How long is the Don river and where does it flow?
The Don river is 1,870 kilometres long. It rises in Novomoskovsk, 60 km southeast of Tula in Central Russia, and flows south to empty into the Sea of Azov in Southern Russia.
Questions about Don (river)
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why was the Don river important to the Byzantine Empire?
The Don served as a major trading route for merchants from the Byzantine Empire, making the surrounding region subject to Byzantine cultural influence. Traders used the river as an artery into the interior of Russia.
What is the Volga-Don Canal and how long is it?
The Volga-Don Canal is a 101-kilometre waterway that connects the Don and Volga river systems at their closest point, where they are less than 100 km apart. It is broad and deep enough for oil-tanker-size vessels and forms one of only two routes allowing ships to exit the Caspian Sea.
Who were the Don Cossacks and why are they named after the river?
The Don Cossacks were a people who settled the fertile valley of the Don river in the 16th and 17th centuries and took their name directly from the river. Their identity as a distinct community was rooted in the geography of the Don basin.
What was the ancient Greek name for the Don river?
Ancient Greeks called the Don the Tanaïs, a name that also applied to a city on the river situated in the Maeotian marshes. They also used the name Iazartes. The Scythian name, recorded by Pliny, was Silys.
What Nobel prize-winning author wrote about the Don river?
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, who was born in the stanitsa of Veshenskaya on the Don, wrote And Quiet Flows the Don. Sholokhov won the Nobel Prize in Literature, bringing international recognition to the Cossack culture of the Don valley.