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River

Lena River

4,294 km from source to mouth · Russia.

RussiaRussiaFlows into Laptev Sea1st longest in Russia

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

4,294km

Average flow

16,400m³/s

Basin

2,490,000km²

Drop

1,320m

from 1,187 m to -133 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

4,294 km of river and 68 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

1,187 m-133 m
Baikal Mountainsat 1,187 m0 km
Tuturatributary327 km
Kirengatributary888 km
Pilyudatributary976 km
Bol'shaya Kontaykatributary1,494 km
Nyuyatributary1,542 km
Tuolbatributary2,047 km
Sinyayatributary2,193 km
Kengkemetributary2,589 km
Lyapisketributary2,772 km
Munatributary3,153 km
Laptev Seaat -133 m4,294 km
01,0002,0003,0004,294 km
  1. 0 kmBaikal Mountainsat 1,187 m
  2. 163 kmIliktatributary
  3. 194 kmManzurkatributary
  4. 327 kmTuturatributary
  5. 359 kmIlgatributary
  6. 624 kmKuta Rivertributary
  7. 638 kmYakurimtributary
  8. 694 kmTayuratributary
  9. 761 kmBol'shaya Tiratributary
  10. 888 kmKirengatributary
  11. 976 kmPilyudatributary
  12. 988 kmChechuytributary
  13. 1,005 kmChayatributary
  14. 1,250 kmChuyatributary
  15. 1,272 kmVitimtributary
  16. 1,296 kmPeleduytributary
  17. 1,378 kmPilkatributary
  18. 1,394 kmKhamratributary
  19. 1,494 kmBol'shaya Kontaykatributary
  20. 1,542 kmNyuyatributary
  21. 1,591 kmUra River, Lena basintributary
  22. 1,620 kmBol'shoy Patomtributary
  23. 1,631 kmMalyy Patomtributary
  24. 1,766 kmCherendeytributary
  25. 1,783 kmBiryuktributary
  26. 1,848 kmOlyokmatributary
  27. 1,888 kmNamanatributary
  28. 1,973 kmTuolbachantributary
  29. 1,998 kmMarkhatributary
  30. 2,011 kmMarkhachantributary
  31. 2,047 kmTuolbatributary
  32. 2,193 kmSinyayatributary
  33. 2,247 kmKetemetributary
  34. 2,292 kmBuotamatributary
  35. 2,320 kmLyutengetributary
  36. 2,329 kmMendatributary
  37. 2,363 kmTammatributary
  38. 2,372 kmMylatributary
  39. 2,398 kmSuolatributary
  40. 2,544 kmAldantributary
  41. 2,548 kmBatamaytributary
  42. 2,579 kmBelyankatributary
  43. 2,589 kmKengkemetributary
  44. 2,591 kmKhanchalytributary
  45. 2,664 kmSittetributary
  46. 2,673 kmChochumatributary
  47. 2,686 kmTyugyuenetributary
  48. 2,697 kmLyunkyubeytributary
  49. 2,710 kmLungkhatributary
  50. 2,730 kmVilyuytributary
  51. 2,772 kmLyapisketributary
  52. 2,775 kmTympylykantributary
  53. 2,830 kmDyanyshkatributary
  54. 2,848 kmLinde Rivertributary
  55. 2,892 kmKyundyudeytributary
  56. 2,896 kmInnyakhtributary
  57. 2,965 kmBakhynaytributary
  58. 2,972 kmUndyulyungtributary
  59. 2,977 kmOruchantributary
  60. 3,017 kmBegidyantributary
  61. 3,035 kmStrekalovkatributary
  62. 3,068 kmUkunkutributary
  63. 3,083 kmSobolokh-Mayantributary
  64. 3,088 kmKhoruongkatributary
  65. 3,115 kmKyuelenketributary
  66. 3,153 kmMunatributary
  67. 3,167 kmMotorchunatributary
  68. 3,175 kmMenkeretributary
  69. 3,218 kmNataratributary
  70. 4,294 kmLaptev Seaat -133 m

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

River in Eastern Siberia, Russia

At the mouth it carries 16,350 m³/s on average: 6.5 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 1,187 m to -133 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 2,490,000 km², about the size of DZ. 1.1 million people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from June to August; lowest: from January to April. Its dams hold back little of its water (7.3% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Ust’-KutLargest city on its banks · 48,202 people
  • Ust-Kut Airport (UKX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 7 km from the city
  • On the water78 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to AugustThe best months to visit

Lena River, month by month

Highest water: from June to August

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

2,000
-35°13 mmJan
2,000
-31°10 mmFeb
2,000
-20°10 mmMar
2,000
-7°13 mmApr
35,400
4°25 mmMay
39,800
13°42 mmJun
41,100
17°54 mmJul
42,500
13°51 mmAug
23,400
5°37 mmSep
18,400
-7°26 mmOct
12,200
-24°20 mmNov
6,500
-32°18 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 2,000 m³/s in the lowest month to 42,500 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 

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

Lena River: the basin in numbers

2,446,631 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 7.3% of a year's flow.
  • 1.1millionpeople live in the basin
  • 0/km²people per km²
  • 584maverage altitude of the basin
  • 388mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • -9.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 10%protected areas
  • 0.5%covered by lakes
  • 88%permafrost
  • 36km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 72% Forest

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

Lena River: what you find on the way

  • 1WaterfallsElanka's pillars
  • 3Boat ramps
  • 70Ferry piersSangar port and 69 more
  • 3MarinasOlyekminsk River Port
  • 2Boat rentals

From OpenStreetMap, within 3.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Lena River: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Lena River: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth213 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

Lena River in pictures

FLOODS ALONG THE LENA RIVER.500m
NASA · Public domain
Lena River, Russia (ASTER)
NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team · Public domain
Lena - tukulan Saamis Kumara
Hardscarf · CC BY-SA 4.0
Lena River Ice Road
Natxo Rodriguez from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Basque Country · CC BY-SA 2.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (94)

VilyuyRussiaRussia2,650 km1,500 m³/sjoins at km 2,899AldanRussiaRussia2,273 km5,100 m³/sjoins at km 2,701VitimRussiaRussia1,837 km1,500 m³/sjoins at km 1,351OlyokmaRussiaRussia1,436 km2,000 m³/sjoins at km 1,963

Also: Kirenga, Nyuya, Muna, Linde River, Chaya, Buotama, Molodo, Lungkha, Sinyaya, Chuya, Kuta River, Markha, Tuolba, Peleduy, Bol'shoy Patom, Kengkeme, Namana, Menkere, Dzhardzhan, Motorchuna, Suola, Biryuk, Undyulyung, Tayura

In the same basin

MayaRussiaRussia1,053 km1,200 m³/sAmgaRussiaRussia1,462 km180 m³/sUchur RiverRussiaRussia812 km1,300 m³/s

Nearby

Rivers nearby

OlenyokRussiaRussia2,270 km1,200 m³/s238 km awayYanaRussiaRussia872 km920 m³/s353 km awayAnabarRussiaRussia939 km500 m³/s441 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q46841) · 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

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