Volga–Don Canal . Connections with

6156-692: Was a railway from Perm to Yekaterinburg. Another branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway (1891) goes south of the Urals through Chelyabinsk (1736), Omsk (1716) and Novosibirsk (1893). Ob Basin: Near Tobolsk was the capital of the Khanate of Sibir , which was conquered in 1582. North down the Irtysh to its juncture with the Ob River , then 750km up the Ob to Narym (1594), and up the Ket River (1602) about 300 km to its headwaters. Here

6237-416: Was engaged in fishing, mica and salt production (Sol'-Kamskay, Sol'- Vychegodskay, Tot'ma, etc.) and other enterprises. The Russian Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary , in its 1890–1907 edition, classified Pomors as Great Russians or referred to them as Russian traders and trappers of the North. To date, no encyclopedia or encyclopedic dictionary refers to the Pomor as a separate ethnic group. In

6318-535: Was extended into one to apply to this population living relatively far away from the sea. Finally in the 15th century, the people became disconnected from the sea. The sea was not a major part of economy of this region. At the same time, people began using the term Pomor'e to refer to a territory of practically the whole European Russian North, including the Murmansk , Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions; and Karelia and Komi republics. The traditional livelihoods of

6399-573: Was largely abandoned. From the mouth of the Lena River , along the coast to the mouth of the Kolyma River , up to Bolshoy Anyuy River , portage, down the Anadyr River to Anadyrsk (1650). One could continue down the Anadyr to the Pacific, but the area was too barren to be of interest. The area northeast of this route was avoided because of the warlike Chukchis. About 1700 Russians entered

6480-487: Was perceived as both a source of chaos and a pathway to salvation, reflecting the dual nature of the northern lands adjacent to the Polar Mountain, which were simultaneously regions of heaven and hell . As the last two elements show, the combination of destruction and creation, life and death, or even the sacred and the mundane at the same time instead of a clear cut separation of dual forces like good and evil,

6561-524: Was up the Irtysh toward the Altai country ( Semipalatinsk , 1718). By the beginning of the 18th century the number of fur-bearing animals had declined sharply across Siberia as trappers and traders collected furs without any thought for sustainable population control, and in 1913 a ban was put on sable hunting in order to keep this animal from extinction. The Babinov Road was the first overland path across

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