River
Kolyma
2,129 km from source to mouth · Russia.
RussiaFlows into East Siberian Sea
In numbers
Length
2,129km
Average flow
3,800m³/s
Basin
643,000km²
Drop
648m
from 515 m to -133 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
2,129 km of river and 29 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 515 m
- 3 kmAyan-Yuryakhtributary
- 3 kmKulutributary
- 46 kmBol'shoy Khatynnakhtributary
- 68 kmBol'shoy Tyllakhtributary
- 130 kmTenketributary
- 168 kmDetrintributary
- 250 kmKolyma Reservoir446 km²
- 264 kmBakhapchatributary
- 294 kmDebintributary
- 305 kmOrotukantributary
- 343 kmTaskantributary
- 524 kmBuyundatributary
- 538 kmElgentributary
- 540 kmSeymchantributary
- 724 kmBalygychantributary
- 774 kmSugoytributary
- 844 kmKorkodontributary
- 1,000 kmShamanikhatributary
- 1,005 kmPopovka Rivertributary
- 1,095 kmYasachnayatributary
- 1,103 kmZyryankatributary
- 1,169 kmOzhogina Rivertributary
- 1,250 kmSyapyakinetributary
- 1,312 kmKamenkatributary
- 1,339 kmSlezovkatributary
- 1,345 kmSededema Rivertributary
- 1,510 kmBeryozovka Rivertributary
- 1,657 kmKrestovkatributary
- 1,759 kmOmolontributary
- 2,129 kmEast Siberian Seaat -133 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Magadan Oblast and Yakutia, Russia
At the mouth it carries 3,800 m³/s on average: 1.5 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 515 m to -133 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 643,000 km², about the size of SS. 58,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from May to August; lowest: from January to April. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- CherskiyLargest city on its banks · 3,707 people
- Cherskiy Airport (CYX)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 1 km from the city
- On the water7 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- JulyThe best months to visit
Kolyma, month by month
Highest water: from May to August
Lowest water: from January to April. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from October to April. Melting snow makes up much of its water. Best months to visit: July.
From about 1,700 m³/s in the lowest month to 6,200 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
Kolyma: the basin in numbers
652,964 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 58,000people live in the basin
- 0/km²people per km²
- 518maverage altitude of the basin
- 284mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -13.0°Caverage air temperature
- 7%protected areas
- 1.3%covered by lakes
- 99%permafrost
- 1.5km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 50% 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
Kolyma: what you find on the way
- 1Waterfalls
- 1Rapids
- 3Ferry piers
- 4Marinas
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Kolyma 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.
1lake on its wayLakeyas
Lakes and reservoirs (1)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Kolyma Reservoirkm 237 · 120 m deep446km²
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.
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (35)
Also: Omolon, Anyuy River, Yasachnaya, Beryozovka River, Zyryanka, Ozhogina River, Korkodon, Balygychan, Buyunda, Sededema River, Ayan-Yuryakh, Sugoy, Kulu, Bakhapcha, Popovka River, Seymchan, Taskan, Debin, Detrin, Tenke, Elgen, Kamenka, Bol'shoy Tyllakh, Bol'shoy Khatynnakh
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q78879) · 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 — 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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Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit