Orkhon ( Mong. Orkhon Gol ) - a river in Mongolia , the right tributary of the Selenga River .
| Orkhon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Characteristic | |
| Length | 1124 km |
| Water consumption | 120 m³ / s |
| Watercourse | |
| Source | |
| • Location | Hangai mountains |
| • Coordinates | |
| Mouth | Selenga |
| • Coordinates | |
| Location | |
| Water system | Selenga → Baikal → Angara → Yenisei → Kara Sea |
| A country |
|
| Regions | Arkhangai , Uverhangai , Bulgan , Selenga , Darkhan-Uul |
 - source  - mouth | |
Geography
The length is 1124 km, the basin area is 132.8 thousand km². The river originates in the Khangai mountains in the aimag Arkhangai , in the upper reaches it has a narrow, sometimes canyon-like valley, forms the Ulaan-Tsutgalan waterfall with a height of about 20 m and a width of 10 m. In the middle course, the valley is deep, winding, in the lower reaches, upon exiting the mountains, Orkhon’s bed expands to 100-150 meters.
Orkhon is exactly 100 km longer than the Selenga and is the second longest river of Mongolia after the Kerulen river (1254 km), however, taking into account that Kerulen has a length of only 1090 km within Mongolia, we can say that Orkhon is the longest river within the borders of Mongolia.
The average water flow near the mouth is about 120 m³ / s. Spring flood from melting seasonal snows, summer rain floods. It freezes from November to April.
The largest tributaries of the Orkhon are the Tuul and Tamir-Gol rivers.
Attractions
Among the many monuments in the river valley are two significant archaeological complexes: Khara-Balgas , the ancient capital of the early feudal state of the Uyghurs , and Karakorum , the capital of the Mongol Empire . P.K. Kozlov discovered several Hunn tombs in the river valley.
Since 2004, a significant territory (core: 7537 ha, buffer zone 143 867 ha), including Karakoram, Khar Balgas, Turkic monuments and other objects along the banks of the Orkhon River, has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site [1] under the name “ Cultural Landscape of the Orkhon River Valley ".
Historical Events and Traditions
In 1731, during the second invasion of the Dzungars into Outer Mongolia , a decisive battle between them and the troops of the Qing Empire occurred on the banks of Orkhon, near the Erdeni-Dzu monastery . There is a legend that when the jungars entered the temple, a statue of his patron deity drove them out of there, and stone lions roared at the entrance. The Dzhungars ran in horror towards Orkhon and drowned in it. When the Qing emperor Yongzheng learned of this legend, he granted the prince's title for help in the victory and allocated 300 liang of annual silver content, which was dumped into the water [2] .
Notes
- ↑ Description on the UNESCO website . whc.unesco.org . Date of treatment December 21, 2018.
- ↑ Pozdneev A.M. Mongolia and the Mongols. - SPb. : Printing House of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1896. - S. 434.
Literature
- Orkhon // Dictionary of modern geographical names / Rus. geo about . Mosk. Centre; Under the total. ed. Acad. V.M. Kotlyakova . Institute of Geography RAS . - Yekaterinburg: U-Factoria, 2006.
- Orkhon // Geographical Encyclopedic Dictionary: Geographical Names / Ch. Ed. A. F. Treshnikov ; Ed. col .: E. B. Alaev, P. M. Alampiev, A. G. Voronov and others. - M .: Sov. Encyclopedia, 1983.- S. 321. - 538 p. - 100,000 copies.
- Orkhon // Nikko - Otoliths. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1974. - P. 544. - (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [30 vol.] / Ch. Ed. A. M. Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, vol. 18).
Links
- Site with photos of Ulaan-Tsutgalan waterfall (Inaccessible link - history ) . choices.cs.uiuc.edu .