Kuban
Kuban is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 45.00°, 39.32°
About Kuban
The Kuban is a river in Russia that flows through the Western Caucasus and drains into the Sea of Azov. The Kuban runs mostly through Krasnodar Krai for 660 kilometres (410 mi), but also in the Karachay–Cherkess Republic, Stavropol Krai and the Republic of Adygea.
The Kuban flows 870 kilometres (540 mi) north and west from its source near Mount Elbrus in the Caucasus Mountains, eventually reaching Temryuk Bay in the Sea of Azov. It is navigable up to Krasnodar. Major cities on the river are Karachayevsk, Cherkessk, Nevinnomyssk, Armavir, Novokubansk, Kropotkin, Ust-Labinsk, Krasnodar and Temryuk. Despite its name, Slavyansk-on-Kuban lies not on the Kuban River, but on its distributary the Protoka.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Kuban (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Kuban in Depth
Geography and hydrology
The river originates on the slopes of Mount Elbrus and forms at the merger of its two tributaries, the Ullukam and Uchkulam; from the source of the Ullukam to the delta, it has a length of 906 kilometres (563 mi). Between the source and Nevinnomyssk the river flows mostly in the deep and narrow gorge, has many thresholds and rapidly changes its elevation. Near Nevinnomyssk a dam supplies water to the Nevinnomyssk channel. In its central part, until the confluence with the Bolshaya Laba, the Kuban River flows in a wide flat valley with terraced slopes. Then it bends to the west and develops a left-bank floodplain, which is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) wide near Ust-Labinsk. There it is winding and has many shoals and rapids. Below the mouth of Laba the river widens up to 20 kilometres (12 mi).
Geological history
Tens of thousands of years ago, the Azov Sea was much larger and covered the delta of the Kuban River. Deposition of silt by the Kuban gradually pushed out the sea and shaped the delta with numerous limans and shallow estuaries. Frequent eruptions of the mud volcanoes contributed to this deposition process. There are about 25 mud volcanoes in the area and some are still active.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Kuban (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Kuban: Quick Answers
- Where is Kuban?
- Kuban is located in Russia, at 45.0012° N, 39.3242° E.
- Are there dams on the Kuban?
- No dam on the Kuban is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.