Ural Mountains - Rivers and Lakes

Rivers and Lakes

Many rivers originate in the Ural Mountains. The Western slope south of the border between the Komi Republic and Perm Krai and Eastern slope south of approximately 54°30′N drain into the Caspian Sea via the Kama and Ural river basins. The tributaries of the Kama include the Vishera, Chusovaya, and Belaya and originate both in the eastern and western slopes. The rest of the Urals drains into the Arctic Ocean, mainly via the Pechora basin in the west, which includes the Ilych, Shchugor, and Usa, and via the Ob basin in the east, which includes the Tobol, Tavda, Iset, Tura and Severnaya Sosva. The rivers freeze for more than half a year. Generally, the western rivers have higher flow volume than the eastern ones, especially in the Northern and Nether-Polar regions. Rivers are slower in the Southern Ural. This is because of low precipitation and relatively warm climate resulting in less snow and more evaporation.

The mountains are home to a number of deep lakes. The eastern slope of the Southern and Central Urals, which hosts among its largest lakes the Uvildy, Itkul, Turgoyak, and Tavatuy, is home to most of these. Less numerous, the lakes found on the western slope are also smaller. Lake Bolshoye Shchuchye, the deepest lake in the Polar Urals, is 136 meters (446 ft) deep. Other lakes, too, are found in this region, in its glacial valleys. Spas and sanatoriums have been built to take advantage of the medicinal muds found in some of the lakes in the mountains.