View source for Angara

{{short description|River in Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox river
| name               = Angara
| name_native        = 
| name_native_lang   = 
| name_other         = 
| name_etymology     = 
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = Косой бык - panoramio.jpg
| image_size         = 
| image_caption      = 
| map                = Yeniseirivermap.png
| map_size           = 
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| mapframe           = yes
| mapframe-zoom      = 4
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = [[Russia]]
| subdivision_type2  = Regions
| subdivision_name2  = [[Irkutsk Oblast]], [[Krasnoyarsk Krai]]
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = 
| subdivision_type4  = 
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<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = {{convert|1,849|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name=gvr>{{GVR|16010100112116200000012|Река Ангара}}</ref> to {{convert|1,779|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="Yenisey River">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Yenisey-River|title=Yenisey River}}</ref>
| width_min          = 
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| width_max          = 
| depth_min          = 
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| discharge1_location= Confluence of the [[Yenisey]] (near mouth)
| discharge1_min     = 
| discharge1_avg     = {{convert|4,530|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}} to {{convert|4,980|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Yenisey River"/>
| discharge1_max     = 
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = [[Lake Baikal]]
| source1_location   = [[Baykal (port)|Baykal]], Irkutsk Oblast
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|51.867|N|104.818|E}}
| source1_elevation  = {{convert|389|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth              = [[Yenisey]]
| mouth_location     = [[Lesosibirsk]], Krasnoyarsk Krai
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|58.102|N|92.991|E|display=it}}
| mouth_elevation    = {{convert|75|m|abbr=on}}
| progression        = {{RYenisey}}
| basin_size         = {{convert|1,039,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name=gvr/> to {{convert|1,056,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Yenisey River"/>
| tributaries_left   = 
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}}{{Expand Russian|topic=geo}}
The '''Angara''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|ŋ|ɡ|ə|ˈ|r|ɑː|,_|ˌ|ɑː|ŋ|-}}; {{langx|ru|Ангара}} {{IPA|ru|ənɡɐˈra|}}) or '''Angar''' ({{langx|bxr|Ангар}} {{IPA|bua|ˈaɴɢɐr|}} мүрэн) is a major river in [[Siberia]], which traces a course through [[Russia]]'s [[Irkutsk Oblast]] and [[Krasnoyarsk Krai]]. It drains out of [[Lake Baikal]] and is the [[headwater]] [[tributary]] of the [[Yenisey]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9007537/Angara-River |title=Angara River |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |access-date=2006-10-26 }}</ref> It is {{convert|1,849|km}} long, and has a [[drainage basin]] of {{convert|1,039,000|km2}}.<ref name=gvr/> It was formerly known as the '''Lower''' or '''Nizhnyaya Angara''' (distinguishing it from the [[Upper Angara River|Upper Angara]]).{{sfnp|EB|1878}} Below its junction with the [[Ilim River|Ilim]], it was formerly known as the '''Upper Tunguska''' ({{langx|ru|Верхняя Тунгуска}}, ''Verhnyaya Tunguska'', distinguishing it from the [[Lower Tunguska River|Lower Tunguska]])<ref>[http://igras.ru/index.php?r=111&id=2301 ВЕРХНЯЯ ТУНГУСКА] (Verkhnyaya Tunguska, in the dictionary of Russia's place names).</ref><ref>[http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Tunguska Tunguska], in Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia</ref> and, with the names reversed, as the '''Lower Tunguska'''.<ref>See, e.g., the 1773 Kitchen map above.</ref>

==Course==
Leaving Lake Baikal near the settlement of [[Listvyanka, Irkutsky District, Irkutsk Oblast|Listvyanka]], the Angara flows north past the Irkutsk Oblast cities of [[Irkutsk]], [[Angarsk]], [[Bratsk]], and [[Ust-Ilimsk]]. It then crosses the [[Angara Range]] and turns west, entering Krasnoyarsk Krai, and joining the Yenisey near [[Strelka, Lesosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai|Strelka]], {{convert|40|km|mi}} south-east of [[Lesosibirsk]].

===Dams and reservoirs===
[[File:Bratsk hydropower station 3.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Bratsk Dam]]]]
Four dams of major hydroelectric plants - constructed since the 1950s - exploit the waters of the Angara:
* [[Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Irkutsk Dam]], forming the [[Irkutsk Reservoir]], which floods the valley of the river from its source to Irkutsk, and slightly raises the water level in Lake Baikal
* [[Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Bratsk Dam]], forming the [[Bratsk Reservoir]]
* [[Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Power Station|Ust-Ilimsk Dam]], at [[Ust-Ilimsk]], forming the Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir
* [[Boguchany Dam]], at [[Kodinsk]]

The reservoirs of these dams flooded a number of villages along the Angara and its tributaries (including the historic fort of [[Ilimsk]] on the Ilim), as well as numerous agricultural areas in the river valley. Due to its effects on the way of life of the rural residents of the Angara valley, dam construction was criticized by a number of Soviet intellectuals, in particular by the Irkutsk writer [[Valentin Rasputin]] - both in his novel ''[[Farewell to Matyora]]'' (1976) and in his non-fiction book ''[[Siberia, Siberia]]'' (1991).

==Navigation==
[[File:Embankment of the Angara in winter. Irkutsk, Russia.jpg|thumb|left|Embankment of the Angara in [[Irkutsk]]]]
[[File:Angara-Lake Baikal 1.JPG|thumb|The Angara at Talzy, near Lake Baikal]]
The Angara is navigable by modern watercraft on several isolated sections:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rusnet.nl/encyclo/a/angara.shtml |title=Angara River, southeast-central Russia |access-date=2006-10-26 |archive-date=2017-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610150347/http://www.rusnet.nl/encyclo/a/angara.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.e-river.ru/freight/map/Angara/ Енисейское пароходство: Ангара – судоходство и грузоперевозки] (Yenisey Shipping Company: Angara&nbsp;— navigation and cargo shipping) {{in lang|ru}}</ref><ref>[http://istok.angara.ru/mppss/BaikalRules.htm Особенности движения и стоянки судов по внутренним водным путям Восточно-Сибирского бассейна] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313000811/http://istok.angara.ru/mppss/BaikalRules.htm |date=March 13, 2008 }} (Special navigation rules for the internal waterways of the Eastern Siberia Basin) {{in lang|ru}}</ref>
* from Lake Baikal to Irkutsk
* from Irkutsk to Bratsk
* on the Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir
* from the Boguchany Dam (Kodinsk) to the river's fall into the Yenisey.

The section between the Ust-Ilimsk Dam and the Boguchany Dam has not been navigable due to rapids. However, with the completion of the Boguchany Dam, and filling of its reservoir, at least part of this section of the river will become navigable as well. Nonetheless, this will not enable through navigation from Lake Baikal to the Yenisey, as none of the existing three dams has been provided with a [[ship lock]] or a [[boat lift]], nor will the Boguchany Dam have one.

[[File:Kitchen-21-Russia-Angara-2815.jpg|thumb|The historical significance of the Angara and the [[Ilim River|Ilim]] as water routes is attested by a chain of villages along them (many of which, as well as the town of [[Ilimsk]], were flooded by modern dams) on this map from 1773. Note that the lower course of the Angara is labeled as ''Nizhnyaya Tunguska'' – the name which is currently applied to [[Nizhnyaya Tunguska River|another river]]]]

Despite the absence of a continuous navigable waterway, the Angara and its tributary the [[Ilim River|Ilim]] were of considerable importance for Russian colonization of Siberia since ca. 1630, when they (and the necessary portages) formed [[Siberian River Routes|important water routes]] connecting the Yenisey with Lake Baikal and the [[Lena River|Lena]]. The river lost its transportation significance after the construction of an overland route between [[Krasnoyarsk]] and [[Irkutsk]] and, later, the [[Trans-Siberian Railway]].

==Tributaries==
The largest tributaries of the Angara are, from source to mouth:<ref name=gvr/><ref>[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article056290.html Ангара], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Irkut (river)|Irkut]] (left)
* [[Kitoy]] (left)
* [[Belaya (Angara)|Belaya]] (left)
* [[Oka (Angara)|Oka]] (left)
* [[Iya (river)|Iya]] (left)
* [[Ilim]] (right)
* [[Kova (river)|Kova]] (left)
* [[Koda (Russia)|Koda]] (right)
* [[Chadobets]] (right)
* [[Mura (Angara)|Mura]] (left)
* [[Irkeneyeva]] (right)
* [[Taseyeva]] (left)
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[List of rivers of Russia]]
* [[Lena-Angara Plateau]]
* [[Yenisey Range]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{citation |contribution=[[s:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Upper and Lower Angara|Upper and Lower Angara]] |title=Encyclopædia Britannica|edition=9th|volume=II|editor-last=Baynes |editor-first=Thomas Spencer |display-editors=0 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |location=New York |date=1878 |ref={{harvid|EB|1878}} |page=26 }}.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Angara River}}
*[http://www.rusnet.nl/encyclo/a/angara.shtml Angara River, southeast-central Russia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610150347/http://www.rusnet.nl/encyclo/a/angara.shtml |date=2017-06-10 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061007212054/http://www.baikal.ru/old.baikal.ru/baikal/faq/b4e.htm Angara River]
*[http://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/russia/russia-Pages/Image91.html Angara River photo]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061101220918/http://www.baikal.ru/old.baikal.ru/baikal/maps/rezko.jpg Map of region showing mouth of Angara River]
*[http://quadmarket.ru/ Map book of region showing mouth of Angara River] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109220659/http://quadmarket.ru/ |date=2016-01-09 }}
*[http://www.lkirchner.de/kodar/kodar.html Photo of river and dam]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Rivers of Irkutsk Oblast]]
[[Category:Rivers of Krasnoyarsk Krai]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]