River
Olenyok
2,270 km from source to mouth · Russia.
RussiaFlows into Olenyok Gulf
In numbers
Length
2,270km
Average flow
1,200m³/s
Basin
219,000km²
Drop
669m
from 401 m to -268 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
2,270 km of river and 12 stops on the way: 0 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmCentral Siberian Plateauat 401 m
- 292 kmAlakittributary
- 576 kmArga-Salatributary
- 744 kmSiligirtributary
- 1,367 kmUkukittributary
- 1,386 kmBirektetributary
- 1,512 kmMerchimdentributary
- 1,617 kmBeyenchimetributary
- 1,660 kmKyutyundgetributary
- 1,831 kmPurtributary
- 1,831 kmKhorbusuonkatributary
- 1,861 kmKelimyartributary
- 2,052 kmBuolkalakhtributary
- 2,270 kmOlenyok Gulfat -268 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Yakutia, Russia
At the mouth it carries 1,210 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 2.1 seconds. It drops from 401 m to -268 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 219,000 km², about the size of GY. 6,224 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from June 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
- JulyThe best months to visit
Olenyok, month by month
Highest water: from June to September
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 92 m³/s in the lowest month to 6,700 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
Olenyok: the basin in numbers
217,723 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 6,224people live in the basin
- 0/km²people per km²
- 237maverage altitude of the basin
- 275mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -13.2°Caverage air temperature
- 11%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
- 100%permafrost
What covers the basin
- 46% 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.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Olenyok 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.
5islands off the mouthIslandyas
Islands off the mouth (5)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Ogonnyor-Aryta12 km away
- Ot-Ary12 km away
- Ulakhan-Ary5.8 km away
- Eppet-Belkey18 km away
- Dzhangylakh12 km away223km²
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.
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (18)
Also: Arga-Sala, Pur, Buolkalakh, Birekte, Beyenchime, Siligir, Kuoyka, Alakit, Ukukit, Kyutyundge, Kelimyar, Khorbusuonka, Merchimden, Beke, Sëngkyu, Verkhnyaya Tomba, Nizhnyaya Tomba, Nekekit
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q26799) · 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 | 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?
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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