# Kama (river)

The Kama (UK: /ˈkæmə/ KA-mə, US: /ˈkɑːmə/ KAH-mə; Russian: Кама; Udmurt: Кам), also known as the Chulman (/tʃuːlˈmɑːn/ chool-MAHN; Tatar: Чулман / Çulman), 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 in terms of discharge 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 south of Kazan.
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.

## Volga or Kama

Even today, disputes over the primacy of the rivers continue: Volga or Kama? Scientific facts say that the Volga flows into the Kama, and not vice versa. The confluence of the Volga and the Kama has exactly the same water content (Volga: 3,500 m$^3$/s; Kama: 4,100 m$^3$/s). The source of the Volga (228 m) is below the source of the Kama (331 m), which is the main factor in determining the superiority of any river. Compared to the Kama basin (507,000 km$^2$), the Volga has a larger basin (604,000 km$^2$). More rivers flow into the Kama than the Volga. Experts have proven that the valley of the Kama River is more ancient than the Volga River valley. In other words, at the time of the existence of the ancient Kama, also known as the Paleo-Kama, there was no Volga. Later, geological changes caused the Volga to join the Kama at right angles. Also looking at the map, we can understand that the confluence of the Kama and the Volga is the continuation of the Kama canal. The bed of the Kama is lower, so the Volga clearly flows into the Kama.