Kama (river)

For the river in Afghanistan historically known as the Kama, see Kunar River. For the river in Tibet, see Kama Chu.

Kama
The Kama River in the city of Perm
Map of the Volga's watershed with the Kama's watershed highlighted
Location
Country	Russia
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Udmurtia
• elevation	360 m (1,180 ft)
Mouth	Volga River
• coordinates	55°21′50″N 49°59′52″E
Length	1,805 km (1,122 mi)
Basin size	507,000 km2 (196,000 sq mi)
Discharge
• average	4,100 m3/s (140,000 cu ft/s) 4,320 m3/s (153,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Progression	Volga→ Caspian Sea

The Kama (Russian: Ка́ма, IPA: [ˈkamə]; Tatar: Чулман; Udmurt: Кам) is a 1,805-kilometre (1,122 mi) long river in Russia. It has a drainage basin of 507,000 square kilometres (196,000 sq mi). It is the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge. At their confluence, in fact, the Kama is even larger than the Volga.

It starts in the Udmurt Republic, near Kuliga, flowing northwest for 200 kilometres (120 mi), turning northeast near Loyno for another 200 kilometres (120 mi), then turning south and west in Perm Krai, flowing again through the Udmurt Republic and then through the Republic of Tatarstan, where it meets the Volga.

Before the advent of railroads, important portages connected the Kama with the basins of the Northern Dvina and the Pechora. In the early 19th-century the Northern Ekaterininsky Canal connected the upper Kama with the Vychegda River (a tributary of the Northern Dvina), but was mostly abandoned after just a few years due to low use.

The Kama featured in the 2013 Russian film The Geographer Drank His Globe Away, in the climactic rapids scene.

Dams and reservoirs

The Kama is dammed at several locations:

• At Perm, by the dam of the Kama Hydroelectric Station, forming the Kama Reservoir;
• At Chaykovsky, by the dam of the Votkinsk Hydroelectric Station, forming the Votkinsk Reservoir;
• At Naberezhnye Chelny, by the dam of the Nizhnekamsk Hydroelectric Station, forming the Nizhnekamsk Reservoir.

Tributaries

The largest tributaries of the Kama are, from source to mouth:

• Veslyana (left)
• Kosa (right)
• South Keltma (left)
• Vishera (left)
• Yayva (left)
• Inva (right)
• Kosva (left)
• Obva (right)
• Chusovaya (left)
• Tulva (left)
• Siva (right)
• Buy (left)
• Belaya (left)
• Izh (right)
• Ik (left)
• Toyma (right)
• Zay (left)
• Vyatka (right)
• Sheshma (left)
• Myosha (right)

Gallery

• 

  Crossing of the rivers Chusovaya (tributary) and Kama

• 

  View in Yelabuga

• 

  A Russian truss bridge by Lavr Proskuryakov. Early colour photograph, taken ca. 1912.

External links

• Media related to Kama River at Wikimedia Commons
• Naberezhnye Chelny and the Kama River