Volga - a river in the European part of Russia , one of the largest rivers in the world and the biggest in Europe. One of the branches of the lower reaches of the Volga - the river Kigach - crosses the territory of Kazakhstan.Length - 3530 km ( before the construction of reservoirs - 3690 km). Basin area - 1360 thousand km ².There are four on the Volga city millionnera ( from source to mouth) : Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan , Samara , Volgograd. geographic informationVolga basinVolga originates in the Valdai Hills ( at an altitude of 229 m ) , flows into the Caspian Sea. Estuary lies 28 m below sea level . Total drop - 256 m Volga - the world's largest internal river runoff that is not flowing into the oceans .The river system of the Volga basin includes 151 thousand watercourses ( rivers, streams and temporary streams ) the total length of 574 thousand kilometers. Volga takes about 200 tributaries. The left tributaries numerous and abounding right . After Kamyshino no significant tributaries .Volga basin occupies about one third of European Russia , stretching from the Valdai and the Central highlands in the west to the Urals in the east. Basic , feeding part of the Volga catchment area from the source to the city of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan , located in the forest zone , the middle part of the pool to the cities of Samara and Saratov - in the forest-steppe zone , the lower part - in the steppes to Volgograd and south - in the semidesert zone . Volga is usually divided into three parts: the upper Volga - from the source to the mouth of the Oka , Volga average - from the confluence of the Oka and the Kama River to the mouth of the lower Volga - from the confluence of the Kama to the mouth. origin of nameIn ancient writers of the first centuries BC. e . ( Claudius Ptolemy and Ammianus Marcellinus ) Volga called Ra , Lat. Rha ( cf. moksha. And Electric Locomotive Repair Plant . Rav - both names of Iranian origin ) . In the Middle Ages known as Itil (cf. modern names tat . Idel , kaz. Edіl , Chuvash. Atӑl , Kalm . Iҗl ) . Mari Yul comes from tat . Elga « river, stream «. Russian Volga name (Art. - Slav. Vlga ) comes from the Proto-Slavic * Vlga , cf. damp - vologa - moisture . For the Slavic version of origin of the name says Vlga presence of the rivers in the Czech Republic and Wilga (Polish ) Russian . Poland [1 ] . · Coordinates 57 ° 15'04 « with . sh. 32 ° 28'25 « c. d (G) (O) ( I ) (T) Volga - a river in the European part of Russia , one of the largest rivers in the world and the biggest in Europe. One of the branches of the lower reaches of the Volga - the river Kigach - crosses the territory of Kazakhstan.Length - 3530 km ( before the construction of reservoirs - 3690 km). Basin area - 1360 thousand km ².There are four on the Volga city millionnera ( from source to mouth) : Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan , Samara , Volgograd. Geographic information Volga basinVolga originates in the Valdai Hills ( at an altitude of 229 m ) , flows into the Caspian Sea. Estuary lies 28 m below sea level . Total drop - 256 m Volga - the world's largest internal river runoff that is not flowing into the oceans .The river system of the Volga basin includes 151 thousand watercourses ( rivers, streams and temporary streams ) the total length of 574 thousand kilometers. Volga takes about 200 tributaries. The left tributaries numerous and abounding right . After Kamyshino no significant tributaries .Volga basin occupies about one third of European Russia , stretching from the Valdai and the Central highlands in the west to the Urals in the east. Basic , feeding part of the Volga catchment area from the source to the city of Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan , located in the forest zone , the middle part of the pool to the cities of Samara and Saratov - in the forest-steppe zone , the lower part - in the steppes to Volgograd and south - in the semidesert zone . Volga is usually divided into three parts: the upper Volga - from the source to the mouth of the Oka , Volga average - from the confluence of the Oka and the Kama River to the mouth of the lower Volga - from the confluence of the Kama to the mouth.