until the 15th century, a city and commercial center situated on the left bank of the Don River, near what is now the city of Azov. First mentioned at the end of the 12th century, Tana was the scene of competition between the Venetians and Genoese. It was governed by a council of the area’s wealthiest Italian merchants, with the local population (Alani, Russians, and Turks, among others) consigned to a state of dependency. The city had trade routes extending to the Volga, to Middle Asia and China, to the Northern Caucasus, to Transcaucasia, and to Iran and the Arab countries. The major products of the area were fish and caviar.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Tana came under the control of the khans of the Golden Horde, with whom the Italian merchants concluded a series of treaties. In the late 14th century the city suffered from the effects of Tamerlane’s invasion. After 1475 it fell into the hands of the Turks and soon began its final decline.
a river in the northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, forming, for a distance of 285 km, the border between Norway and Finland. The Tana, whose lower reaches are wholly in Norway, empties into Tana Fjord in the Barents Sea. The river is 360 km long, beginning from its source at Karasjok, and drains an area of approximately 16,000 sq km. High water occurs in the spring and summer. The mean flow rate in the lower course is 149 cu m per sec. The Tana is icebound from October to the end of May. Along the river lie the cities of Seida, in Norway, and Uuluusala, in Finland. The Tana is navigable upstream as far as Uuluusala.
a river in Kenya, in eastern Africa. The Tana is approximately 800 km long. It rises in the Aberdare Range, crosses the eastern edge of a crystalline plateau, and empties into the Indian Ocean. A sandbar is at the mouth. The Tana reaches its high water period during the summer rains.
(also Tsana or Dembea), a lake in Ethiopia, on the Ethiopian Plateau. Situated at an elevation of 1,830 m, Lake Tana is 75 km long, up to 70 km wide, and up to 70 m deep. Its area varies between 3,100 and 3,600 sq km, depending on the season. The lake lies in a tectonic depression surrounded by a lava barrier. Dek is the largest of the lake’s many islands. Lake Tana receives numerous affluents, the largest of which is the Little Abbai. The Blue Nile, or Abbai, flows out of the lake. The total annual influx of water is 6.6 cu km, and the total outflow, about 4 cu km. Lake Tana abounds in fish. It is navigable for large ships.