Pechora

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Pechora

(pyĭchô`rə), river, c.1,120 mi (1,800 km) long, rising in the N Urals, N European Russia. It flows generally north through the forest and tundra regions of the Komi Republic and the Nenets Autonomous Area into Pechora Bay (an inlet of the Barents Sea), forming a vast delta at Naryan-Mar. It is navigable for c.470 mi (760 km) upstream in summer and for c.1,040 mi (1,670 km) in spring and autumn. The important Pechora coal basin extends eastward to Vorkuta from the middle course of the river. The Pechora is used for fishing and lumber transport.

Pechora

(or Pechera), an ancient people that lived in the Pechora River basin. Mentioned in Russian sources dating from the 12th through 14th centuries, the Pechora engaged in hunting, fishing, and some stock raising. The ancient route to Iugra passed through their territory. From the end of the 11th century, the Pechora paid a tribute in furs to Novgorod. In the 12th through 14th centuries, their territory was a possession of Novgorod, and in the 15th century it became part of the Russian state. The Pechora are not mentioned in sources after the 16th century.

REFERENCE

Lashchuk, L. P. Ocherk etnicheskoi istorii Pechorskogo kraia. Syktyvkar, 1958.

Pechora

a city (since 1949) under republic jurisdiction; administrative center of Pechora Raion, Komi ASSR. Port on the right bank of the Pechora River. Railroad station on the Kotlas-Vorkuta line. Population, 40,000 (1974). Lumber is transferred from the river to the railroad at Pechora. The city has a woodworking plant, sawmills, and vehicle-servicing enterprises. It also has a river-navigation school and a museum of local lore.

Pechora

a river in the northeastern part of the European USSR. The Pechora River is 1,809 km long and drains an area of 322,000 sq km. It rises in the Northern Urals and empties into the Pechora Bay of the Pechora Sea. From its source to the mouth of the Un’ia River, the river flows through mountainous terrain. After receiving the waters of the Volostnitsa River, the Pechora turns north and flows across the Pechora Lowland. The width of the valley in broad lakelike portions reaches 10 km, whereas in places where the river crosses bedrock, it flows through a narrow, twisting valley overgrown by forests.

Beyond the mouth of the Usa River, the Pechora turns west, forming an “elbow” with two large curves. Its volume almost doubles, and the channel reaches 2 km in width. Vast floodplains are in the valley. Below the confluence with the Pizhma River, the Pechora again flows north, and its broad floodplain is cut by numerous channels and oxbow lakes. At a distance of 130 km from its mouth, the Pechora divides into two channels: the eastern Bol’shaia Pechora and the western Malaia Pechora. Below this point the river forms a delta approximately 45 km wide. Wind-driven currents reach the city of Oksino.

The principal left tributaries are the Severnaia Mylva, Kozhva, Izhma, Pizhma, Tsil’ma, and Sula rivers; the main right tributaries are the Ilych, Shchugor, Usa, Laia, and Shapkina rivers. The Pechora is fed by mixed sources, primarily by snow. More than 60 percent of the annual flow occurs during spring high water, which begins in late April or early May and reaches its maximum in mid-May. Low water occurs in the summer and winter. Summer low water lasts from mid-July through August but is often interrupted by flash floods. In the autumn the flow rate increases. The mean flow rate at the mouth is 4,100 cu m per sec. The river freezes in late October; breakup first occurs in the upper course in the spring and is accompanied by ice jams.

There is year-round navigation on the Pechora to Troitsko-Pechorsk; the river is navigable during the spring and autumn to Ust’-Un’ia. Sea-going vessels travel to Nar’ian-Mar (110 km from the sea). Cargo transported on the river includes rafted timber, hard coal, petroleum products, mineral building materials, and grain. The principal ports are Nar’ian-Mar, Ust’-Tsil’ma, Pechora, and Troitsko-Pechorsk. There is fishing (Atlantic salmon, whitefish, cisco). The tributaries of the Pechora are the main spawning grounds for salmon. There are deposits of hard coal, petroleum, and gas (the Vuktyl gas condensate deposits and the Pashninskoe and Usa deposits) in the Pechora River basin.

REFERENCES

Gunn, G. P. Pechora—zolotye bereba. Moscow, 1972.
Pystin, M. Pechora: Ekonomiko-geograficheskii ocherk. Syktyvkar, 1974.

Pechora

a river in N Russia, rising in the Ural Mountains and flowing north in a great arc to the Pechora Sea (the SE part of the Barents Sea). Length: 1814 km (1127 miles)

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