Дагестан – невероятно красивая горная республика, sandwiched between the Greater Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. This article will focus on the nature, geography and rivers of the republic. In particular, about the Sulak River - a real water pearl of the south of Russia.
The republic is located in the extreme southwestRussia. Geographically, it is interesting in that it borders (if we take into account the sea borders) with five states: Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. The northern part of Dagestan is represented by lowlands (or the so-called Nogai steppes), the southern - by the foothills and mountains of the Greater Caucasus. The climate is temperate continental and rather dry.
The nature of Dagestan, despite the minorthe size of the region is incredibly beautiful and diverse. Steppes and mountain peaks, harsh rocks and waterfalls, canyons and the purest rivers - all this can be seen within the same republic!
Dagestan is in severalnatural floral zones. In the north of the republic grow semi-desert species. With the advance to the south they are replaced by lush meadows and forests. In the highlands, alpine-type vegetation formations are found. In general, in this region there are about 4.5 thousand plant species, a quarter of which are endemics.
More than 6,200 rivers are counted in the republic.All of them belong to the Caspian basin. However, only 20 of them bring their waters to the huge sea-lake. The rest go to the needs of irrigation of agricultural land or are lost in the Caspian lowland.
About 90% of all rivers of Dagestan belong to the mountain.Their valleys are narrow and deep, the flow velocity in them is very high. Because of this, they do not freeze even in the most severe winters. The largest river of Dagestan - Terek. Its total length is 625 kilometers. The second largest in the republic is the Sulak River.
There are several hundreds within Dagestanlarge and small lakes. The largest (and most famous) of them is Kezenoy-Am Lake. This is the deepest reservoir of the North Caucasus (maximum depth - 72 meters). The lake has an important recreational and tourist value.
“Sheep water” is the name for this watercourse from the Kumyk language. The total length of the Sulak River is 169 kilometers, and the catchment area is about 15 thousand square meters. km
The source of Sulak is considered to be the confluence of twoother rivers: the Andean and Avar Koisu. Both of them originate on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. In the upper reaches of the river Sulak carries its waters through a deep and incredibly beautiful canyon. Then it crosses the Ahetlean gorge, after which its valley widens significantly. In the lower reaches, the river forms a rather large delta and flows into the Caspian.
Sulak feeds mostly with snow meltby the waters. The high water in the river is observed from May to September, and low water (minimum water level) - from December to March. The turbidity index in the lower reaches of Sulak is 100 times higher than in its upper course.
On its way the river Sulak receives the water of a large number of small tributaries. The largest of them are Ah-Su, Tlar, Chvakhun-bak and Maly Sulak.
Sulak is very often called the energythe pearl of the North Caucasus. After all, it is on this river that Dagestan’s largest hydroelectric power station, the Chirkeyskaya, is located. Her employees can only envy. After all, the hydroelectric station is located in an incredibly picturesque place! In addition to Chirkeyskaya, five more hydropower stations of smaller capacity are operating on the Sulak River.
The pure waters of Sulak are used for water supply.cities of Kaspiisk and Makhachkala. In the 70s of the last century, the Chirkei reservoir (the largest in Dagestan) was built on the river. Due to the numerous outcrops of crystalline rocks, its surface has a beautiful azure hue.
Of course, Sulak is used inrecreational and tourist purposes (fishing, water and walking). The great interest among many tourists is the Sulak canyon, whose maximum depth reaches the mark of 2 kilometers! It is quiet and almost deserted, only lonely eagles beautifully circle high in the sky over a precipice of rocky canyon.
