The Akhtuba River; also transliterated Achtuba on some maps)
is a left distributary

Distributary

A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. They are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary...

 of the Volga River

Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

.

The Akhtuba splits off the Volga above the city Volgograd

Volgograd

Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River...

 (at 48.8167°N 44.6880°W), and flows toward
the Volga Delta

Volga Delta

The Volga Delta is the largest river delta in Europe, and occurs where Europe's largest river system, the Volga River, drains into the Caspian Sea in Russia's Astrakhan Oblast, north-east of the republic of Kalmykia. The delta is located in the Caspian Depression—the far eastern part of the delta...

 and Caspian Sea

Caspian Sea

The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...

.
The old beginning of Akhtuba was blocked by the dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 of the Volga Hydroelectric Station

Volga Hydroelectric Station

The Volga Hydroelectric Station or Volga GES also known as the 22nd Congress of the CPSU Stalingrad/Volgograd Hydroelectric Power Station , is the largest hydroelectric station in Europe and is the last of the Volga-Kama Cascade of dams, before the Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea...

; now it flows from the Volga via an artificial outtake canal 6.5 km long that starts below the dam.
The river is 537 km long; the average water flow is 153 cubic meters per second.

The following cities lie on or near the Akhtuba: Volzhsky

Volzhsky, Volgograd Oblast

Volzhsky is an industrial city in Volgograd Oblast, Russia, located on the east bank of the Volga River and its distributary the Akhtuba, northeast of Volgograd. Population:...

 (at the beginning of the river),
Leninsk

Leninsk, Volgograd Oblast

Leninsk is a town and the administrative center of Leninsky District of Volgograd Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Akhtuba River east of Volgograd. Population:...

, Znamensk

Znamensk, Astrakhan Oblast

Znamensk is a closed town in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia. It is the center of the Kapustin Yar missile test range. Population: It was granted town status in 1962.Railway station "Razyezd 85th km" on the Volgograd-Astrakhan railway branch....

, Akhtubinsk

Akhtubinsk

Akhtubinsk is a town in Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Akhtuba River , north of Astrakhan...

, Kharabali

Kharabali

Kharabali is a town and the administrative center of Kharabalinsky District of Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, situated on the left bank of the Akhtuba River northwest of Astrakhan. Population:...

 (wihin 5 km from the river). The capital of the Golden Horde

Golden Horde

The Golden Horde was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that formed the north-western sector of the Mongol Empire...

, Sarai Batu

Sarai (city)

Sarai was the name of two cities, which were successively capital cities of the Golden Horde, the Mongol kingdom which ruled Russia and much of central Asia in the 13th and 14th centuries...

, was most
likely located on the Akhtuba as well, not far from Kharabali

Kharabali

Kharabali is a town and the administrative center of Kharabalinsky District of Astrakhan Oblast, Russia, situated on the left bank of the Akhtuba River northwest of Astrakhan. Population:...

.

The area between the Volga and the Akhtuba is known as the Volga-Akhtuba plain, which is one
of Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

's primary vegetable

Vegetable

The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....

 growing areas. It is particularly well known as a
major sources of watermelon

Watermelon

Watermelon is a vine-like flowering plant originally from southern Africa. Its fruit, which is also called watermelon, is a special kind referred to by botanists as a pepo, a berry which has a thick rind and fleshy center...

s consumed in Russia.