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River

Ishim

2,450 km from source to mouth · Russia and Kazakhstan.

RussiaKazakhstanRussia and KazakhstanFlows into Irtysh9th longest in Russia

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

2,450km

Average flow

56m³/s

Basin

177,000km²

Drop

491m

from 531 m to 40 m

Countries

2

The journey

From source to mouth

2,450 km of river and 34 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

531 m40 m
Kazakh Uplandsat 531 m0 km
Astana1,544,142 people220 km
Zhabaytributary535 km
Zhaman-Kayraktytributary586 km
Akkanburlyktributary1,133 km
Sergeyev Dam97 km²1,349 km
Ozero Kholodnoye0.7 km²1,537 km
Ozero Ploskoye (lanaw sa Rusya, Tyumenskaya Oblast', lat 55,38, long 69,33)1.1 km²1,711 km
Karasultributary1,867 km
Blinikhatributary2,022 km
Irtyshat 40 m2,450 km
05001,0001,5002,0002,450 km
  1. 0 kmKazakh Uplandsat 531 m
  2. 215 kmLion bridge
  3. 217 kmArkar bridge
  4. 220 kmAstana1,544,142 people
  5. 220 kmRamstore Bridge
  6. 221 kmSeruen Bridge
  7. 227 kmBol'shoy Taldykol'11 km²
  8. 535 kmZhabaytributary
  9. 586 kmZhaman-Kayraktytributary
  10. 700 kmTerisaqqan Rivertributary
  11. 799 kmDerzhavinsk13,856 people
  12. 1,133 kmAkkanburlyktributary
  13. 1,315 kmImanburlyqtributary
  14. 1,349 kmSergeyev Dam97 km²
  15. 1,351 kmSergeyevka8,845 people
  16. 1,537 kmOzero Kholodnoye0.7 km²
  17. 1,627 kmOzero Baykal (lanaw nga asin sa Kasahistan)1.3 km²
  18. 1,647 kmOzero Zabochnoye0.8 km²
  19. 1,711 kmOzero Ploskoye (lanaw sa Rusya, Tyumenskaya Oblast', lat 55,38, long 69,33)1.1 km²
  20. 1,714 kmOzero Gusinoye1.6 km²
  21. 1,774 kmAlabugatributary
  22. 1,780 kmOzero Stëganek1.1 km²
  23. 1,790 kmChenchertributary
  24. 1,843 kmIshim67,762 people
  25. 1,867 kmKarasultributary
  26. 1,915 kmMyslitributary
  27. 1,930 kmBalairtributary
  28. 1,961 kmAbatskoye8,094 people
  29. 2,009 kmIrtributary
  30. 2,022 kmBlinikhatributary
  31. 2,073 kmBarsuktributary
  32. 2,087 kmSartamaktributary
  33. 2,134 kmTashairtributary
  34. 2,142 kmMaly Iktributary
  35. 2,216 kmBolshaya Tavatributary
  36. 2,450 kmIrtyshat 40 m

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

River in Kazakhstan and Russia

At the mouth it carries 56 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 44 seconds. It drops from 531 m to 40 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 177,000 km², about the size of UY. 1.1 million people live in it. Highest water: from May to July; lowest: from December to March. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • AstanaLargest city on its banks · 1,544,142 people
  • Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport (NQZ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 17 km from the cityCar hire at NQZ airport (Astana)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to AugustThe best months to visit

Ishim, month by month

Highest water: from May to July

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

170
-17°18 mmJan
120
-16°13 mmFeb
120
-9°13 mmMar
460
4°22 mmApr
500
13°30 mmMay
490
18°39 mmJun
510
20°55 mmJul
310
17°40 mmAug
310
12°28 mmSep
320
3°29 mmOct
260
-7°22 mmNov
210
-13°19 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 120 m³/s in the lowest month to 510 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

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Ishim: the basin in numbers

139,340 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 1.1millionpeople live in the basin
  • 8/km²people per km²
  • 275maverage altitude of the basin
  • 324mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 1.9°Caverage air temperature
  • 3%protected areas
  • 1.1%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 9% Forest
  • 33% Cropland
  • 32% 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

Ishim: what you find on the way

  • 13Dams
  • 2Weirs
  • 1Locks
  • 1Waterfalls
  • 2Ferry piers
  • 7River beachesSky Beach Club and 6 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Ishim 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.

  • 8lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 1mountain at the sourcePeakyas

Lakes and reservoirs (8)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Bol'shoy Taldykol'km 18211km²
  2. Sergeyev Damkm 1,08097km²
  3. Ozero Kholodnoyekm 1,2300.7km²
  4. Ozero Baykal (lanaw nga asin sa Kasahistan)km 1,3021.3km²
  5. Ozero Zabochnoyekm 1,3180.8km²
  6. Ozero Ploskoye (lanaw sa Rusya, Tyumenskaya Oblast', lat 55,38, long 69,33)km 1,3691.1km²
  7. Ozero Gusinoyekm 1,3721.6km²
  8. Ozero Stëganekkm 1,4251.1km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

Mountains at the source (1)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Gora Aldan12 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Ishim: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Ishim: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth51 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

Ishim in pictures

Astana-Ishim-7802
Vmenkov · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ishim river
Petar Milošević · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ishim river birlik
RinatKazbbb · CC BY 4.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (22)

Also: Terisaqqan River, Akkanburlyk, Imanburlyq, Kalkutan, Barsuk, Zhabay, Bolshaya Tava, Mysli, Karasul, Ir, Blinikha, Sartamak, Tashair, Chencher, Balair, Alabuga, Maly Ik, Churtanka, Dyatel, Lyaga, Zhaman-Kayrakty, Ik

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q191524) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesLakeyas, 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.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit