The longest river of European Russia is the Volga, but the longest river in Asian Russia has a two letter name. What is it?

While the famous Volga River dominates the European portion of the country, the longest river flowing through Asian Russia is the Ob. This mighty waterway charts a course of approximately 2,300 miles (3,650 km) across the vast West Siberian Plain. Unlike many of the world’s great rivers that flow towards the equator, the Ob flows northward, eventually emptying into the Kara Sea of the Arctic Ocean. Its simple two-letter name is thought to derive from a word used by the local Komi people that simply meant "river."

The story of the Ob's length becomes even more impressive when you consider its main tributary, the Irtysh River. When measured as a single system from the source of the Irtysh to the mouth of the Ob, the Ob-Irtysh river system stretches for a staggering 3,360 miles (5,410 km). This makes it the seventh-longest river system in the world, longer than the Mississippi River in the United States.

This massive waterway is a vital artery for Siberia. During the short ice-free summer, it serves as a crucial transportation route for goods and people across a region with few roads. The river ends its journey in the Gulf of Ob, a massive estuary that is one of the longest in the world, connecting the Siberian interior to the Arctic.