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River

Mezen

966 km from source to mouth · Russia.

RussiaRussiaFlows into Mezen Bay

Follow the riverMonth by month

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

In numbers

Length

966km

Average flow

870m³/s

Basin

78,000km²

Drop

220m

from 202 m to -18 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

966 km of river and 47 stops on the way: 1 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

202 m-18 m
Timan Ridgeat 202 m0 km
Tydtributary75 km
Bolshaya Sevkatributary210 km
Malaya Sevkatributary218 km
Voysasyutributary359 km
Keryutributary401 km
Vyozatributary484 km
Vybortributary540 km
Tsebyugatributary624 km
Komatributary673 km
Erchematributary756 km
Mezen Bayat -18 m966 km
0200400600800966 km
  1. 0 kmTiman Ridgeat 202 m
  2. 75 kmTydtributary
  3. 89 kmNizhnyaya Puzlatributary
  4. 136 kmYuzhnaya Pesyutributary
  5. 157 kmYolva-Mezenskayatributary
  6. 176 kmLupttributary
  7. 210 kmBolshaya Sevkatributary
  8. 218 kmMalaya Sevkatributary
  9. 242 kmUvyutributary
  10. 259 kmYirvatributary
  11. 278 kmMalaya Loptyugatributary
  12. 288 kmBolshaya Loptyugatributary
  13. 298 kmBolshoy Irychtributary
  14. 304 kmMaly Irychtributary
  15. 327 kmPezhyutributary
  16. 359 kmVoysasyutributary
  17. 401 kmKeryutributary
  18. 407 kmMudzyutributary
  19. 424 kmUipyutributary
  20. 454 kmPyssatributary
  21. 457 kmBarmatributary
  22. 461 kmLatyugatributary
  23. 476 kmBolshaya Viskatributary
  24. 476 kmKurmyshtributary
  25. 484 kmVyozatributary
  26. 514 kmMezenskaya Pizhmatributary
  27. 540 kmVybortributary
  28. 540 kmKuzigatributary
  29. 556 kmNizmatributary
  30. 565 kmKyssatributary
  31. 585 kmNen'gatributary
  32. 585 kmSelzyatributary
  33. 602 kmKymatributary
  34. 602 kmMutasyatributary
  35. 624 kmTsebyugatributary
  36. 650 kmKochtributary
  37. 673 kmKomatributary
  38. 703 kmIrasatributary
  39. 722 kmEdomatributary
  40. 726 kmVashkatributary
  41. 734 kmEzhugatributary
  42. 756 kmErchematributary
  43. 780 kmKopylskaya Rochugatributary
  44. 854 kmKimzhatributary
  45. 860 kmPyozatributary
  46. 907 kmMezen'2,797 people
  47. 913 kmPyyatributary
  48. 913 kmTovatributary
  49. 966 kmMezen Bayat -18 m

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

River in Arkhangelsk Oblast and Komi, Russia

At the mouth it carries 866 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 2.9 seconds. It drops from 202 m to -18 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 78,000 km², about the size of PA. 34,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to June; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • Mezen'Largest city on its banks · 2,797 people
  • On the water17 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • JulyThe best months to visit

Mezen, month by month

Highest water: from May to June

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

350
-16°34 mmJan
350
-14°26 mmFeb
350
-8°27 mmMar
350
-1°36 mmApr
1,700
5°45 mmMay
1,600
12°59 mmJun
1,600
15°62 mmJul
800
12°72 mmAug
850
7°58 mmSep
970
0°59 mmOct
730
-7°49 mmNov
540
-12°42 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 350 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,700 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

Mezen: the basin in numbers

76,753 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.
  • 34,000people live in the basin
  • 0/km²people per km²
  • 123maverage altitude of the basin
  • 576mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • -0.8°Caverage air temperature
  • 6%protected areas
  • 0.1%covered by lakes
  • 4%permafrost

What covers the basin

  • 85% 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

Mezen: what you find on the way

  • 2Weirs
  • 1Boat ramps
  • 15Ferry piers
  • 1Marinas
  • 1River beaches

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Mezen 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.

  • 1mountain at the sourcePeakyas

Mountains at the source (1)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Gora Chetlasskiy Kamen'3.8 km away421m

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

Mezen: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
Mezen: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth38 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

Mezen in pictures

Река Мезень - panoramio
lincoln1403 · CC BY 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (85)

Also: Vashka, Pyoza, Mezenskaya Pizhma, Kyma, Kimzha, Sula, Yirva, Bolshaya Loptyuga, Pyssa, Us, Nizma, Yolva-Mezenskaya, Irasa, Kolmogorskaya Kur'ya, Koma, Koch, Kurmysh, Mutasya, Popyuga, Pyya, Pylema, Kyssa, Noba, Bolshaya Viska

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q79106) · 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 atlasesPeakyas — 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