View source for Ob

{{short description|Major river in Siberia}}
{{Other uses|Ob (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Ob
| native_name        ={{native name|ru|Обь}}
| name_other         =
| name_etymology     =
| image              = March evening. The sun fell across the Ob river.jpg
| image_size         =
| image_caption      = The Ob in [[Novosibirsk]]
| map                = Ob river basin map.png
| map_size           =
| map_caption        = Map of the Ob River watershed
| pushpin_map        =
| pushpin_map_size   =
| pushpin_map_caption=
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = Russia
| subdivision_type2  =
| subdivision_name2  =
| subdivision_type3  = Region
| subdivision_name3  = [[Altai Krai]], [[Novosibirsk Oblast]], [[Tomsk Oblast]], [[Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug]], [[Yamalia]]
| subdivision_type4  =
| subdivision_name4  =
| subdivision_type5  = Cities
| subdivision_name5  = [[Biysk]], [[Barnaul]], [[Novosibirsk]], [[Nizhnevartovsk]], [[Surgut]]
| length             = {{convert|3,700|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| width_min          = {{convert|140|m|abbr=on}}
| width_avg          = {{convert|3,000|m|abbr=on}}
| width_max          = {{convert|19,000|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Ob River">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ob-River|title=Ob River|access-date=2022-10-22|archive-date=2022-10-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022201041/https://www.britannica.com/place/Ob-River|url-status=live}}</ref>
| depth_min          =
| depth_avg          = {{convert|9|m|abbr=on}}
| depth_max          = {{convert|40|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="Ob River"/>
| discharge1_location= [[Salekhard]]<ref name="Ob River at Salekhard"/> (Basin size: {{convert|2,917,508|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name="ucpress_Changing-freshwater-contribution">{{cite web|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article/9/1/00098/117201/Changing-freshwater-contributions-to-the-ArcticA|title=Changing freshwater contributions to the Arctic &#124; Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene &#124; University of California Press|access-date=2021-11-26|archive-date=2021-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126165037/https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article/9/1/00098/117201/Changing-freshwater-contributions-to-the-ArcticA|url-status=live}}</ref>)
| discharge1_min     = {{convert|2,360|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Ob River at Salekhard">{{cite web|url=http://www.sage.wisc.edu/riverdata/scripts/station_table.php?qual=32&filenum=1693|title=Ob River at Salekhard|publisher=Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment|work=River Discharge Database|date=2010-02-13|access-date=2010-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612203517/http://www.sage.wisc.edu/riverdata/scripts/station_table.php?qual=32&filenum=1693|archive-date=2010-06-12|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| discharge1_avg     = {{convert|12,889|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="ucpress_Changing-freshwater-contribution"/><br>(Period of data: 1971–2015)
{{convert|12,475.1|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Ob River at Salekhard"/><br>(Period of data: 1930–1984)
{{convert|13,500|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="River Discharge">{{cite web|url=http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/|title=River Discharge|access-date=2021-10-11|archive-date=2007-02-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210161317/http://www.arctic.noaa.gov/|url-status=live}}</ref><br>(Period of data: 1999–2008)
| discharge1_max     = {{convert|40,200|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Ob River at Salekhard"/>
| source1            = [[Katun (river)|Katun]]
| source1_location   = [[Belukha Mountain]], [[Altai Republic]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|49|45|0|N|86|34|0|E|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation  = {{convert|2,300|m|abbr=on}}
| source2            = [[Biya (river)|Biya]]
| source2_location   = [[Lake Teletskoye]], [[Altai Republic]]
| source2_coordinates= {{coord|51|47|11|N|87|14|49|E|display=inline}}
| source2_elevation  = {{convert|434|m|abbr=on}}
| source3            = Most distant source: Ob-Irtysh system
| source3_location   = near Mang-tai-ch’ia-ta-fan pass, Altai Mountains, [[Xinjiang]],  China
| source3_coordinates= {{coord|47|52|39|N|89|58|12|E|}}
| source3_elevation  = {{convert|2,960|m|abbr=on}}
| source_confluence            = Near [[Biysk]]
| source_confluence_location   = [[Altai Krai]]
| source_confluence_coordinates= {{coord|52|25|54|N|85|01|26|E|display=inline}}
| source_confluence_elevation  = {{convert|195|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth              = [[Gulf of Ob]]
| mouth_location     = Ob Delta, [[Yamalia]]
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|66|32|02|N|71|23|41|E|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation    = {{convert|0|m|abbr=on}}
| progression        =
| river_system       =
| basin_size         = {{convert|2,972,497|km2|mi2|abbr=on}} to {{convert|2,994,238|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}
| tributaries_left   = [[Katun (river)|Katun]], [[Anuy]], [[Charysh]], [[Aley (river)|Aley]], [[Parabel (river)|Parabel]], [[Vasyugan]], [[Irtysh]], [[Severnaya Sosva]]
| tributaries_right  = [[Biya (river)|Biya]], [[Berd (river)|Berd]], [[Inya (river)|Inya]], [[Tom (river)|Tom]], [[Chulym (Ob)|Chulym]], [[Ket (river)|Ket]], [[Tym (Ob)|Tym]], [[Vakh]], [[Pim (river)|Pim]], [[Kazym]]
| custom_label       =
| custom_data        =
|discharge2_location=Ob Estuary, [[Gulf of Ob]] ([[Kara Sea]]), Russia
|discharge2_avg      =
{{convert|402|km3/year|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="River Discharge"/><br>(Period of data: 1940–2017)
{{convert|414|km3/year|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="River Discharge"/><br>(Period of data: 1984–2018)
| extra             = {{Infobox mapframe |wikidata=yes |zoom=3 |height=250 | stroke-width=1.5 |coord {{WikidataCoord|display=i}}}}
}}
The '''Ob''' ({{IPAc-en|'|Q|b}})<ref>{{MW|Ob}}</ref> is a major river in Russia. It is in western [[Siberia]], and with its tributary the [[Irtysh]] forms the world's [[List of rivers by length|seventh-longest river system]], at {{convert|5,410|km}}. The Ob forms at the confluence of the [[Biya (river)|Biya]] and [[Katun (river)|Katun]] which have their origins in the [[Altai Mountains]]. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the [[Arctic Ocean]] (the other two being the [[Yenisei]] and the [[Lena River|Lena]]). Its flow is north-westward, then northward.
The main city on its banks is [[Novosibirsk]], the largest city in Siberia, and the [[List of cities and towns in Russia by population|third-largest city]] in Russia. It is where the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]] crosses the river.
The [[Gulf of Ob]] is the world's longest [[estuary]].
==Names==
The internationally known name of the river is based on the Russian name ''Обь'' (''Obʹ'', {{IPA|ru|opʲ|IPA}}). Possibly from [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]] ''[[Ap (water)|*Hā́p-]]'', "river, water" (compare [[Vedic Sanskrit]] ''áp-'', [[Persian language|Persian]] ''āb'', [[Tajik language|Tajik]] ''ob'', and [[Pashto language|Pashto]] ''obə'', "water"). Katz (1990)<ref>Katz, Hartmut. Zum Flußnamen ''Ob''. — ''Specimena Sibirica III'', pp. 93–95. Wien.</ref> proposes [[Komi language|Komi]] ''ob'' 'river' as the immediate source of derivation for the Russian name. Katz's proposal of a common Finno-Ugric root, borrowed early on from a pre-Indo-Iranian source related to Sanskrit ''ambhas-'' 'water' is deemed improbable by Rédei (1992),<ref>Rédei, Károly. Szófejtések. — [http://www.nytud.hu/nyk/reg/093.pdf,''Nyelvtudományi Közlemenyek'' 93], pp. 125–135.</ref> who prefers to analyse this as a later loan from a descendant of the non-nasal root form ''*Hā́p-''.
The Ob is known to the [[Khanty people]] as the ''As'' (the source of the name "[[Ostyak]]"), ''Yag'', ''Kolta'' and ''Yema''; to the [[Nenets people]] as the ''Kolta'' or ''Kuay''; and to the [[Siberian Tatars]] as the ''Umar'' or ''Omass''.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Ob|volume=19|page=944}}</ref>
==Geography==
[[File:Operational Navigation Chart C-4, 4th edition.jpg|thumb|left|Map including the mouth of the Ob River]]
The Ob forms {{convert|25|km|abbr=on}} southwest of [[Biysk]] in [[Altai Krai]] at the confluence of the [[Biya (river)|Biya]] and [[Katun (river)|Katun]] rivers. Both these streams have their origin in the [[Altai Mountains]], which gradually give way to the [[Ob Plateau]].<ref name="GSE">[https://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/092/860.htm Приобское плато] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702034243/https://www.booksite.ru/fulltext/1/001/008/092/860.htm |date=2022-07-02 }}; ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' in 30 vols.  — Ch. ed. [[A.M. Prokhorov]]. – 3rd ed. – M. Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969–1978. {{in lang|ru}}</ref> The Biya has its sources in [[Lake Teletskoye]] and the {{convert|700|km|mi}} long Katun in a glacier on [[Mount Byelukha]].<ref name="EB1911"/>
The Ob itself is in Russia. Its tributaries extend into northern [[Kazakhstan]], a western corner of China and a tiny upland parcel of the western tip of Mongolia, where the wider borders match the drainage basin almost precisely. The river splits into more than one arm after the large [[Irtysh]] flows into it at about 69° E. Originating in China, the Irtysh is the furthest source of the Ob. From their respective sources to the confluence, the Irtysh measures 4,248 kilometers (2,640&nbsp;mi) and the Ob 2,538&nbsp;km (1,577&nbsp;mi). Other noteworthy tributaries are: from the east, the [[Tom (river)|Tom]], [[Chulym (Ob)|Chulym]], [[Ket (river)|Ket]], [[Tym (Ob)|Tym]] and [[Vakh]] rivers; and, from the west and south, the [[Vasyugan]], Irtysh (with the [[Ishim (river)|Ishim]] and [[Tobol]] rivers), and [[Severnaya Sosva]].
The Ob zigzags west and north until it reaches 55° N, where it curves to the northwest, south of the [[Siberian Uvaly]], at the western end of which it bends northwards, wheeling finally eastwards into the [[Gulf of Ob]], a {{convert|1000|km|mi|abbr=off|adj=mid|-long}} bay of the [[Kara Sea]], separating the [[Yamal Peninsula]] from the [[Gyda Peninsula]].
The combined Ob-Irtysh system, the [[List of rivers by length|fourth-longest river system]] of Asia (after [[Yenisei]], and China's [[Yangzi]] and [[Yellow River|Yellow]] rivers), is {{convert|5410|km|mi}} long, and the area of its basin {{convert|2990000|km2|mi2}}.
The river basin of the Ob consists mostly of [[steppe]], [[taiga]], swamps, [[tundra]], and [[semi-desert]] topography. The floodplains of the Ob are characterised by many tributaries and lakes.
The Ob is icebound at southern [[Barnaul]] from early in November to near the end of April, and at northern [[Salekhard]], {{convert|150|km|abbr=on}} above its mouth, from the end of October to the beginning of June.{{Update inline|reason=likely climate change since 1911|date=October 2023}}<ref name="EB1911"/>
The Ob River crosses several climatic zones. The upper Ob valley, in the south, supports grapes, melons and watermelons, whereas the lower reaches of the Ob are Arctic tundra. The most temperate climates on the Ob are at [[Biysk]], Barnaul, and [[Novosibirsk]].
[[File:Yenisei Ob Kara Sea.jpg|thumb|Yenisei and Ob (right) flow into Kara Sea]]
==Human use==
[[Image:Barnaul River Port.jpg|thumb|The Ob River in [[Barnaul]]]]
[[Image:Ob river.jpg|thumb|A section of the Ob River]]
The Ob provides irrigation, drinking water, hydroelectric energy, and fishing (the river hosts more than 50 species of fish).
There are several hydroelectric power plants along the Ob river, the largest being Novosibirskaya GES.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.ro/maps/place/Novosibirskaya+GES/@54.8503211,82.9841331,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x42dfdc9c0694c19b:0xafb61636924d1eec!8m2!3d54.8503211!4d82.9863218|title=Location of Novosibirskaya GES|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=1 July 2017|archive-date=9 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909215834/https://www.google.ro/maps/place/Novosibirskaya+GES/@54.8503211,82.9841331,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x42dfdc9c0694c19b:0xafb61636924d1eec!8m2!3d54.8503211!4d82.9863218?shorturl=1|url-status=live}}</ref>
The navigable waters within the Ob basin reach a total length of {{convert|15000|km|abbr=on}}.<ref name="EB1911"/>
The importance of navigation in the Ob basin for transport was particularly great before the completion of the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]], since, despite the general south-to-north direction of the flow of Ob and most of its tributaries, the width of the Ob basin provided for (somewhat indirect) transport in the east–west direction as well.
===History===
The [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorodians]] were aware of the lands of western Siberia from at least the 11th century, which were designated by the Russian word ''[[Yugra]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rasputin |first1=Valentin |title=Siberia, Siberia |date=29 October 1997 |publisher=Northwestern University Press |isbn=978-0-8101-1575-0 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fzchffZ3BFQC |language=en}}</ref> Novgorod established two trade routes to the Ob River, both starting from the town of [[Veliky Ustyug|Ustyug]].<ref name="Naumov"/> The first route went along the [[Sukhona]] and [[Vychegda]], then along the [[Usa (Pechora)|Usa]] to the lower reaches of the Ob.<ref name="Naumov"/> The second route went down the [[Northern Dvina]], then along the coasts of the [[White Sea]] and [[Kara Sea]], before reaching the mouth of the Ob.<ref name="Naumov">{{cite book |last1=Naumov |first1=Igor V. |title=The History of Siberia |date=22 November 2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-20703-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4498YjPq6mgC |language=en |page=53}}</ref>
The Russian settlements of [[Beryozovo, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug|Beryozov]] and [[Obdorsk]] were founded towards the end of the 16th century on the lower reaches of the Ob, while [[Surgut]] was founded on the middle course of the Ob.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kerner |first1=Robert Joseph |title=The Urge to the Sea: The Course of Russian History: The Role of Rivers, Portages, Ostrogs, Monasteries, and Furs |date=15 November 2023 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-35030-4 |page=72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j5ngEAAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref>
Until the early 20th century, a particularly important western river-port was
[[Tyumen]], located on the [[Tura (river)|Tura]], a tributary of the [[Tobol]]. Reached by an extension of the [[Yekaterinburg]]–[[Perm, Russia|Perm]] railway in 1885, and thus obtaining a rail link to the [[Kama (river)|Kama]] and [[Volga]] rivers in the heart of Russia, Tyumen became an important railhead for some years until the railway extended further east. In the eastern reaches of the Ob basin, [[Tomsk]] on the [[Tom (river)|Tom]] functioned as an important terminus.
Tyumen had its first [[steamboat]] in 1836, and steamboats have navigated the middle reaches of the Ob since 1845. In 1916, there were 49 steamers on the Ob; 10 on the Yenisei.
In an attempt to extend the Ob navigable system even further, a [[Ob–Yenisei Canal|system of canals]], utilising the [[Ket (river)|Ket]], {{convert|900|km|abbr=on}} long in all, was built in the late 19th-century to connect the Ob with the [[Yenisei River|Yenisei]], but soon abandoned as being uncompetitive with the [[Trans-Siberian Railway|railway]].
The Trans-Siberian Railway, once completed, provided for more direct, year-round transport in the east–west direction. But the Ob river-system still remained important for connecting the huge expanses of [[Tyumen Oblast]] and [[Tomsk Oblast]] with the major cities along the Trans-Siberian route, such as Novosibirsk or [[Omsk]]. In the second half of the 20th century, construction of rail links to [[Labytnangi]], [[Tobolsk]], and the oil and gas cities of [[Surgut]], and [[Nizhnevartovsk]] provided more railheads, but did not diminish the importance of the waterways for reaching places still not served by the rail.
A dam built near Novosibirsk in 1956 created the then-largest artificial lake in [[Siberia]], called [[Novosibirsk Reservoir]].
From the 1960s through 1980s, Soviet engineers and administrators contemplated a gigantic project to [[Northern river reversal|divert some of the waters of Ob and Irtysh]] to [[Kazakhstan]] and the Soviet [[Central Asia]]n republics, replenishing the [[Aral Sea]] as well. The project never left the drawing board, abandoned in 1986 for economic and environmental considerations.<ref>Douglas R. Weiner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2rRjx4pCEx0C "A Little Corner of Freedom: Russian Nature Protection from Stalin to Gorbachev"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109140042/https://books.google.com/books?id=2rRjx4pCEx0C |date=2017-01-09 }}. University of California Press, 1999. {{ISBN|0-520-23213-5}}. p. 415</ref><ref>Michael H. Glantz, [https://books.google.com/books?id=2YXnBxZg7c4C "Creeping Environmental Problems and Sustainable Development in the Aral Sea..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170109101345/https://books.google.com/books?id=2YXnBxZg7c4C |date=2017-01-09 }}. {{ISBN|0-521-62086-4}}. p. 174</ref>
==Pollution==
The water in the river is significantly polluted. In the lower reaches, the maximum permissible concentrations of petroleum products are exceeded by 9-10 times. The oxygen content in the water is 4 times lower than normal<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-11-02 |title=10 самых грязных рек России |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4548601 |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Коммерсантъ |language=ru}}</ref>
==Tributaries==
The [[Irtysh]] is the major [[tributary]] of the Ob. The larger tributaries along its course are:
{| class="wikitable
|- class=
! from the left
! from the right
|- valign="top"
|
* [[Katun (river)|Katun]]
* [[Peschanaya (river)|Peschanaya]]
* [[Anuy]]
* [[Charysh]]
* [[Aley (river)|Aley]]
* [[Barnaulka]]
* [[Kasmala (river)|Kasmala]]
* [[Shegarka]]
* [[Chaya (Ob)|Chaya]]
* [[Parabel (river)|Parabel]]
* [[Vasyugan]]
* [[Bolshoy Yugan]]
* [[Bolshoy Salym]]
* [[Irtysh]]
* [[Severnaya Sosva]]
* [[Shchuchya]]
* [[Synya]]
* [[Sob (river)|Sob]]
|
* [[Bolshaya Rechka]]
* [[Biya (river)|Biya]]
* [[Chumysh]]
* [[Berd (river)|Berd]]
* [[Inya (river)|Inya]]
* [[Tom (river)|Tom]]
* [[Chulym (Ob)|Chulym]]
* [[Ket (river)|Ket]]
* [[Tym (Ob)|Tym]]
* [[Kievsky Yogan]]
* [[Vakh]]
* [[Vatinsky Yogan]]
* [[Tromyogan]]
* [[Pim (river)|Pim]]
* [[Lyamin (river)|Lyamin]]
* [[Kazym]]
* [[Poluy]]
|}
In addition, the [[Nadym River|Nadym]] and the [[Pur River (Russia)|Pur River]] flow into the [[Gulf of Ob]] and the [[Taz River|Taz]] into the [[Taz Estuary]], a side arm of the Gulf of Ob.
==Cities==
Cities along the river include:
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*[[Barnaul]]
*[[Kamen-na-Obi]]
*[[Novosibirsk]] (Russia's third largest city and Siberia's largest by population)
*[[Kolpashevo]]
*[[Langepas]]
*[[Megion]]
*[[Nizhnevartovsk]]
*[[Surgut]]
*[[Khanty-Mansiysk]]
*[[Beryozovo]]
*[[Labytnangi]]
*[[Salekhard]]
{{div col end}}
==Bridges==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
From a confluence to a source:
*[[Surgut Bridge]]
*Railway bridge in [[Surgut]]
*Shegarsky bridge
*The bridge of "northern bypass" of [[Novosibirsk]]
*[[Dimitrovsky Bridge, Novosibirsk|Dimitrov bridge]] in Novosibirsk
*First railway bridge across the Ob ([[Trans-Siberian Railway]])
*[[Kommunalny Bridge, Novosibirsk|Communal (October) bridge]] in Novosibirsk
*[[Novosibirsk Metro Bridge|Metro bridge]] in Novosibirsk – longest [[Rapid transit|Metro Bridge]] in the world
*[[Bugrinsky Bridge]]
*Komsomol railway bridge in Novosibirsk
*The bridge above the lock of Novosibirskaya HPP
*Railway bridge in [[Kamen-na-Obi]]
*Communal bridge (railway, automobile) in [[Barnaul]]
*New bridge in Barnaul
{{div col end}}
==See also==
{{Portal|Siberia}}
*[[List of rivers of Russia]]
*[[Siman Island]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Ob River}}
*[http://www.infoplease.com/toptens/worldrivers.html The Top Ten: Longest Rivers of the World]
{{Regions of the world}}
{{Rivers of Russia}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Ob River| ]]
[[Category:Rivers of Altai Krai]]
[[Category:Rivers of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug]]
[[Category:Rivers of Novosibirsk Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Tomsk Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug]]
[[Category:Rivers of Novosibirsk]]
[[Category:Geography of Siberia]]
[[Category:Braided rivers in Russia]]
[[Category:West Siberian Plain]]