Irtysh River of Kazakhstan and its Importance
Irtysh River
Amazon of Kazakhstan
A new trade route to Arctic Ocean
Rivers have always played an important role in the life and history of the humanity. In fact, almost all main cities of the Kazakhstan were founded on the banks of major rivers. Nowadays the rivers, especially in mountains, are attracting tourists for active holidays and recreation.
The total length of the river is 4,248 km, which is the second largest figure among the rivers of the Asian region. The length of the Kazakh section of the Irtysh is 1835 km. Source of the river is located on the eastern slopes of the Mongolian Altai (border of Mongolia and China). It flows northwest into Kazakhstan, and finally joins the Ob near the Khanty-Mansiysk city in western Siberia, Russia, to drain into the Arctic Ocean. The river serves as an important route for the transport of people and goods of the countries through which it flows and also houses a number of high capacity hydroelectric power stations.
The Irtysh River was the site of ancient civilizations of the Turkic peoples. One of the many famous battles fought along this river is the Battle of Irtysh River, which was fought in the middle of the 7th century between the Tang dynasty and the Western Turkic Khaganate.
In Kazakhstan and Russia, the river serves as a significant transport route for maritime war machines, passenger ships and cargo ships during the ice-free season. A large number of hydroelectric power stations have been built along the Irtysh in China, Kazakhstan, and Siberia to meet the electricity needs of the human settlements based near the river.
The Ob-Irtysh River forms a part of the polar freshwater habitat in the countries of Kazakhstan and Russia. A largely continental climate prevails in the region drained by the Irtysh. The vegetation pattern along the banks of the river vary greatly, moving between steppes, coniferous forests, and marshy wetlands. Commercially important fish species like the pikeperch, roach and sturgeon are found in the waters of the Irtysh. Siberian moles, minks, elks, foxes, and wolves, as well as a large number of avian species, can be found inhabiting the areas along the course of the river as well.
The regional governments of Russia’s Omsk Region and Kazakhstan’s Pavlodar Region are discussing the potential construction of a cargo port on the Irtysh River, which begins in China’s north Xinjiang, runs between Kazakhstan and Russia, and eventually flows north into the Arctic Ocean.
An agreement between the Omsk of Russia and Pavlodar Region of Kazakhstan has been in effect since 2015. In this period, Russia and Kazakhstan have already built strong cooperative ties between the regions. They are considering the construction of a cargo port to load goods from suppliers in the Pavlodar Region and their transportation on the Irtysh.
Currently, lumber and timber products from the Omsk Region are delivered to Kazakhstan via river transport. In turn, crushed stone, sand and gravel mixes and salt from Kazakhstan are delivered to the Russian region via the Irtysh. The annual volume of cargo transportation is about 150,000 tones.
Officials indicated the region’s interest in organizing a system of river cargo transport both aimed at the Arctic route – towards the Northern Sea Route, and to the south – to Kazakhstan and China. In particular, in the forthcoming navigation season the Omsk Region intends to organize an experimental voyage through Kazakhstan to China.
The Irtysk River (known as the Xiao Erjiang in China) runs for about 600km in Xinjiang Province, and has been used as part of the Irtysh–Karamay–Urümqi Canal. Providing the Chinese source of the River with trade benefits would improve the quality of water supply which is currently also used for significant irrigation projects that impact the River flow to the north.
