River
Brahmaputra River
2,900 km from source to mouth · 4 countries.
India, China, Nepal and BangladeshFlows into Ganges1st longest in India
In numbers
Length
2,900km
Average flow
19,500m³/s
Basin
651,334km²
Drop
5,136m
from 5,180 m to 44 m
Countries
4
The journey
From source to mouth
2,900 km of river and 23 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 5,180 m
- 0 kmZanangding Co4.0 km²
- 28 kmRabgyai Co7.5 km²
- 32 kmGuneijiao Cuo1.5 km²
- 875 kmMyang Chutributary
- 1,084 kmQuxu41,851 people
- 1,087 kmLhasa Rivertributary
- 1,211 kmLhoka353,700 people
- 1,600 kmNyang Rivertributary
- 1,888 kmMedog Hydropower Station
- 2,126 kmPāsighāt25,581 people
- 2,162 kmLohit Rivertributary
- 2,162 kmDibang Rivertributary
- 2,256 kmBogibeel Bridge
- 2,287 kmDihing Rivertributary
- 2,360 kmMajuli167,304 people
- 2,397 kmSubansiri Rivertributary
- 2,424 kmDhansiri Rivertributary
- 2,520 kmKameng Rivertributary
- 2,524 kmKolia Bhomora Setu
- 2,530 kmTezpur75,540 people
- 2,666 kmNew Saraighat bridge
- 2,666 kmNorth Guwāhāti17,516 people
- 2,666 kmGuwahati962,334 people
- 2,900 kmGangesat 44 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in China, India, and Bangladesh
At the mouth it carries 19,500 m³/s on average: 7.8 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 5,180 m to 44 m, 1.8 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 651,334 km², about the size of AF. 22.8 million people live in it. Highest water: from August to September; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- GuwahatiLargest city on its banks · 962,334 people
- Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 18 km from the cityCar hire at PBH airport (Paro)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water22 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to June and from August to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Brahmaputra River, month by month
Highest water: from August to September
Lowest water: from January to April. Best months to visit: from May to June and from August to September.
From about 2,800 m³/s in the lowest month to 43,700 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
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The basin
Brahmaputra River: the basin in numbers
413,487 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 22.8millionpeople live in the basin
- 56/km²people per km²
- 3,477maverage altitude of the basin
- 978mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 6.7°Caverage air temperature
- 10%protected areas
- 0.4%covered by lakes
- 4%glaciers
- 18%permafrost
- 0.3km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 18% Forest
- 7% Cropland
- 34% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
- 4% Ice
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
Brahmaputra River: what you find on the way
- 2Weirs
- 4Waterfalls
- 21Ferry piersKamalabari Ghat, Kurua, Mazgaon Ferry Ghat and 18 more
- 1MarinasGateways of Guwahati
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Brahmaputra River 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.
3lakes on its wayLakeyas
Lakes and reservoirs (3)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Zanangding Cokm 04.0km²
- Rabgyai Cokm 267.5km²
- Guneijiao Cuokm 301.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
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
Brahmaputra River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
GangesIndia2,525 km12,000 m³/sTributaries (25)
Bangladesh470 km1,300 m³/sManas RiverIndia400 km500 m³/sSankosh RiverIndia320 km5,400 m³/sAlso: Buriganga River, Jaldhaka River, Torsa River, Raidāk River, Lohit River, Subansiri River, Lhasa River, Kameng River, Dhansiri River, Dibang River, Dharla River, Myang Chu, Kopili River, Nyang River, Dihing River, Kolong River, Beki River, Tirap River, Jinai River, Siyom, Chāmpāmati River, Gadādhar River
In the same basin
India1,376 km3,500 m³/sPadma RiverBangladesh120 km32,000 m³/sGandaki RiverIndia630 km1,800 m³/sChambal RiverIndia960 km600 m³/sJamuna RiverBangladesh245 km20,100 m³/sGhaghara RiverIndia1,080 km3,300 m³/sGomti RiverIndia900 km230 m³/sKosi RiverIndia729 km2,300 m³/sSon RiverIndia780 km1,200 m³/sBhagirathi RiverIndia205 km260 m³/sNearby
Rivers nearby
India400 km500 m³/s102 km awayKuri Chhu
Bhutan257 km150 m³/s107 km awaySankosh RiverIndia320 km5,400 m³/s192 km awayTeesta RiverBangladesh470 km1,300 m³/s221 km awayJamuna RiverBangladesh245 km20,100 m³/s333 km awayParo ChhuBhutan80 km32 m³/s249 km awayPadma RiverBangladesh120 km32,000 m³/s350 km awayHa ChhuBhutan29 km17 m³/s247 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q45403) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point 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 | Lakeyas — 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
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