River
Kalix River
461 km from source to mouth · Sweden.
SwedenFlows into Repskärsfjärden3rd longest in Sweden
In numbers
Length
461km
Average flow
290m³/s
Basin
17,900km²
Drop
551m
from 558 m to 7 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
461 km of river and 33 stops on the way: 2 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 558 m
- 8 kmVasalåmejaure0.3 km²
- 32 kmVidnarjaure0.7 km²
- 59 kmMunakkajärvi0.3 km²
- 60 kmPaittasjärvi29 km²
- 64 kmLaukkujärvi3.9 km²
- 76 kmHolmajärvi6.5 km²
- 91 kmGálásjávri16 km²
- 97 kmSierkajaure0.6 km²
- 116 kmJuovajärvi0.4 km²
- 148 kmTervasjärvi0.6 km²
- 152 kmNunasjärvi1.0 km²
- 158 kmKaitum rivertributary
- 160 kmMatala Saiva0.7 km²
- 160 kmValkeajärvi0.3 km²
- 163 kmSyvä Saivo0.6 km²
- 170 kmSalmijärvi0.3 km²
- 175 kmSattajärvi1.2 km²
- 180 kmKaivosjärvi0.4 km²
- 184 kmVaikkojärvi0.5 km²
- 187 kmPorrajärvi0.6 km²
- 196 kmPaulujärvi0.6 km²
- 262 kmTärendö Rivertributary
- 329 kmJokkfall
- 371 kmStor-Grundträsket6.0 km²
- 371 kmÖverkalix993 people
- 372 kmDjupträsket8.6 km²
- 373 kmÄngesåntributary
- 393 kmRäktjärv13 km²
- 400 kmMorjärvsträsket8.4 km²
- 412 kmKamlungträsket11 km²
- 415 kmByträsket0.5 km²
- 429 kmÖversttjärnen0.6 km²
- 436 kmKalix8,226 people
- 461 kmRepskärsfjärdenat 7 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River of Northern Sweden
At the mouth it carries 289 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 8.7 seconds. It drops from 558 m to 7 m, 1.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 17,900 km², about the size of KW. 24,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to July; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- KalixLargest city on its banks · 8,226 people
- Luleå Airport (LLA)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 59 km from the cityCar hire at RVN airport (Rovaniemi)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe12 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- JulyThe best months to visit
Kalix River, month by month
Highest water: from May to July
Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from November to March. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: July.
From about 150 m³/s in the lowest month to 420 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
Kalix River: the basin in numbers
17,088 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 24,000people live in the basin
- 1/km²people per km²
- 396maverage altitude of the basin
- 496mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -1.3°Caverage air temperature
- 18%protected areas
- 2.9%covered by lakes
- 11%permafrost
What covers the basin
- 65% Forest
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
Kalix River: what you find on the way
- 3WaterfallsParakkakurkkio, Mestoslinkka, Jockfallet
- 12RapidsVinkkakoski, Räktforsen, Forsbodforsen and 9 more
- 3Boat ramps
- 4Ferry piers
- 4River beachesPlaya de la Vistas, Flakasand and 2 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Kalix 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
27lakes on its wayLakeyas
10beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
19mountains at the sourcePeakyas
8islands off the mouthIslandyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Jokkfallkm 292
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (27)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Paittasjärvikm 5329km²
- Laukkujärvikm 573.9km²
- Holmajärvikm 676.5km²
- Gálásjávrikm 8116km²
- Djupträsketkm 3308.6km²
- Räktjärvkm 34913km²
- Morjärvsträsketkm 3568.4km²
- Kamlungträsketkm 36611km²
19 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (10)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Frevisören20 km away15.2°C
- Rödhamnen18 km away · cove15.3°C
- Brändavan22 km away · cove15.3°C
- Viken17 km away · cove15.4°C
- Gaddfjärden12 km away · cove15.3°C
- Bodviken12 km away · cove15.3°C
- Halshamnen19 km away · cove15.3°C
- Djupviken21 km away · cove15.3°C
2 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
Mountains at the source (19)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Šielmmáčohkka9.2 km away · prominence 945 m2,004m
- Reaiddačohkka13 km away · prominence 694 m1,934m
- Kåtotjåkka2.7 km away · prominence 1,111 m1,991m
- Katotjakko5.0 km away · prominence 1,114 m1,986m
- Nallo11 km away
- Vistesavare2.5 km away
- Vistastjåkko6.6 km away
- Tuopmatjåkko9.2 km away
11 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
Islands off the mouth (8)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Rånön16 km away10km²
- Bergön18 km away10km²
- Stora Huvön23 km away10km²
- Stora Trutskär19 km away10km²
- Halsön26 km away10km²
- Getskär25 km away10km²
- Berghamn22 km away10km²
- Risholmen14 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
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
Kalix River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (4)
Also: Tärendö River, Ängesån, Kaitum river, Teurajoki
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Sweden470 km380 m³/s51 km awayKemijoki
Finland550 km560 m³/s67 km awayPite RiverSweden400 km160 m³/s97 km awayIijokiFinland370 km200 m³/s122 km awayOulujokiFinland107 km250 m³/s146 km awayMuonio RiverSweden230 km160 m³/s145 km awayOunasjokiFinland300 km160 m³/s141 km awaySkellefte RiverSweden410 km160 m³/s161 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q845520) · 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, Lakeyas, Coastya, Peakyas, Islandyas — 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.
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