Don River, Russia

Encyclopedia : D : DO : DON : Don River, Russia

This article is about the river in Western Russia. For other rivers with the same name, see Don River.

The Don (Дон) is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises near Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 km (1,220 miles) to the Sea of Azov.

From its source, the river first flows southeast to Voronezh, then southwest to its mouth. The main city on the river is Rostov on Don, its main tributary the Donets.

At its easternmost point, the Don comes near the Volga, and the Volga-Don Canal (length ca. 105 km (65 miles)), connecting both rivers, is a major waterway.

This part of the river saw Operation Uranus, one of the turning points of the Second World War.

The Don was known in Greek, during the times of the old Scythians, as the Tanaïs, and has been a major trading route ever since. Tanais appears in ancient Greek sources as the name of the river and of a city on it. The name derives however from Scythian Dānu "river", akin to modern Ossetic don "river". In modern literature, the Don figured centrally in the works of Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov.

Views of Don River

Image:Don_kalinin.jpg|Don River near village Kalininsky in Rostov Oblast (photo 2002). Image:veshki_15.jpg|Eagle statue, Don River and town Veshenskaya in Rostov Oblast (photo 2002). Image:elets_04.jpg|Don River near Yelets in Lipetsk Oblast (photo 2001). Image:elets_16.jpg|Don River near Yelets in Lipetsk Oblast (photo 2001). Image:Veshki_24.jpg|Don River near town Veshenskaya in Rostov Oblast (photo 2002).

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