Volga (a Slav word for 'river'), the greatest river in Russia and the longest in Europe, having a course of over 900 miles in length as the crow flies, or, following its principal sweeps and sinuities, a length of 2400 miles from its source in a small lake among the Valdai Hills to its mouths in the Caspian Sea. It has a drainage area of 592,300 sq. m., over which there is an annual rainfall of 152 cubic miles, and its annual discharge equals 44 cubic miles, poured into the Caspian Sea. through 70 mouths. About the middle of its course it has a width of over a mile. It is navigable from near its source, and a wide-spreading system of canals and its numerous tributaries combine to make the river one of the most important waterways in the world. By means of artificial cuttings it communicates with the White Sea, the Euxine, the Baltic, and the Gulf of Finland, as well as with the Don, the Dnieper, the Dnieper, the Dwina, and other rivers. As many as 15,000 vessels, including over 500 steamers, navigate the waters of the Volga, and are all engaged in the river trade, a considerable and growing part of which comes from northern and central Asia, but by far the larger portion is derived from the internal commerce of Russia in Europe. Most of the goods exhibited at the great fair of Nijni Novgorod are transported to and from their destinations by means of these river-boats. Traffic almost entirely ceases in winter, when the waters are frozen, the ice-bound stream being only used by such travellers as are compelled to journey during that inclement season, and who drive over the ice and snow in sledges. The fisheries of the Volga are of great importance, sturgeon, carp, and pike being captured in immense numbers by means of the net, the hook, and the harpoon. At the first approach of winter the fish make for the sea, but such is the quantity that large shoals, unable to advance through the crush in front, remain jammed in thick masses in the deeper pools, and are frozen over, until, at the breaking up of the ice, they fall an easy prey to the fishermen. Seal-hunting, near the shores of the Caspian, also employs a number of persons.
The scenery along the upper banks is of a monotonous forest character, marshes and swamps occupying a considerable area to the left, where the ground is low. On the right the land is higher, often rising abruptly from the stream, but farther down the country becomes almost flat, the soil generally being composed of shingle and sand, and here navigation is somewhat impeded and rendered difficult by shoals and banks. This is a steppe region, where trees disappear, but short grass affords excellent pasturage, until, near its mouth, the river enters a desert area. The principal tributaries of the Volga are the Oka, the Kama, the Mologa, the Sheksna, the Unja, the Vetluga, and the Viatka. These are generally navigable for some distance above their mouths, and afford water trade routes to numerous towns at a considerable distance from the main river. The chief towns on the banks of the Volga are Jaroslav, Kostroma, Nijni Novgorod, Kazan, Simbirsk, Stavropol, Samara, and Tzaritzen. These all live as it were by means of the river, and are mostly flourishing places. See German monographs by Roskoschny (Leip. 1887) and Lender (St Petersburg, 1889).