River
Nizhnyaya Tunguska
2,989 km from source to mouth · Russia.
RussiaFlows into Yenisei6th longest in Russia
In numbers
Length
2,989km
Average flow
3,700m³/s
Basin
473,000km²
Drop
593m
from 477 m to -116 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
2,989 km of river and 15 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmCentral Siberian Plateauat 477 m
- 405 kmNepa Rivertributary
- 589 kmBol'shaya Yerëmatributary
- 673 kmTeteyatributary
- 1,403 kmIlimpeya Rivertributary
- 1,427 kmYeykatributary
- 1,741 kmKochechumtributary
- 1,761 kmNidymtributary
- 1,856 kmYambukan Rivertributary
- 1,895 kmVivi Rivertributary
- 1,911 kmTaimura Rivertributary
- 1,986 kmPorog Uchaminskiy
- 1,989 kmUchamitributary
- 2,145 kmTutonchanatributary
- 2,434 kmPorog Bol'shoy
- 2,439 kmEratchimotributary
- 2,989 kmYeniseiat -116 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Siberia, Russia
At the mouth it carries 3,680 m³/s on average: 1.5 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 477 m to -116 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 473,000 km², about the size of CM. 8.0 million people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to August; lowest: from January to April. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 75% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- TurukhanskLargest city on its banks · 4,774 people
- Igarka Airport (IAA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 192 km from the city
- On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- JulyThe best months to visit
Nizhnyaya Tunguska, month by month
Highest water: from May 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: July.
From about 4,200 m³/s in the lowest month to 44,000 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
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The basin
Nizhnyaya Tunguska: the basin in numbers
2,331,885 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 8.0millionpeople live in the basin
- 4/km²people per km²
- 764maverage altitude of the basin
- 441mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -4.9°Caverage air temperature
- 5%protected areas
- 2.0%covered by lakes
- 48%permafrost
- 379km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 70% Forest
- 3% Cropland
- 9% 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
Nizhnyaya Tunguska: what you find on the way
- 1Ferry piers
- 1Marinas
From OpenStreetMap, within 3.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Nizhnyaya Tunguska 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.
2waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
Waterfalls (2)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Porog Uchaminskiykm 2,037
- Porog Bol'shoykm 2,496
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
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
Nizhnyaya Tunguska in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
YeniseiRussia3,487 km19,800 m³/sTributaries (22)
Also: Kochechum, Nepa River, Ilimpeya River, Vivi River, Taimura River, Tutonchana, Bol'shaya Yerëma, Severnaya River, Uchami, Nidym, Yeyka, Eratchimo, Yambukan River, Chiskova, Degali, Teteya, Poymyga, Kananda, Kataramba, Iritka, Nimde, Kochumdek
In the same basin
MongoliaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q26428) · 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 — 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
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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
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