River · Russia, Kazakhstan
Ural River
The Ural River flows from the Ural Mountains in Russia through Kazakhstan to the Caspian Sea. Many maps use it as part of the border between Europe and Asia, so its two banks lie on different continents.
Picture credit: Deniska000 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Vladdie Litvinov (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Ural River?
The river starts here: Near Mount Kruglaya in the southern Ural Mountains, Russia.
It ends in the Caspian Sea near Atyrau, Kazakhstan.
Countries on the river: Russia, Kazakhstan.
The story behind it
The Ural begins near Mount Kruglaya in the southern Ural Mountains. First it runs south past the city of Magnitogorsk, turns west at Orsk and flows through Orenburg. Then it heads south again across dry, flat land in Kazakhstan, past the city of Oral, and reaches the Caspian Sea at Atyrau. There it splits into many arms, like the branches of a tree. For a long time the river was called the Yaik. In 1775, after a great rebellion, Empress Catherine II gave it the new name Ural. In winter the river is frozen from late November until April. Sturgeon swim in its water, among them the beluga, while wild boar, elk, foxes and wolves roam its banks. Many migrating birds rest at the river on their long journeys. Ships can travel upstream as far as Oral.
Questions children ask
How long is the Ural River?
Why is the Ural River a border between Europe and Asia?
By the most common rule, the line between the two continents follows the river: the western bank belongs to Europe, the eastern bank to Asia. So if you cross the Ural, you go from one continent to another.
What was the Ural River called before?
It used to be called the Yaik. In 1775 Empress Catherine II renamed it Ural, but in Kazakh it is still called Zhayyq, a form of the old name.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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