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River

Psel

717 km from source to mouth · Ukraine and Russia.

UkraineRussiaUkraine and RussiaFlows into Dnieper6th longest in Ukraine

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthSumy
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

717km

Average flow

55m³/s

Basin

22,800km²

Drop

130m

from 183 m to 53 m

Countries

2

The journey

From source to mouth

717 km of river and 24 stops on the way: 15 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

183 m53 m
Central Russian Uplandat 183 m0 km
Oboyan’14,000 people56 km
Zarichnyi150,694 people258 km
Sumy265,758 people259 km
Vilshankatributary362 km
Hruntributary412 km
Hrun-Tashantributary479 km
Khorol Rivertributary589 km
Dnieperat 53 m717 km
0200400600717 km
  1. 0 kmCentral Russian Uplandat 183 m
  2. 56 kmOboyan’14,000 people
  3. 177 kmSudzhatributary
  4. 248 kmOleshnyatributary
  5. 257 kmKovpakivskyi142,447 people
  6. 258 kmZarichnyi150,694 people
  7. 259 kmSumy265,758 people
  8. 259 kmSumkatributary
  9. 263 kmBasy3,400 people
  10. 267 kmNovi Basy7,299 people
  11. 362 kmVilshankatributary
  12. 404 kmHadyach23,480 people
  13. 412 kmHruntributary
  14. 415 kmSosnivka1,110 people
  15. 471 kmVelyki Sorochyntsi4,050 people
  16. 479 kmHrun-Tashantributary
  17. 501 kmShyshaky4,347 people
  18. 510 kmYaresky3,958 people
  19. 530 kmVelyka Bahachka5,488 people
  20. 549 kmBilotserkivka699 people
  21. 589 kmKhorol Rivertributary
  22. 606 kmHovtva417 people
  23. 622 kmZamozhne533 people
  24. 654 kmOmelnyktributary
  25. 675 kmRudkatributary
  26. 717 kmDnieperat 53 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Russia and Ukraine

At the mouth it carries 55 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 45 seconds. It drops from 183 m to 53 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 22,800 km², about the size of BZ. 1.0 million people live in it. Highest water: from April to June; lowest: from December to March. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • SumyLargest city on its banks · 265,758 people
  • On the water8 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit

Psel, month by month

Highest water: from April to June

Lowest water: from December to March. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from January to February. Best months to visit: from May to September.

54
-7°42 mmJan
24
-6°35 mmFeb
24
-1°35 mmMar
250
8°40 mmApr
230
15°47 mmMay
230
19°66 mmJun
110
20°72 mmJul
110
19°55 mmAug
100
14°47 mmSep
98
8°43 mmOct
110
1°46 mmNov
83
-3°49 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 24 m³/s in the lowest month to 250 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

Psel: the basin in numbers

22,782 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Free-flowingDams upstream can hold only 0.0% of a year's flow: the river still keeps its natural rhythm.
  • 1.0millionpeople live in the basin
  • 45/km²people per km²
  • 152maverage altitude of the basin
  • 584mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 7.1°Caverage air temperature
  • 1%protected areas
  • 0.3%covered by lakes

What covers the basin

  • 4% Forest
  • 66% Cropland
  • 10% Pasture
  • 2% 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

Psel: what you find on the way

  • 15Dams
  • 7Weirs
  • 1Boat ramps
  • 1Ferry piers
  • 6Boat rentalsSup Park and 5 more
  • 12River beachesFKK and 11 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 2.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Psel 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.

  • 0lakes on its wayLakeyas

Lakes and reservoirs (0)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

    Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

    From space

    The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

    Psel: satellite view of the source
    The source14 km across
    Psel: satellite view of the mouth
    The mouth21 km across

    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

    Psel in pictures

    Psel
    Луц Фишер-Лампрехт · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Mouth of Psel (2019-06-23) 02
    Oleh Kushch · CC BY-SA 4.0
    Mouth of Psel (2019-06-23) 04
    Oleh Kushch · CC BY-SA 4.0

    Tributaries

    Where it flows, and what flows into it

    Tributaries (25)

    Also: Sudzha, Hovtva, Hrun-Tashan, Hrun, Sumka, Syrovatka, Budylka, Vilshanka, Legan, Liutenka, Rudka, Udava, Bagachka, Bakaj, Vepryk, Vorozhba, Hnylycya, Oleshnya, Omelnyk, Ribitsya, Savraj, Ilek, Pena, Manzheliia

    Where these numbers come from

    Name, length, placesWikidata (Q1133871) · CC0
    Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
    FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
    Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
    Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
    Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
    ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
    Our other atlasesLakeyas — 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.

    beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
    lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
    mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
    waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
    islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
    riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
    canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit