Mezen
Mezen 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
- 64.82°, 47.43°
About Mezen
The Mezen (Russian: Мезень; Komi: Мозын, Mozyn) is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and in Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. Its mouth is located in the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. Mezen is one of the biggest rivers of European Russia. It is 966 kilometres (600 mi) long, and the area of its basin 78,000 square kilometres (30,000 sq mi). The principal tributaries of the Mezen are the Bolshaya Loptyuga (left), the Pyssa (left), the Mezenskaya Pizhma (right), the Sula (right), the Kyma (right), the Vashka (left), the Pyoza (right), and the Kimzha (left).
The river basin of the Mezen comprises vast areas in the east and north-east of Arkhangelsk Oblast and in the west of the Komi Republic. The town of Mezen, the urban type settlements of Usogorsk and Kamenka, as well as the administrative center of Udorsky District, the selo of Koslan all are located on the banks of the Mezen. The administrative center of Leshukonsky District, the selo of Leshukonskoye, is located on the Vashka River several kilometers upstream from the confluence of the Vashka and the Mezen and is connected with the right bank of the Mezen by a ferry crossing.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Mezen (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Mezen in Depth
History
The area was populated by Finnic peoples and then colonized by the Novgorod Republic. In the 13th century the Novgorod merchants already reached the White Sea. The Mezen was used by Novgorod merchants as the trading route to the basin of the Pechora which was attractive because of the fur. From the Northern Dvina, they went upstream the Pinega and took the boats by land to the Kuloy. The boats then were taken from the Kuloy to the Mezen. The river route continued east up the Pyoza, portage, and down the Tsilma to the Pechora.
Another route went from the Northern Dvina upstream the Pukshenga, then moved to the Pokshenga and downstream to the Pinega. From the Pinega, the merchants used the Yozhuga, the Zyryanskaya Vashka, and the Vashka to get to the Mezen.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Mezen (river) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Mezen: Key Facts
| Length | 966 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 866 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 78,000 km² |
| Source | Timan Ridge |
| Mouth | Mezen Bay |
| Drainage system | Mezen Basin |
| Tributaries | Bolshaya Loptyuga, Pyssa, Vashka, Yirva, Kimzha, Mezenskaya Pizhma, Sula, Kyma |
Facts from Wikidata Q79106 (CC0).
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
Mezen: Quick Answers
- Where is Mezen?
- Mezen is located in Russia, at 64.8178° N, 47.4336° E.
- Are there dams on the Mezen?
- No dam on the Mezen is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.