Lena River

The Lena (Russian: Ле́на, IPA: [ˈlʲɛnə]; Mongolian: Зүлгэ, Zülge; Buryat: Зүлхэ, Zülkhe; Yakut: Өлүөнэ, Ölüöne) is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean (the other two being the Ob and the Yenisei). It is the 11th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed. It is also the 3rd largest river in Asia. It is the largest among the rivers whose watershed is entirely within the Russian territorial boundaries.

Course

Rising at a height of 1,640 metres (5,381 ft) at its source in the Baikal Mountains south of the Central Siberian Plateau, 7 kilometres (4 mi) west of Lake Baikal, the Lena flows northeast, being joined by the Kirenga River, Vitim River and Olyokma River. From Yakutsk it enters the lowlands and flows north until joined by its right-hand tributary the Aldan River and its most important left-hand tributary, the Vilyuy River. After that, it bends westward, flowing besides the Verkhoyansk Range and then it makes its way nearly due north to the Laptev Sea, a division of the Arctic Ocean, emptying south-west of the New Siberian Islands by the Lena Delta – 30,000 square kilometres (11,583 sq mi) in area, and traversed by seven principal branches, the most important being the Bykovsky channel, farthest east.