Moskva (river)
Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox river
The Moskva<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (Template:Langx) is a river that flows through western Russia. It rises about Template:Convert west of Moscow and flows roughly east through the Smolensk and Moscow Oblasts, passing through central Moscow. About Template:Convert southeast of Moscow, at the city of Kolomna, it flows into the Oka, itself a tributary of the Volga, which ultimately flows into the Caspian Sea.
History
According to recent studies, the current riverbed of the Moskva River was occupied about 12 thousand years ago.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In addition to Finnic tribes, the Moskva River is also the origin of Slavic tribes such as the Vyatichi.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Etymology
Template:Main The word "Moskva" is the Russian word for Moscow. The name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the river.<ref name="Vasmer">Template:Vasmer</ref><ref name="Smol">Template:Cite book</ref> Several theories of the origin of the name have been proposed.
The most linguistically well-grounded and widely accepted is from the Proto-Balto-Slavic root *mŭzg-/muzg- from the Proto-Indo-European Template:Lang "wet",<ref name="Smol" /><ref name="Trubach">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> so the name Moskva might signify a river at a wetland or a marsh.<ref name="Vasmer" /> Its cognates include Template:Langx, Template:Lang "pool, puddle", Template:Langx and Template:Langx "to wash", Template:Langx "to drown", Template:Langx "to dip, immerse".<ref name="Vasmer" /><ref name="Trubach" /> In many Slavic countries Moskov is a surname, most common in Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and North Macedonia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Additionally, there are similarly named places in Poland like Mozgawa.<ref name="Vasmer" /><ref name="Smol" /><ref name="Trubach" />
According to one of the Finno-Ugric hypotheses, the Merya and Muroma people, who were among the several pre-Slavic tribes which originally inhabited the area, called the river Mustajoki "Black river", and the name of the river derives from this term.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Various other theories (of Celtic, Iranian, Caucasic origins), having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists.<ref name="Vasmer" /><ref name="Smol" />
To distinguish the river and the city, Russians usually call the river Moskva-reka (Moskva river) instead of just Moskva.
Hydrology
The river is Template:Convert long (or Template:Convert),<ref>Москва (река), Great Soviet Encyclopedia</ref> and the area of its drainage basin is Template:Convert.<ref name=gvr>«Река МОСКВА», Russian State Water Registry</ref> It has a vertical drop of Template:Convert (long-term average). The maximum depth is Template:Convert above Moscow city limits, and up to Template:Convert below it.<ref>All numerical data: Russian: Энциклопедия "Москва", M, 1997 (Encyclopedia of Moscow, Moscow, 1997)</ref> Normally, it freezes in November–December and begins to thaw around late March. During an unusually warm winter in 2006–2007, ice began melting on January 25. The portion of the river running through Moscow only freezes occasionally on account of contamination.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The absolute water level in downtown Moscow is Template:Convert above sea level (long-term average of summer lows after World War II); a historical maximum of Template:Convert above sea level was set by the 1908 flood.<ref name="BM">Russian: Носарев В.А., Скрябина, Т.А., "Мосты Москвы", М, "Вече", 2004, стр.194 (Bridges of Moscow, 2004, p.194) Template:ISBN</ref>
Sources of water
The main tributaries of the Moskva are, from source to mouth:<ref name=gvr/> Template:Div col
- Ruza (left)
- Istra (left)
- Skhodnya (left)
- Setun (right)
- Yauza (left)
- Pakhra (right)
- Pekhorka (left)
- Nerskaya (left)
- Severka (right)
Sources of water are estimated as 61% thaw, 12% rain and 27% subterranean. Since completion of the Moscow Canal (1932–1937), the Moskva River has also collected a share of Upper Volga water. This has enabled reliable commercial shipping, which was previously interrupted by summer droughts (older dams built in 1785, 1836 and 1878 were not effective). The average discharge, including Volga waters, varies from Template:Convert near Zvenigorod to Template:Convert at the Oka inlet. The speed of the current, depending on the season, varies from Template:Convert (winter, dams closed) to Template:Convert (May, dams open).
Cities and towns
Moscow (Template:Lang), the capital of Russia, is situated on its banks. The river also flows through the towns of Mozhaysk, Zvenigorod, Zhukovsky, Bronnitsy, Voskresensk, and — at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka — Kolomna. As of 2007, there are 49 bridges across the Moskva River and its canals within Moscow city limits; the first stone bridge, Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge, was erected in 1692. Within the city, the river is Template:Convert wide, the narrowest point being under the Kremlin walls. Drinking water for the city of Moscow is collected from five stations on the Moskva River and from the Upper Volga reservoirs (north and north-west of the city).
Islands
Canals, built within Moscow city limits, have created a number of islands. Some of them have names in Russian, but some have none. One of the most famous is an unnamed artificial island in the center of the city between the river proper and the Bypass Canal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Major, permanent islands (west to east) are:
- Serebryany Bor (park). Separated from the mainland in the 1930s.
- Tatarskaya Poyma, commonly known as Mnyovniki. Separated from the mainland in the 1930s
- Balchug Island, also known as Bolotny Ostrov, lying just opposite the Kremlin. The island was formed by the construction of the Vodootvodny Canal in the 1780s, and has no official name in Russian. Moscow residents informally call it "Bolotny Ostrov" (Bog Island) while members of Moscow's English-speaking community refer to it as Balchug.
- One uninhabited island north of Nagatino.
- Three uninhabited islands east of Nagatino, connected by the Pererva dam and lock system.
Recreation
There is a fleet of river ice-breaker cruisers which ply routes from moorings at the Hotel Ukraine and Gorky Park to the Novospassky Monastery and back. The duration of trips ranges from 1.5 to 3 hours.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
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