Don River (Russia)

Don River (Дон)
River
The Don River in Voronezh Oblast.
Country	Russia
Regions	Tula Oblast, Lipetsk Oblast, Voronezh Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, Rostov Oblast
Tributaries
- left	Khopyor River
- right	Seversky Donets River
Cities	Voronezh, Rostov-on-Don
Source
- location	Novomoskovsk, Tula Oblast
- elevation	238 m (781 ft)
- coordinates	54°00′43″N 38°16′41″E / 54.01194°N 38.27806°E / 54.01194; 38.27806
Mouth	Sea of Azov
- location	Kagal'nik, Rostov Oblast
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	47°05′11″N 39°14′19″E / 47.08639°N 39.23861°E / 47.08639; 39.23861Coordinates: 47°05′11″N 39°14′19″E / 47.08639°N 39.23861°E / 47.08639; 39.23861
Length	1,870 km (1,162 mi)
Basin	425,600 km2 (164,325 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	935 m3/s (33,019 cu ft/s)
Catchment of the Don

The Don (Russian: Дон; IPA: [don]) is one of the major rivers of Russia and the 5th longest river in Europe. The Don basin is between the Dnieper basin to the west, the Volga basin to the east, and the Oka basin (tributary of the Volga) to the north.

The Don rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Tula (120 km south of Moscow), and flows for a distance of about 1,870 kilometres to the Sea of Azov. From its source, the river first flows southeast to Voronezh, then southwest to its mouth. The main city on the river is Rostov on Don. Its main tributary is the Seversky Donets.

In antiquity, the river was viewed as the border between Europe and Asia by some ancient Greek geographers. In the Book of Jubilees, it is mentioned as being part of the border, beginning with its easternmost point up to its mouth, between the allotments of sons of Noah, that of Japheth to the north and that of Shem to the south. During the times of the old Scythians it was known in Greek as the Tanaïs (Τάναϊς) and has been a major trading route ever since. Tanais appears in ancient Greek sources as both the name of the river and of a city on it, situated in the Maeotian marshes. Pliny gives the Scythian name of the Tanais as Silys.