From there it turns south, flows past Ulyanovsk, Tolyatti, Samara, Saratov and Volgograd, and discharges into the Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 metres below sea level. Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 m (740 ft) above sea level north-west of Moscow and about 320 kilometres south-east of Saint Petersburg, the Volga heads east past Sterzh, Tver', Dubna, Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan. This ancient name survives in the modern Mordvin name for the Volga, Р Р°РІ (Raw). Another version of the same root is represented by Mari Р®Р» (Jul).ДЄ still more ancient hydronym is the Scythian name of the river, Rha, which may reflect the ancient Avestan and Sanskrit names RaГ±ha and Rasah for a sacred river. In modern Turkic languages, the Volga is known as Д°del ( РРґРµР») in Tatar, РђС‚ДѓР» (AtДѓl) in Chuvash and Д°dil in Turkish. Attila the Hun might have been named after this river as well. The Turkic populations living along the river formerly referred to it as Itil or Atil. Another possibility is that the river's name has Finnic roots.

It is transliterated as Volga in English and as Wolga in German. The Russian hydronym Р’РѕМЃР»РіР° is akin to the Slavic word for 'wetness', 'humidity' ( РІР»Р°РіР°, РІРѕР»РѕРіР°). Some of the largest reservoirs in the world can be found along the river. It is Europe's longest river, with a length of 3,690 km (2,293 miles), and forms the core of the largest river system in Europe. The Volga, widely viewed as the national river of Russia, flows through the western part of the country.

Vogla river