Don, a large river in European Russia. It rises in Lake Ivan and flows generally in a southerly direction until it empties into the Sea of Azov, 1,325 miles distant. In some places the river has a width of 1,800 feet. Navigation is bad, except during May and April, when the water is high; and the river is usually closed with ice from November or December to March or April. It is visited in the lower part by two floods each year—one called the cold water, being caused by the melting of the snow along the lower half of its course; the other called the warm water, being caused by the melting of the snow near the upper part of the river. A canal connects the Don with the Volga.
