Kuban River

The Kuban Krasnodar

Catchment area of ​​the Kuban with inflows

Card with the Kuban

The Kuban (Russian Кубань fem, ) is a river in the northern Caucasus and north-east of the Black Sea.

Course

From the western slopes of Elbrus from the Kuban flows over 870 kilometers along the northern flank of the Greater Caucasus in the north directions, turns on the southern edge of the ridge in Stavropol Stavropol gradually to the west and eventually reached at Temryuk the Sea of ​​Azov. The Kuban has a catchment area of ​​57,900 km ². South of Slavjansk on the Kuban branches off the north -flowing, 133 km long and navigable estuary Protoka, which also flows into the Sea of ​​Azov. The river is economically significant because it is navigable. The most important tributary is the Laba.

In addition to the largest city on the banks of the Kuban Krasnodar he also flows through Tscherkessk, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Karachay -Cherkessia.

History

After the Kuban River, the entire region is named, through which it flows. The Kuban is economically due to agriculture significantly, it was especially in the mid- 20th century, but also because of the oil reserves, for example, Maikop. During World War II it was therefore one of the priorities of the German Wehrmacht in the East. After the termination of the summer of 1942 began, but ultimately unsuccessful, German Caucasus offensive on December 28, 1942 of the lower Kuban was during the subsequent German retreat west secured a bridgehead on the Taman Peninsula, which held until October 9, 1943 in could be, and allowed the withdrawal of most of the troops of Army Group A from the Caucasus.