Ural (river)
The Ural (Russian: Урал, pronounced [ʊˈraɫ]), known before 1775 as Yaik (Russian: Яик, Bashkir: Яйыҡ, romanized: Yayıq, pronounced [jɑˈjɯq]; Kazakh: Жайық, romanized: Jaiyq, pronounced [ʑɑˈjəq]), is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan in the continental border between Europe and Asia. It originates in the southern Ural Mountains and discharges into the Caspian Sea. At 2,428 kilometres (1,509 mi), it is the third-longest river in Europe after the Volga and the Danube, and the 18th-longest river in Asia. The Ural is conventionally considered part of the boundary between the continents of Europe and Asia.
| Ural | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Countries | Kazakhstan, Russia |
| Cities | Magnitogorsk, Orsk, Novotroitsk, Orenburg, Oral, Atyrau |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Ural Mountains |
| Mouth | Caspian Sea |
• coordinates | 46°53′N 51°37′E |
| Length | 2,428 km (1,509 mi) |
| Basin size | 231,000 km2 (89,000 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 400 m3/s (14,000 cu ft/s) |
| Official name | Ural River Delta and adjacent Caspian Sea coast |
| Designated | 10 March 2009 |
| Reference no. | 1856[1] |
The Ural rises near Mount Kruglaya in the Ural Mountains, flows south parallel and west of the north-flowing Tobol, through Magnitogorsk, and around the southern end of the Urals, through Orsk where it turns west for about 300 kilometres (190 mi), to Orenburg, where the river Sakmara joins. From Orenburg it continues west, passing into Kazakhstan, then turning south again at Oral, and meandering through a broad flat plain until it reaches the Caspian a few miles below Atyrau, where it forms a fine 'digitate' (tree-like) delta.[2]