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River

Kama

1,805 km from source to mouth · Russia.

RussiaRussiaFlows into Volga

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

1,805km

Average flow

4,100m³/s

Basin

507,000km²

Drop

254m

from 248 m to -6 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

1,805 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 17 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

248 m-6 m
Sourceat 248 m0 km
Voktributary117 km
Poryshtributary343 km
Syoyvatributary361 km
Solikamsk87,745 people661 km
Berezniki132,841 people688 km
Perm1,027,518 people889 km
Krasnokamsk47,051 people933 km
Chaykovsky74,382 people1,208 km
Sarapul88,388 people1,274 km
Naberezhnye Chelny548,221 people1,477 km
Nizhnekamsk240,842 people1,515 km
05001,0001,5001,805 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 248 m
  2. 41 kmSardaytributary
  3. 67 kmSyovatributary
  4. 73 kmLytkatributary
  5. 91 kmTomyztributary
  6. 99 kmNirimtributary
  7. 109 kmNeopoltributary
  8. 117 kmVoktributary
  9. 117 kmKolychtributary
  10. 137 kmChustributary
  11. 138 kmChenegtributary
  12. 168 kmSyuzvatributary
  13. 206 kmLupyatributary
  14. 236 kmRytatributary
  15. 236 kmVolosnitsatributary
  16. 245 kmNyrmychtributary
  17. 258 kmKymtributary
  18. 292 kmImatributary
  19. 312 kmKuzhvatributary
  20. 323 kmPyelkatributary
  21. 343 kmPoryshtributary
  22. 361 kmSyoyvatributary
  23. 379 kmLiztributary
  24. 398 kmPyytributary
  25. 402 kmVestributary
  26. 402 kmVeslyanatributary
  27. 432 kmYazevkatributary
  28. 480 kmKosatributary
  29. 529 kmSouth Keltmatributary
  30. 532 kmPilvatributary
  31. 563 kmSumychtributary
  32. 581 kmBolshoy Kozyrtributary
  33. 587 kmUrolkatributary
  34. 623 kmVisheratributary
  35. 641 kmMoshevitsatributary
  36. 647 kmBorovayatributary
  37. 661 kmSolikamsk87,745 people
  38. 661 kmUsolkatributary
  39. 666 kmLysvatributary
  40. 688 kmBerezniki132,841 people
  41. 690 kmZyryankatributary
  42. 699 kmLyonvatributary
  43. 709 kmKondastributary
  44. 709 kmPoludenny Kondastributary
  45. 715 kmPoztributary
  46. 826 kmDobryanka28,545 people
  47. 871 kmChusovayatributary
  48. 876 kmOrdzhonikidzevsky City District113,867 people
  49. 876 kmKama Reservoir1,585 km²
  50. 878 kmGayvatributary
  51. 885 kmMotovilikhinsky City District184,724 people
  52. 888 kmBol'shaya Motovilikhatributary
  53. 889 kmPerm1,027,518 people
  54. 896 kmDzerzhinsky City District173,716 people
  55. 933 kmKrasnokamsk47,051 people
  56. 1,206 kmVotkinsk Reservoir842 km²
  57. 1,208 kmChaykovsky74,382 people
  58. 1,254 kmZabornoe0.5 km²
  59. 1,274 kmSarapul88,388 people
  60. 1,322 kmNeftekamsk133,874 people
  61. 1,345 kmOzero Ol'khovoye (lanaw sa Rusya, Udmurtskaya Respublika)0.6 km²
  62. 1,461 kmMendeleyevsk22,875 people
  63. 1,473 kmAvtozavodskiy Rayon189,000 people
  64. 1,477 kmNaberezhnye Chelny548,221 people
  65. 1,482 kmNizhnekamsk Reservoir738 km²
  66. 1,501 kmYelabuga73,759 people
  67. 1,509 kmOzero Rzhavets2.2 km²
  68. 1,515 kmNizhnekamsk240,842 people
  69. 1,622 kmChistopol57,844 people
  70. 1,805 kmVolgaat -6 m

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

River in Russia, tributary to the Volga

At the mouth it carries 4,100 m³/s on average: 1.6 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 248 m to -6 m, 0.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 507,000 km², about the size of ES. 12.7 million people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from April to July; lowest: from December to March. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (29% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • PermLargest city on its banks · 1,027,518 people
  • Perm International Airport (PEE)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 17 km from the city
  • On the water94 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

Kama, month by month

Highest water: from April to July

Lowest water: from December to March. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from November to March. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: from June to August.

2,700
-15°42 mmJan
850
-13°28 mmFeb
850
-6°27 mmMar
12,200
4°37 mmApr
13,200
11°46 mmMay
13,100
16°66 mmJun
13,000
19°75 mmJul
6,200
16°66 mmAug
7,000
10°62 mmSep
8,000
2°62 mmOct
6,300
-6°53 mmNov
4,500
-11°44 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 850 m³/s in the lowest month to 13,200 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

Kama: the basin in numbers

515,987 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Heavily regulatedReservoirs can hold 29% of a year's flow: dams shape its seasons.
  • 12.7millionpeople live in the basin
  • 25/km²people per km²
  • 235maverage altitude of the basin
  • 604mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 1.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 6%protected areas
  • 0.9%covered by lakes
  • 1%permafrost
  • 37km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 62% Forest
  • 24% Cropland
  • 8% Pasture
  • 1% Towns and cities

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

Kama: what you find on the way

  • 15DamsKama Dam, Nizhnekamsk Dam and 13 more
  • 6Weirs
  • 24LocksLock Tschaikovsky, Nizhnekamsk lock and 22 more
  • 4Waterfalls
  • 9Boat ramps
  • 52Ferry piers
  • 31MarinasPristan' Chastyye and 30 more
  • 2Boat rentals
  • 17River beachesNudist beach, SunDale and 15 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Kama 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.

  • 6lakes on its wayLakeyas

Lakes and reservoirs (6)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

  1. Kama Reservoirkm 878 · 29 m deep1,585km²
  2. Votkinsk Reservoirkm 1,207 · 28 m deep842km²
  3. Zabornoekm 1,2560.5km²
  4. Ozero Ol'khovoye (lanaw sa Rusya, Udmurtskaya Respublika)km 1,3470.6km²
  5. Nizhnekamsk Reservoirkm 1,484 · 20 m deep738km²
  6. Ozero Rzhavetskm 1,5122.2km²

Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Kama: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Kama: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth98 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

Kama in pictures

Usolie city and Kama River, Perm Krai
Niklitov · CC BY-SA 4.0
Kama River. Ust-Tary P6242505 2575
Alexxx1979 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Perm. Kama River. Kommunalny Bridge P6232022 2575
Alexxx1979 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Biserovo from Kama river
triumphato · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (143)

Also: Ik, Izh, Mulyanka, Kosva, Zay, Kosa, Siva, Inva, Toyma, Myosha, Sheshma, Veslyana, South Keltma, Pilva, Yagoshikha, Usolka, Ochyor, Sholya, Bolshaya Sarapulka, Moshevitsa, Nyrmych, Parkachikha, Bolshaya Uzhuikha, Porysh

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q79082) · 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 — 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