Kama River

Coordinates: 55°21′50″N 49°59′52″E / 55.36389°N 49.99778°E / 55.36389; 49.99778

Kama
Map of the Volga watershed with the Kama highlighted
Country	Russia
Basin
Main source	Udmurtia 360 m (1,180 ft)
River mouth	Volga River
Basin size	507,000 km2 (196,000 sq mi)
Physical characteristics
Length	1,805 km (1,122 mi)
Discharge	Average rate: 4,100 cubic metres per second (140,000 cu ft/s)

The Kama (Russian: река́ Ка́ма, IPA: [ˈkamə]; Tatar: Cyrillic Чулман, Latin Çulman; Udmurt: Кам) is a major river in Russia, the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge; it is larger than the Volga before junction.

It starts in the Udmurt Republic, near Kuliga, flowing northwest for 200 kilometres (120 mi), turning northeast near Loyno for another 200 kilometres, then turning south and west in Perm Krai, flowing again through the Udmurt Republic and then through the Republic of Tatarstan, where it meets the Volga.

The Kama is 1,805 kilometres (1,122 mi) long.^[1]

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.

The Kama was featured in the 2013 Russian film The Geographer Drank His Globe Away, in the climactic rapids scene.

Dams and reservoirs

The Kama is dammed at several locations:

• At Perm, by the dam of the Kama Hydroelectric Station, forming the Kama Reservoir;
• At Chaykovsky, by the dam of the Votkinsk Hydroelectric Station, forming the Votkinsk Reservoir;
• At Naberezhnye Chelny, by the dam of the Nizhnekamsk Hydroelectric Station, forming the Nizhnekamsk Reservoir.

Gallery

• 
  Crossing of the rivers Chusovaya (tributary) and Kama
• 
  Picture of Kama River and city of Perm
• 
  View in Yelabuga
• 
  A Russian truss bridge by Lavr Proskuryakov. Early colour photograph, taken ca. 1912.

References

External links

• Media related to Kama River at Wikimedia Commons
• Naberezhnye Chelny and the Kama River

Kama River
Left tributary of the Volga River
Tributaries	Kosa Vishera Mulyanka Chusovaya Sylva Belaya Izh Ik Toyma Sheshma Zay Vyatka Myosha
Reservoirs	Kama Votkinsk Nizhnekamsk Kuybyshev
Hydroelectric stations	Kama Votkinsk Nizhnekamsk

Volga River
Tributaries	Selizharovka Vazuza Tvertsa Shosha Dubna Medveditsa Nerl Kashinka Sit Mologa Suda Sheksna Sogozha Kotorosl Kostroma Nyomda Unzha Uzola Oka Kudma Kerzhenets Sura Vetluga Rutka Tsivil Great Kokshaga Little Kokshaga Anish Ilet Sviyaga Sumka Kazanka Kama Aktay Bezdna Cheremshan Sok Samara Chapayevka Little Irgiz Irgiz Tereshka Yeruslan Akhtuba (distributary)
Reservoirs	Lake Volgo Ivankovo Uglich Rybinsk Gorky Cheboksary Kuybyshev Saratov Volgograd
Hydroelectric stations	Ivankovo Uglich Rybinsk Nizhny Novgorod Cheboksary Zhiguli Saratov Volga
Canals	Moscow Canal Volga–Baltic Waterway Volga–Don Canal
Cities	Astrakhan Volgograd Saratov Samara Kazan Ulyanovsk Nizhny Novgorod Yaroslavl Tver