Rivers.—The chief rivers of Russia are the Niemen, the Dwina, the Lovat (continued by the Volkhov and the Neva), the Onega, the Dnieper, the Don and the Volga. By means of three lines of canals and canalized rivers, which connect the upper tributaries of the Volga with the streams that flow into Lakes Onega and Ladoga, the real mouth of the Volga has been transferred from the Caspian to the Gulf of Finland—Petrograd being the chief port of the Volga basin. The upper Volga and the upper Kama are also connected by canals with the North Dwina, and the Dnieper with the Düna, the Niemen, and the Vistula.
The rainfall of Russia is small, and as part of it falls in the shape of snow, the rivers are flooded in spring and in early summer. During the winter navigation of course ceases.
The Lake District.—This region lies in the north, and includes the governments of Petrograd, Novgorod, and Finland. The lakes in the district are well-nigh innumerable, the government of Novgorod alone containing more than three thousand lakes. The chief lakes of Finland are the Enare and Saima. Lake Ladoga is the largest lake in Russian Europe. For a third of the year its surface is frozen. The lake abounds with fish, and has a peculiar species of seal. The Neva flows from the lake into the Gulf of Finland.
Lake Onega is joined up to the White Sea by means of a series of lakes and streams.
Lake Ilmen is formed by the meeting of a number of rivers in a shallow depression; the average depth does not exceed thirty feet.
Lake Peipus, a part of which is called the Lake of Pskov, connects with the Gulf of Riga and with the Gulf of Finland. This lake also is very shallow and does not in any part exceed a depth of ninety feet.
Seaboard and Islands.—The ports on the Arctic coast are of little importance, since for nearly three-quarters of the year the outlets are frozen.
The White Sea with its port, Archangel, had lost much of the importance which it formerly possessed until brought into use during the European war in 1916-1917.
The Bering Sea and the coasts which border on the Sea of Japan lose much of their value because they are bleak and inhospitable. The great gulf which has the town of Vladivostok at its head is separated by miles of waste land from the interior, and the value of one of the most magnificent harbors in the world suffers much from this fact.
The sea which is of most importance to Russia is the Baltic, with its gulfs of Bothnia, Riga, and Finland. The chief Russian ports are to be found situated on its banks, and yet it can in no respect be regarded as a purely Russian sea.