River
Chu River
1,318 km from source to mouth · Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Kazakhstan and KyrgyzstanFlows into Akzhaykyn4th longest in Kazakhstan
In numbers
Length
1,318km
Average flow
130m³/s
Basin
67,500km²
Drop
2,827m
from 2,949 m to 122 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
1,318 km of river and 20 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmKyrgyz Alatauat 2,949 m
- 91 kmKochkor Rivertributary
- 124 kmOrto-Tokoy Reservoir20 km²
- 207 kmChong-Kemin Rivertributary
- 226 kmKemin10,354 people
- 242 kmKichi-Kemin Rivertributary
- 266 kmTokmok71,443 people
- 282 kmShamshy Rivertributary
- 282 kmKegetytributary
- 288 kmIvanovka17,513 people
- 313 kmYsyk-Ata Rivertributary
- 334 kmKorday9,821 people
- 341 kmAla-Arçatributary
- 341 kmAlamüdün Rivertributary
- 427 kmAk-Suu Rivertributary
- 433 kmTasotkel reservoir47 km²
- 466 kmShu39,785 people
- 522 kmKuragatytributary
- 777 kmKamkalykol7.6 km²
- 946 kmOzero Akkol'0.9 km²
- 961 kmOzero Aksuat1.4 km²
- 1,318 kmAkzhaykynat 122 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan
At the mouth it carries 130 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 19 seconds. It drops from 2,949 m to 122 m, 2.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 67,500 km², about the size of LK. 2.1 million people live in it. Highest water: from March to May; lowest: February and from July to September. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (16% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- TokmokLargest city on its banks · 71,443 people
- Manas International Airport (BSZ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 71 km from the cityCar hire at ALA airport (Almaty)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water2 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Chu River, month by month
Highest water: from March to May
Lowest water: February and from July to September. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from December to February. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 64 m³/s in the lowest month to 530 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
Chu River: the basin in numbers
74,366 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.1millionpeople live in the basin
- 28/km²people per km²
- 1,039maverage altitude of the basin
- 289mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 7.3°Caverage air temperature
- 3%protected areas
- 0.3%covered by lakes
- 6%permafrost
- 1.1km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 1% Forest
- 7% Cropland
- 56% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
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
Chu River: what you find on the way
- 13Weirs
- 1Locks
- 1Canoe put-ins
- 1Boat ramps
- 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
Chu 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.
5lakes on its wayLakeyas
4mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Lakes and reservoirs (5)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Orto-Tokoy Reservoirkm 10420km²
- Tasotkel reservoirkm 36447km²
- Kamkalykolkm 6537.6km²
- Ozero Akkol'km 7950.9km²
- Ozero Aksuatkm 8081.4km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (4)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Gory Arsy15 km away
- Gory Aktjap13 km away
- Gora Kuusjoky12 km away
- Gory Aktasjkura11 km away
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
Chu River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (12)
Also: Ala-Arça, Alamüdün River, Ak-Suu River, Kochkor River, Ysyk-Ata River, Kuragaty, Joon Aryk, Kichi-Kemin River, Shamshy River, Kegety, Yirgaity
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Kazakhstan800 km7.3 m³/s65 km awayTalas RiverKazakhstan661 km170 m³/s195 km awayArys RiverKazakhstan378 km47 m³/s244 km awayChatkal River
Uzbekistan217 km130 m³/s419 km awayChirchiqUzbekistan154 km220 m³/s458 km awayAngren RiverUzbekistan236 km23 m³/s471 km awayTurgai RiverKazakhstan825 km9.0 m³/s491 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q524206) · 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 | Lakeyas, 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?
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