The Volga is the longest river in Europe and an important body of water in Russia. It stretches about 3,500 kilometers from northwest to southeast through European Russia and finally flows into the Caspian Sea. The Volga rises in the Valdai Hills, about 200 kilometers northeast of Moscow, and flows through several Russian cities, including Tver, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and Volgograd. Its water resources are crucial to the region's agriculture, industry and transportation, and it has great cultural and historical significance for Russia.