River
Chenab River
1,974 km from source to mouth · Pakistan and India.
Pakistan and IndiaFlows into Panjnad River2nd longest in Pakistan
In numbers
Length
1,974km
Average flow
1,600m³/s
Basin
138,000km²
Drop
2,930m
from 3,030 m to 100 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
1,974 km of river and 28 stops on the way: 17 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmChandra Riverat 3,030 m
- 111 kmMarusudar Rivertributary
- 117 kmKishtwar14,865 people
- 117 kmKishtwār20,553 people
- 161 kmDoda21,605 people
- 198 kmRamban8,128 people
- 240 kmAnji Khad Bridge
- 242 kmChenab Bridge
- 261 kmSiyad Baba
- 264 kmRiāsi8,101 people
- 294 kmAkhnoor Fort
- 295 kmAkhnūr20,756 people
- 297 kmAkhnoor10,770 people
- 321 kmNawānshahr14,884 people
- 331 kmTawi Rivertributary
- 334 kmMarala Headworks
- 372 kmGujrat390,533 people
- 418 kmRasulnagar14,392 people
- 533 kmChiniot Bridge
- 534 kmChiniot477,781 people
- 534 kmRabwah70,000 people
- 613 kmChund Bridge
- 648 kmJhelum Rivertributary
- 699 kmGarh Maharaja29,153 people
- 723 kmRavi Rivertributary
- 800 kmMultan1,871,843 people
- 832 kmMuzaffargarh163,268 people
- 846 kmKhangarh19,698 people
- 896 kmShahr Sultan16,166 people
- 978 kmPanjnad Riverat 100 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Major river of India and Pakistan
At the mouth it carries 1,630 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.5 seconds. It drops from 3,030 m to 100 m, 1.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 138,000 km², about the size of NP. 75.5 million people live in it. Highest water: from August to September; lowest: from December to January and June. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (23% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- MultanLargest city on its banks · 1,871,843 people
- Multan International Airport (MUX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 5 km from the cityCar hire at KHI airport (Karachi)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From February to April and from October to NovemberThe best months to visit
Chenab River, month by month
Highest water: from August to September
Lowest water: from December to January and June. Best months to visit: from February to April and from October to November.
From about 260 m³/s in the lowest month to 3,100 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
Chenab River: the basin in numbers
161,495 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 75.5millionpeople live in the basin
- 469/km²people per km²
- 1,252maverage altitude of the basin
- 615mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 17.6°Caverage air temperature
- 11%protected areas
- 0.3%covered by lakes
- 2%glaciers
- 3%permafrost
- 12km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 14% Forest
- 47% Cropland
- 13% Pasture
- 13% Towns and cities
- 2% 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
Chenab River: what you find on the way
- 2Weirs
- 1WaterfallsSiarh Baba Waterfalls
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Chenab 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.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
15mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Siyad Babakm 261
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Mountains at the source (15)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Kaotal Jot13 km away
- Kulma Jot9.8 km away
- Chasag6.9 km away
- Damaul1.8 km away
- Tane Jet7.9 km away
- Malkutu Jot10 km away
- Khua Bali5.7 km away
- Malanu Jot2.4 km away
7 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
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
Chenab River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (8)
Also: Tawi River, Chandra River, Bhaga River, Marusudar River, Nala Palkhu, Bhut Nal
AfghanistanWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q216875) · 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, Peakyas — 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
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
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