Don River, Russia

This article is about the river in Western Russia. For other rivers with the same name, see Don River.

The Don (Дон) is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises near Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 km (1,220 miles) 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 the Donets.

At its easternmost point, the Don comes near the Volga, and the Volga-Don Canal (length ca. 105 km (65 miles)), connecting both rivers, is a major waterway.

The Don was known in the times of the old Scythians as the Tanaïs, and has been a major trading route ever since. Tanais appears in ancient Greek sources as the name of the river and a city on it.