Bolshaia

a river in the southwest of the Kamchatka Peninsula. It is known as the Bystraia above its confluence with the Plotnikov River, 58 km from its estuary. It is 275 km long and has a basin area of 10,800 sq km. It rises in the Ganal’ mountain ridge and flows into the Okhotskoe Sea. In many places along the river warm springs and mineral springs emerge. The average year-round discharge (96 km from the estuary) is 123 cu m per sec. The Bol’shaia is navigable in its lower reaches.

or Balka Bol’shaia, a river in Rostov Oblast, RSFSR, left tributary of the Kalitva (in the Severskii Donets basin). It is 152 km long, has a basin area of 2,160 sq km, and rises on the southern slopes of the Don mountain chain. It is fed primarily by snow and dries up in the upper reaches. Its left tributaries are the Mechetka and the Nagol’naia.