Historical events on water bodies. water body

Regulatory and legal framework of property relations for water resources. Features of public administration in the field of use, protection, protection of forest resources.

The owner's right to possession, use and disposal natural resources corresponds to the obligation assigned to it by law to ensure the rational use of natural resources, their reproduction and protection environment. This obligation in a practical sense means that in the process of environmental management, if the owner himself exercises his right to use, he is obliged to fulfill the relevant requirements provided for by law. For example, if the owner of natural resources transfers them for use to other persons, then, as a rule, he is obliged to ensure control over the user’s compliance with the provisions of the legislation on the rational use of natural resources, their reproduction and environmental protection (this is especially common in relation to state property ).

In natural resource legislation, ownership rights are established for land, subsoil, animal world, water bodies, forests. Objects of property rights also include specially protected natural areas.

An object is an important feature of property rights, allowing one to distinguish it and other property rights from other absolute rights (to a name in copyright, to life, freedom of movement). Object property rights individually determined property serves. The Civil Code classifies “natural resources” as “real estate”. Article 130 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation directly includes land plots, subsoil plots, isolated water bodies, as well as everything that is firmly connected to the land, that is, objects whose movement without disproportionate damage to their purpose is impossible, including forests and perennials. plantings.

Thus, the objects of the right of private, state, municipal and other forms of ownership of natural resources are:

• 1) separate natural objects(land, subsoil, forests, etc.);
• 2) only those provided for by law (ecological interrelations, wind energy, solar energy are not objects);
• 3) provided that they are in ecological connection with the natural environment. For example, water in a water supply system, wood in an enterprise, minerals in industrial processing etc. cannot be considered to be in an ecological relationship with nature. They pass into the category of property, becoming objects of civil law.

The issue of atmospheric air as an object of property rights has turned out to be problematic in legal science. By Federal law“On the Protection of Atmospheric Air” air is not an object of property rights, which is due to its physical condition. Unlike the earth, subsoil, objects of the animal world, atmospheric air as a material substance is in a state of constant, turbulent movement and cannot be individualized. To establish any form of ownership over it, since it migrates (winds, cyclones) and is a natural component of the life activity of all living beings, and introducing ownership of the air would mean an encroachment on life activity, and this is absurd. Due to this, the possibility of actual ownership of it is excluded.

Land - private, state, municipal

Subsoil is only state owned.

Water - private, state, municipal

Forests - private, state, municipal (mainly state)

Fauna is only state owned.

Atmospheric air cannot be owned for objective reasons.

Specially protected natural areas and objects are only state owned.

Subjects of ownership of natural resources are also determined by law. They are individuals and legal entities of the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities. It seems that this list of subjects is exhaustive.

The subjects of state property rights are the bodies of representative and executive power federation, republics that are part of the federation, territories, regions, autonomous entities, the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Subjects of municipal property law include representative and executive bodies local government of cities and districts.

The scope and composition of the rights and obligations of natural resource users is determined by the type of natural object provided for use, the purposes of use, and the status of natural resource management entities. At the same time, all natural resource users have the right:

• - use the natural object within the limits established by law, license and agreement;
• - receive information about the state of the natural object provided for use.

The general responsibilities of natural resource users are:

• - use natural objects rationally, in accordance with their intended purpose, in ways that do not harm the environment natural environment and human health;
• - carry out environmental protection measures provided for by law and agreement;
• - makes payments for the use of natural resources and pollution of the environment in a timely and correct manner;
• - ensure compliance with environmental standards;
• - provide special government bodies with information about the state of a natural object in the manner established by law;
• - restore natural objects damaged in the process of environmental management at your own expense.

Water is the most abundant substance on our planet: although different quantities, it is available everywhere, and plays vitally important role for the environment and living organisms. Fresh water is of greatest importance, without which human existence is impossible, and nothing can replace it. Humans have always consumed fresh water and used it for a variety of purposes, including domestic, agricultural, industrial and recreational use.

Water reserves on Earth

Water exists in three states of aggregation: liquid, solid and gaseous. It forms oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and groundwater located in top layer crust, and soil cover of the Earth. In its solid state, it exists in the form of snow and ice in polar and mountainous regions. A certain amount of water is contained in the air in the form of water vapor. Huge volumes of water are found in various minerals in the earth's crust.

Determining the exact amount of water reserves around the world is quite difficult because water is dynamic and in constant motion, changing its state from liquid to solid to gaseous and vice versa. Typically, the total number water resources of the world is estimated as the totality of all waters of the hydrosphere. This is all free water, existing in all three states of aggregation in the atmosphere, on the Earth’s surface and in the earth’s crust to a depth of 2000 meters.

Current estimates have shown that our planet contains a huge amount of water - about 1386,000,000 cubic kilometers (1.386 billion km³). However, 97.5% of this volume is salty water and only 2.5% is fresh. Most of the fresh water (68.7%) is found in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in the Antarctic, Arctic, and mountainous regions. Further, 29.9% exists as groundwater, and only 0.26% of the total amount of fresh water on Earth is concentrated in lakes, reservoirs and river systems, where they are most readily available for our economic needs.

These figures were calculated over a long period of time, but if shorter periods are taken into account (one year, several seasons or months), the amount of water in the hydrosphere may change. This is due to the exchange of water between the oceans, land and atmosphere. This exchange is usually called the global hydrological cycle.

Freshwater resources

Fresh water contains a minimal amount of salts (no more than 0.1%) and is suitable for human needs. However, not all resources are available to people, and even those that are are not always suitable for use. Consider sources of fresh water:

• Glaciers and snow covers cover about 1/10 of the world's land mass and contain about 70% of fresh water. Unfortunately, most of these resources are located far from populated areas and are therefore difficult to access.
• Groundwater is by far the most common and accessible source of fresh water.
• Freshwater lakes are mainly located on high altitudes. Canada contains about 50% of the world's freshwater lakes. Many lakes, especially those in dry areas, become salty due to evaporation. The Caspian Sea, Dead Sea, and Great Salt Lake are among the world's largest salt lakes.
• Rivers form a hydrological mosaic. There are 263 international river basins on Earth, which cover more than 45% of the planet's landmass (with the exception of Antarctica).

Water resources objects

The main objects of water resources are:

• oceans and seas;
• lakes, ponds and reservoirs;
• swamps;
• rivers, canals and streams;
• soil moisture;
• groundwater (soil, groundwater, interstratal, artesian, mineral);
• ice caps and glaciers;
• precipitation (rain, snow, dew, hail, etc.).

Problems of water use

For many hundreds of years, human impact on water resources was insignificant and of an exclusively local nature. The excellent properties of water - its renewal due to the cycle and the ability to be purified - make fresh water relatively purified and possessing quantitative and qualitative characteristics that will remain unchanged for a long time.

However, these features of water gave rise to the illusion of the immutability and inexhaustibility of these resources. Out of these prejudices arose a tradition of careless use of extremely important water resources.

The situation has changed greatly over the past decades. In many parts of the world, the results of long-term and mismanagement of such a valuable resource have been discovered. This applies to both direct and indirect water use.

All over the world for 25-30 years there has been a massive anthropogenic change in the hydrological cycle of rivers and lakes, affecting water quality and their potential as a natural resource.

The volume of water resources, their spatial and temporal distribution, are determined not only by natural climate fluctuations, as before, but now also by type economic activity of people. Many parts of the world's water resources are becoming so depleted and heavily polluted that they can no longer meet ever-increasing demands. It may
become the main factor preventing economic development and population growth.

Water pollution

The main causes of water pollution are:

• Wastewater;

Domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater pollutes many rivers and lakes.

• Disposal of waste in seas and oceans;

Burying garbage in the seas and oceans can cause huge problems, because it negatively affects living organisms that live in the waters.

• Industry;

Industry is a huge source of water pollution, producing substances harmful to people and the environment.

• Radioactive substances;

Radioactive contamination, in which there is a high concentration of radiation in the water, is the most dangerous pollution and can spread into ocean waters.

• Oil spill;

An oil spill poses a threat not only to water resources, but also to human settlements located near a contaminated source, as well as to all biological resources for whom water is a habitat or a vital necessity.

• Leaks of oil and petroleum products from underground storage facilities;

Large quantities of oil and petroleum products are stored in tanks made of steel, which corrode over time, causing harmful substances to leak into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

• Precipitation;

Atmospheric precipitation such as acid precipitation, are formed during air pollution and change the acidity of water.

• Global warming;

Rising water temperatures cause the death of many living organisms and destroy a large number of habitats.

• Eutrophication.

Eutrophication is a process of reducing the quality characteristics of water associated with excessive enrichment with nutrients.

Rational use and protection of water resources

Water resources include rational use and security, ranging from individuals to businesses and governments. There are many ways we can reduce our impact on the aquatic environment. Here are some of them:

Saving water

Factors such as climate change, population growth and increasing aridity are increasing pressure on our water resources. The best way Save water is to reduce consumption and avoid increased wastewater.

At the household level, there are many ways to save water, such as taking shorter showers, installing water-saving appliances, washing machines with low water consumption. Another approach is to plant gardens that do not require large quantity water.

SUBJECT OF HYDROLOGY, RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER SCIENCES

Hydrology(literally - the science of water) deals with the study of natural waters, the phenomena and processes that occur in them, as well as those that determine the distribution of water across earth's surface and in the thickness of soils, the patterns according to which these phenomena and processes develop.

Hydrology refers to a set of sciences that study physical properties The Earth, in particular its hydrosphere. Subject of study of hydrology are water bodies: oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, swamps and accumulations of moisture in the form of snow cover, glaciers, soil and groundwater.

A comprehensive study of hydrological processes should include, on the one hand, the study of water as an element of the geographical landscape, and on the other, the establishment of physical laws that govern hydrological processes. The waters of the Earth's surface (oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, swamps, glaciers), its air shell (atmosphere) and those located in the earth's crust are closely interconnected. Therefore, a number of issues related to the activity of water on the globe are simultaneously considered by hydrology, meteorology, geology, soil science, geomorphology, geography and other sciences that study the atmosphere and lithosphere. Hydrological studies make extensive use of findings from physics, hydraulics and fluid dynamics. Since the processes occurring in the seas and oceans differ significantly from the processes occurring in rivers, lakes and swamps, this determines the difference in the methods of their research and allows us to distinguish sea ​​hydrology And land hydrology. Marine hydrology is more often called oceanology or oceanography, reserving the term “hydrology” for land hydrology. Depending on the objects studies can be distinguished:

1) river hydrology;

2) hydrology of lakes;

3) hydrology of swamps;

4) groundwater hydrology;

5) glacier hydrology.

According to research methods, land hydrology includes:

1) hydrography, giving general description water bodies (geographical position, sizes, mode, local conditions);

2) hydrometry, which studies methods for determining and measuring the characteristics of water bodies;

3) general hydrology, which studies the physical essence and patterns of hydrological phenomena;

4) engineering hydrology, which develops methods for hydrological forecasts and calculations of the characteristics of the hydrological regime.

Engineering hydrology- hydrology section:

Dealing with methods of calculation and forecasting of hydrological regimes; And

Connected with practical application hydrology in solving engineering problems.

FROM THE HISTORY OF HYDROLOGY

The name of the science of water - hydrology - is formed from two Greek words: “hydro” - water and “logos” - knowledge, science.

The first rudiments of hydrology appeared at the dawn of human history, about 6000 years ago, in Ancient Egypt. At a time when, on the territory of modern Finland and Karelia, perhaps in some places the remnants of the ice of the last glaciation period were still melting, the Egyptian priests made simple hydrological observations - they noted the water levels on the rocks 400 km above Aswan during the annual floods of the Nile. Later, in Ancient Egypt, a whole network (about 30) of “hydrological” posts on the Lower Nile, the so-called nilomeres, was created. Some nilomeres were rich architectural structures: marble wells in the riverbed with a beautifully decorated stone column in the middle, on which the height of the rise of the flood was marked. The longest series of hydrological observations in the world has been preserved - for 1250 years - from one of these nilometers, located on the island of Roda near Cairo. Based on the height of the water level during the Nile flood, the priests determined the future harvest and assigned taxes in advance.

However, it took several millennia for hydrology, which began with observations of the Nile floods, to develop into an independent scientific discipline. An important milestone in the history of the development of hydrology was late XVII V. The French scientist P. Perrault, and after him E. Marriott, having measured the amount of precipitation and runoff in the Upper Seine basin, established quantitative relationships between the main elements of the water balance of the river basin - precipitation and runoff, refuting the fantastic ideas that prevailed at that time about the origin of rivers, sources and groundwater. During the same period, the English astronomer E. Halley, based on experiments on measuring evaporation, showed by example Mediterranean Sea that evaporation from the surface of the sea significantly exceeds the influx of river water into it, and thereby “closed” the circuit of the water cycle on the globe.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) celebrated the tricentenary of scientific hydrology at the international hydrological conference in Paris in 1974, coinciding this anniversary with the tricentennial anniversary of the publication of P. Perrault’s book “On the Origin of Sources” (Paris, 1674), in which the author presents the results of his calculations of water balance.

ROLE OF WATER IN NATURE

Water is a universal substance, without which life is impossible; it is an indispensable component of all living things. Plants contain up to 90% water, and the adult body contains about 70%. Biologists sometimes joke that water “invented” man as a means of transportation.

Almost all biochemical reactions in every living cell are reactions in aqueous solutions. Most of the processes occur in solutions (mostly aqueous). technological processes at enterprises chemical industry, in production medicines and food products. And in metallurgy, water is extremely important, and not only for cooling. It is no coincidence that hydrometallurgy - the extraction of metals from ores and concentrates using solutions of various reagents - has become an important industry.

Water forms oceans, seas, rivers and lakes. There is a lot of water in gaseous state in the form of vapors in the atmosphere; it lies in the form of huge masses of snow and ice all year round on the tops of high mountains and in polar countries. Hard water - snow and ice - covers 20% of the land. In the bowels of the earth there is also water that saturates the soil and rocks. The total water reserves on Earth are 1454.3 million cubic meters. km (of which less than 2% is fresh water, and 0.3% is available for use). The climate of the planet depends on water. Geophysicists claim that the Earth would have cooled long ago and turned into a lifeless piece of stone if it were not for water. It has a very high heat capacity.

When heated, it absorbs heat; cooling down, he gives it away. Earth's water both absorbs and returns a lot of heat and thereby “evens out” the climate. And the water molecules that are scattered in the atmosphere - in clouds and in the form of vapor - protect the Earth from cosmic cold.

Natural water is never completely pure. Rainwater is the purest, but it also contains small amounts of various impurities that it absorbs from the air. The amount of impurities in fresh waters usually ranges from 0.01 to 0.1% (wt.). Sea water contains 3.5% (mass) of dissolved substances, the main mass of which is sodium chloride (table salt).

Surface water is mainly concentrated in the ocean, containing 1 billion 375 million cubic meters. km - about 98% of all water on Earth. The ocean surface (water area) is 361 million square meters. km. It is approximately 2.4 times more area land territory, occupying 149 million square meters. km.

WATER BODIES AND THEIR TYPES

WATER OBJECT- natural or artificial pond, watercourse or other object in which water is permanently or temporarily concentrated.

That is, a water body is a natural or man-made formation with a permanent or temporary accumulation of water. The accumulation of water can be both in relief forms and in the subsoil.

Reservoirs– accumulations of water in depressions of the earth’s surface. The basin and the water filling it represent the only natural complex, which is characterized by slow water movement. This group of water bodies includes oceans, seas, lakes, reservoirs, ponds, and swamps.

Watercourses– accumulations of water in relatively narrow and shallow depressions on the Earth’s surface with forward movement of water in the direction of the slope of this depression. This group of water bodies includes rivers, streams, and canals. They can be permanent (with water flowing all year round) or temporary (drying out, freezing).

Special water bodies – glaciers (moving natural accumulations of ice) and The groundwater .

Water on Earth is in liquid, solid and vapor states; it is included in aquifers and artesian basins.

Water bodies have catchment area - part of the earth's surface or soil thickness and rocks, from where water flows to a specific water body. The boundary between neighboring watersheds is called watershed . In nature, watersheds usually delimit bodies of water on land, mainly river systems.

Each water body belonging to a particular group is characterized by its own characteristics natural conditions. They change in space and time under the influence of physical and geographical factors, primarily climatic factors. Regular changes in the state of water bodies that collectively form the hydrosphere are reflected in it to one degree or another.

Distinguish surface water bodies consisting of surface waters and land covered by them within the coastline, and underground water bodies .

There are also natural formations of a transitional nature that do not have the characteristics of a water body, but have the “possibility” of harmful effects. An example of such formations are, in particular, “breathing” lakes. The essence of the phenomenon lies in the unexpected and rapid (sometimes in one night) appearance and disappearance " big water» in relief depressions, swampy and meadow lowlands (sometimes with an area of ​​up to 20 km2).

"Breathing" lakes are observed in Leningrad region, Prionezhye, in the Novgorod region, Arkhangelsk region, in the Vologda region, in Dagestan. Suddenly appearing near settlements And various communications lakes flood them.

Surface water bodies include: seas, rivers, streams, canals, lakes, flooded quarries, ponds, reservoirs, swamps, glaciers, snowfields, springs, geysers.

Groundwater bodies include groundwater basins and aquifers.

Water bodies are divided into types:

Public use - publicly accessible surface water bodies that are in state or municipal ownership (Article 6 of the Water Code of the Russian Federation).

Specially protected water bodies (or parts thereof) that have special environmental, scientific, cultural, as well as aesthetic, recreational and health value. Their list is determined by the legislation on specially protected natural areas(Article 66 of the RF CC).

Introduction

The Civil Code contains provisions that make it possible to determine how general signs real estate objects, as well as an approximate list of real estate objects.

Immovable things (real estate, real estate) include land plots, subsoil plots, separate water bodies and everything connected with the land, i.e. objects whose movement without commensurate damage to their purpose is impossible, including forests, perennial plantings, buildings, and structures. Immovable things also include subjects state registration air and sea vessels, inland navigation vessels, space objects. The law may classify other property as immovable things (Article 130 of the Civil Code). Real estate objects are divided according to several criteria (details in the diagram).

Thus, the main features of real estate are: firstly, a strong connection with the land, and secondly, the impossibility of moving the corresponding object without disproportionate damage to its purpose. However, these characteristics are not inherent in all real estate properties. Such real estate objects include: land plots, subsoil plots and water bodies, which are named in the Civil Code and are independent real estate objects.

Russia is one of the most water-rich countries in the world. More than 20% of the world's fresh water reserves are concentrated in rivers, lakes, swamps, glaciers and snowfields, as well as in groundwater bodies. We have water bodies whose uniqueness is recognized throughout the world.

Those lands that are located under water bodies are called lands of the water fund. These are lands occupied by water bodies, lands water protection zones water bodies, as well as lands allocated for the establishment of right of way and protection zones for water intake, hydraulic structures and other water management structures, objects (Article 102 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation).

Water feature. Concept

Water body - a natural or artificial reservoir, watercourse or other object in which permanent or temporary concentration of water has characteristic shapes and features water regime.

Water bodies are seas, oceans, rivers, lakes, swamps, reservoirs, groundwater canals, ponds and other places of permanent concentration of water on the land surface (for example, in the form of snow cover). Water bodies form the basis of water resources. Many sciences study water bodies. Hydrological methods of measurement and analysis are used to study water bodies and their regime. From an ecological point of view, water bodies are ecological systems.

Classification

Water bodies are classified depending on the characteristics of their regime, physical-geographical, morphometric and other features. Despite the fact that the basis for the classification of water bodies is natural science, the classification itself has important legal significance, since its legal fate depends on the concept and types of a water body; in addition, one of the principles of water legislation is the regulation of water relations depending on the characteristics of the water regime objects, etc. Water bodies are divided into:

Superficial;

Inland sea waters;

Territorial sea of ​​the Russian Federation;

Underground.

Surface water bodies consist of surface water and the land covered by it within the shoreline. A special place is occupied by the protection of surface waters in Russia. Russian water legislation regulates relations in the field of use and protection of water bodies in order to ensure the rights of citizens to clean water and favorable water environment; maintaining optimal water use conditions; quality of surface and groundwater in accordance with sanitary and environmental requirements; protection of water bodies from pollution, clogging and depletion; preservation biological diversity aquatic ecosystems.

According to the Water Code of the Russian Federation, the use of water bodies for drinking and domestic water supply is a priority. For these water supplies, surface and underground water bodies protected from pollution and clogging must be used. It is prohibited to discharge waste and drainage waters into water bodies:

Classified as specially protected;

Located in resort areas, places of recreation for the population;

Located in spawning and wintering areas of valuable and specially protected fish species, in habitats of valuable species of animals and plants listed in the Red Book.

The procedure for developing and approving standards for maximum permissible harmful impacts on water bodies is established by the government of the Russian Federation.

TO surface waters relate:

1) seas or their individual parts (straits, bays, including bays, estuaries and others). According to the generally accepted definition, a sea is a part of the World Ocean, more or less isolated by land or elevated underwater terrain and differing from the open part of the ocean in its hydrological regime. In the Water Code of the Russian Federation, by “sea” the legislator understands the internal sea waters and the territorial sea of ​​the Russian Federation. Internal sea waters of the Russian Federation are waters located towards the coast from the baselines from which the width of the territorial sea of ​​the Russian Federation is measured. Inland sea waters are integral part territory of the Russian Federation. The territorial sea of ​​the Russian Federation is a sea belt with a width of 12 adjacent to land territory or internal sea waters. nautical miles(Federal Law No. 155-FZ dated July 31, 1998 “On internal sea ​​waters, territorial sea and adjacent zone of the Russian Federation");

2) watercourses (rivers, streams, canals), characterized by constant or temporary movement of water in the channel in the direction of the general slope;

3) reservoirs (lakes, ponds, flooded quarries, reservoirs) are characterized by a state of slow water exchange;

4) swamps - an excessively moistened area of ​​land on which the accumulation of undecomposed organic matter, which later turns into peat;

5) natural outlets of groundwater (springs, geysers);

6) glaciers (moving natural accumulations of ice of atmospheric origin), snowfields (stationary natural accumulations of snow and ice, preserved on the earth’s surface during the entire warm period or part of it).

Groundwater bodies are a concentration of hydraulically connected water in rocks, which has boundaries, volume and features of the water regime (regulated by subsoil legislation). Groundwater bodies include:

1) groundwater basins (a set of aquifers located in the subsoil);

2) aquifers (concentration of water in cracks and voids of rocks that are in hydraulic connection). The classification of aquifers (first second and other aquifers) is approved by the authorized Government of the Russian Federation federal body executive power;

3) groundwater deposit - part of the aquifer within which there are favorable conditions for the extraction of groundwater;

4) natural outlet of groundwater - the outlet of groundwater on land or under water.

All water bodies on the territory of the Russian Federation, with the exception of the territorial sea of ​​the Russian Federation, are internal waters.

Transboundary (border) water bodies. Surface and underground water bodies that mark, cross the border between two or more foreign countries or through which the State border Russian Federation are transboundary (border) water bodies.

Water bodies common use- water bodies that are in public, open use.

At public water bodies, general water use is carried out in the manner established by the Water Code.

Restrictions on the use of public water bodies are permitted if this is expressly provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Water bodies that are in federal ownership, as well as separate water bodies that are in municipal ownership, are water bodies of public use, unless otherwise provided for in water protection, environmental or other interests by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Separate water bodies owned by citizens or legal entities, in accordance with the established procedure, can be used as water bodies of public use only under the conditions of registration of this restriction of ownership of separate water bodies in the unified state register and payment of remuneration to the owner.

Water bodies that, in accordance with the Water Code, can be used by a limited number of persons, are recognized as water bodies that are not in general use.

A strip of land along the banks of public water bodies (towpath) is intended for public use. Everyone has the right (without the use of transport) to use the towpath for movement and stay near a public water body, including fishing and mooring watercraft. The width of the towpath cannot exceed 20 meters.

Water bodies of special use. Water bodies of special use are water bodies that are used by a limited number of people.

The provision of water bodies for special use is carried out in the manner established by the Water Code. Providing water bodies for special use excludes them from public use.

A towpath and general water use can be established on water bodies of special use, under the conditions provided for in Articles 20 and 88 of the Water Code, respectively.

10 Most Amazing Water Features in the World

Water is the source of our life, in addition, water is an ancient symbol of fertility, purity and beauty. Nature has given us indescribable water beauty which are very popular among tourists. I think it's time to meet the most amazing of them. Let's expand our knowledge about the planet on which we were lucky enough to appear... Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia Victoria Falls - main attraction South Africa and object World Heritage UNESCO. Approaching the waterfall, the calm flow of the Zambezi River turns into a real spectacle: the water falls down from a height of 100 meters, emitting an indescribable sound that can be heard many tens of kilometers away. During the rainy seasons - from November to April, the waterfall is hidden under thick fog, which creates a mystical atmosphere. Canals of Venice, Italy
What could be more romantic than calmly sailing along the narrow Venetian canals under the light of the night moon. More than 150 canals connect 700 small islands, which form the so-called floating city. Forget the car. In Venice you can only get around on foot or by gondola. Believe me, it's worth it! The famous Grand Canal is surrounded by beautiful houses, the facades of which take us back to the distant Middle Ages. The Rialto Bridge, which is the oldest and most famous bridge in Venice, deserves special attention. Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Coral Islands The Great Barrier Reef, located in the Coral Sea on the northeast coast of Australia, stretches for 2000 kilometers. The Reef is the largest ecosystem in the entire world, larger in area than the whole of Great Britain. The Great Barrier Reef is home to 410 species of corals, 1,500 species of various fish, sea turtles and other representatives sea ​​world. Hundreds of thousands of tourists come here every year. Li River, China
For centuries, writers and poets have drawn their inspiration from the Li River, which flows between the cities of Guilin and Yangshuo. Along the river you can take a fascinating excursion through beautiful lemon gardens, majestic mountains and dense forests. The Li River feeds numerous rice fields that shimmer yellow and green in the sun. Suez Canal, Egypt
The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean and Red Seas and is the unofficial border between Africa and Eurasia. On October 9, 2001, a huge bridge was built across a canal in Egypt, which was named after former president Egypt - Hosni Mubarak. In addition, there is an underwater road tunnel near the city of Suez, which makes travel much easier. Lake Baikal
The lake contains 20% of the world's fresh water reserves. Baikal, located in the southeastern part of Siberia, is the oldest (25 million years ago) and deepest lake (1700 meters). Thanks to this, a unique marine environment With the rarest representatives fish and plants. Surrounded dense forests and the snowy mountains of Barguzin, Baikal is the embodiment perfect beauty. In winter, the ice on the lake is so thick that railway tracks are laid across it. River Nile, Egypt
The second longest river after the Amazon, the Nile River flows for 5,600 kilometers, from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea. Local residents use the Nile waters to irrigate their agricultural fields, in addition, it the only river in northern Africa, which flows through the Sahara Desert. Bora Bora, French Polynesia
Many people believe that Bora Bora is the most wonderful island on earth. The most interesting activity on the island is scuba diving to explore the lagoon with its incredible underwater world. The purest blue waters, snow-white sand and warm sun - what else is needed for a great holiday! Dead Sea, Israel
The Dead Sea is the saltiest body of water on earth. In addition, its coastline is the lowest landmass in the world. The Dead Sea separates the territories of Israel and Jordan. Essentially this salt Lake, the length of which reaches 70 kilometers, width - 20 kilometers, and depth - 380 meters. Main problem Dead Sea- a sharp drop in water level. Over the past 100 years it has dropped by as much as 25 meters. Lake Como, Italy
Como is the 3rd largest lake in Italy and one of the deepest in all of Europe. This wonderful water feature is located just 40 kilometers from Milan. The lake is surrounded by mountains, the heights of which vary from 600 to 2400 meters. Como has always amazed us with its indescribable beauty, wildlife and luxurious villas located on the coast. Photos from different Internet sites