Or (river)
river in Russia
The Or (Russian: Орь, Kazakh: Ор) is a river in Orenburg Oblast of Russia and Aktobe Province of Kazakhstan. It is a left tributary of the Ural, and is 332 km long, with a drainage basin of 18 600 km2. The river is formed by the confluence of the rivers Shiyli and Terisbutak, which have their sources on the western slopes of the Mugodzhar Hills, and it joins the Ural by the city of Orsk. Most of its discharge are from melting snow. The average discharge, 61 km from its mouth, is 21.3 m3/sek. The spring flooding lasts from April to mid-May. The rest of the year the water level is very low. The river freezes in late October and is icebound until March – April. The river is used for irrigation and water supply.
“Or (river)” enters the record as river in Russia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what river and Russia can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Or (river)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, river and Russia provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1807286.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Or (river)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Or (river) primary sources, Or (river) archive and river research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Or (river)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Or (river)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.