Kama River

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Kama (река́ Ка́ма) is a river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; in fact, it is larger than Volga before junction).

It starts in Udmurtia, near the town of Kuligi (Кулига), flowing north-west on 125 miles, turn north-east near the town of Loyno (Лойно) for another 125 miles, then turns south and west in Perm Krai, flowing again through Udmurtia and then through Tatarstan, where it meets the Volga.

The overall length is 1805 km. The largest tributaries to the Kama are Kosa, Vishera, Sylva, Chusovaya, Belaya, Ik, Izh and Vyatka Rivers. The cities situated on the banks of the Kama are Solikamsk, Berezniki, Perm, Sarapul, and Naberezhnye Chelny. It is located to the west of the Ural Mountains and is a fairly well used trade route.

Before the advent of the railroads, the Kama was connected by important portages with the basins of the Northern Dvina and the Pechora. In the early 19th century, Northern Ekaterininsky Canal connected the upper Kama with the Vychegda River (a tributary of the Northern Dvina), but was mostly abandoned after just a few years due to low use.

Dams and reservoirs

The Kama is dammed at several locations:

• At Perm, by the dam of the Kama Hydroelectric Station (Камская ГЭС), forming the Kama Reservoir (Камское водохранилище);
• At Chaykovsky, by the dam of the Votkinsk Hydroelectric Station (Воткинская ГЭС), forming the Votkinsk Reservoir;
• At Naberezhnye Chelny, by the dam of the Nizhnekamsk Hydroelectric Station (Нижнекамская ГЭС), forming the Nizhnekamsk Reservoir.

Gallery

Links

• Naberezhnye Chelny and the river Kama

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Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 21:30:23 PDT (GMT -0700)
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