River

Irkut

488 km from source to mouth · Russia.

RussiaFlows into Angara

Follow the river Month by month

SourceMouth

The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

488km

Average flow

140m³/s

Basin

15,000km²

Drop

1,552m

from 1,971 m to 419 m

Country

The journey

From source to mouth

488 km of river and 10 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,971 m419 m

Sayan Mountainsat 1,971 m0 km

Kyren5,334 people176 km

Tunkatributary219 km

Zun-Murintributary255 km

Porog Byk374 km

Shelekhov47,459 people448 km

Angaraat 419 m488 km

0100200300400488 km

0 kmSayan Mountainsat 1,971 m
4 kmOzero Tunku-Nur1.6 km²
176 kmKyren5,334 people
219 kmTunkatributary
255 kmZun-Murintributary
374 kmPorog Byk
446 kmBaklashi3,000 people
448 kmShelekhov47,459 people
459 kmOlkha Rivertributary
470 kmIrkutsk605,708 people
470 kmLake Baikal31,968 km²
488 kmAngaraat 419 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Buryatia and Irkutsk Oblast, Russia

At the mouth it carries 140 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 18 seconds. It drops from 1,971 m to 419 m, 3.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 15,000 km², about the size of TL. 3.1 million people live in it. Highest water: from August to September; lowest: from December to March. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 68% of a year's flow.

Where to start

IrkutskLargest city on its banks · 605,708 people
Irkutsk International Airport (IKT)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 8 km from the city
On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
From June to AugustThe best months to visit

Irkut, month by month

Highest water: from August to September

Lowest water: from December to March. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from November to March. Best months to visit: from June to August.

750

-22°9 mmJan

750

-19°7 mmFeb

750

-10°12 mmMar

1,300

0°23 mmApr

2,300

8°38 mmMay

2,900

14°74 mmJun

3,900

16°126 mmJul

4,400

14°104 mmAug

4,000

8°61 mmSep

3,200

-1°24 mmOct

2,100

-12°17 mmNov

1,200

-19°12 mmDec

Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 750 m³/s in the lowest month to 4,400 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire in RussiaDiscover CarsSee

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The basin

Irkut: the basin in numbers

584,288 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

DammedReservoirs can hold 68% of a year's flow: much of the river is a chain of lakes.

3.1millionpeople live in the basin
5/km²people per km²
1,315maverage altitude of the basin
372mmof rain a year (basin average)
-3.1°Caverage air temperature
10%protected areas
6.1%covered by lakes
32%permafrost
46km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

40% Forest
3% Cropland
31% Pasture

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Irkut: what you find on the way

5Ferry piersIrkutsk-Bratsk and 4 more
2Marinas
1River beachesBeach on the Island of Youth

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Irkut in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
1mountain at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (1)

On the river, by Cascadyas

Porog Bykkm 337

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (2)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

Ozero Tunku-Nurkm 31.6km²
Lake Baikalkm 424 · 1,642 m deep31,968km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (1)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

Gora Topta12 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Irkut: satellite view of the source — **The source**14 km across

Irkut: satellite view of the mouth — **The mouth**104 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

Irkut in pictures

Река Иркут в районе Шаманского утёса. Вид с левого берега — Евгений Остроумов · CC BY-SA 4.0

Confluence White Irkut in Black Irkut 2019-07 — Maxinvestigator · CC BY-SA 4.0

Stone run valley of Black Irkut 2019-07 — Maxinvestigator · CC BY-SA 4.0

Irkut river from train — No machine-readable author provided. InvictaHOG~commonswiki assumed (based on copyright cl · Public domain

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

It flows into

Angara

Russia1,779 km4,500 m³/s

Tributaries (7)

Also: Tunka, Zun-Murin, Olkha River, Kaya, Malaya Bystraya, Bolshaya Bystraya, Ikhe-Ukhgun

In the same basin

Yenisei

Russia3,487 km19,800 m³/s Nizhnyaya Tunguska

Russia2,989 km3,700 m³/s Selenga

Russia1,024 km940 m³/s Podkamennaya Tunguska

Russia1,865 km1,600 m³/s Orkhon River

Mongolia1,124 km120 m³/s Abakan

Russia514 km380 m³/s Oka

Russia630 km270 m³/s Uda

Russia1,203 km300 m³/s Tuul River

Mongolia704 km37 m³/s Biryusa

Russia830 km350 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

Selenga

Russia1,024 km940 m³/s134 km away Orkhon River

Mongolia1,124 km120 m³/s261 km away Eg River

Mongolia475 km100 m³/s327 km away Tuul River

Mongolia704 km37 m³/s377 km away Oka

Russia630 km270 m³/s384 km away Ider River

Mongolia452 km57 m³/s423 km away Delgermörön

Mongolia445 km35 m³/s423 km away Chuluut River

Mongolia415 km25 m³/s431 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, places	Wikidata (Q880254) · CC0
Course, profile, basin	RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
Flow	WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the river	WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, dams	Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river	© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
Images	EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlases	Cascadyas, Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beaches

Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit

lakes

Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit

mountains

Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit

waterfalls Cascadyas

Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit

islands

Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit

rivers

Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here

canyons

Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit