The ( and
Kazakhstan . It arises in the southern
Ural Mountains and ends at the
Caspian Sea . Its total length is 1,509 mi (2,428 km). It forms part of the
Traditional Boundary between
Europe and
Asia .
It arises on the eastern side of the Urals, about 150 km north of
Magnitogorsk , flows south through Magnitogorsk, and around the southern end of the Urals, through
Orsk where it turns west for about 300 km, to
Orenburg , when the
Sakmara River joins. From Orenburg it continues west, passing into Kazakhstan, then turning south again at
Ural'sk , and meandering through a broad flat plain until it reaches the Caspian at
Atyrau .
Tributaries, in order going upstream:
