River
Vilyuy
2,650 km from source to mouth · Russia.
RussiaFlows into Lena River8th longest in Russia
In numbers
Length
2,650km
Average flow
1,500m³/s
Basin
454,000km²
Drop
547m
from 432 m to -115 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
2,650 km of river and 25 stops on the way: 3 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmCentral Siberian Plateauat 432 m
- 341 kmVavukantributary
- 366 kmMogdytributary
- 439 kmUlakhan-Vavatributary
- 637 kmLakharchanatributary
- 753 kmChirkuotributary
- 1,056 kmAkhtarandatributary
- 1,070 kmVilyuy Dam
- 1,070 kmVilyuy Reservoir2,190 km²
- 1,090 kmUlakhan-Botuobuyatributary
- 1,208 kmOchchuguy-Botuobuyatributary
- 1,467 kmVilyuychaantributary
- 1,645 kmIlin-Dyelitributary
- 1,656 kmSuntar8,639 people
- 1,660 kmKempendyaytributary
- 1,767 kmYgyattatributary
- 1,784 kmBotomoyutributary
- 1,845 kmNyurba9,972 people
- 1,904 kmMarkhatributary
- 1,955 kmTyukyantributary
- 1,959 kmTonguotributary
- 2,061 kmChybydatributary
- 2,094 kmTyungtributary
- 2,099 kmVilyuysk9,948 people
- 2,262 kmBappagay Rivertributary
- 2,275 kmTangnary Rivertributary
- 2,650 kmLena Riverat -115 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 1,468 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.7 seconds. It drops from 432 m to -115 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 454,000 km², about the size of SE. 167,000 people live in it. Highest water, with the snowmelt: from June to August; lowest: from January to April. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 68% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- NyurbaLargest city on its banks · 9,972 people
- On the water18 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From June to AugustThe best months to visit
Vilyuy, month by month
Highest water: from June 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: from June to August.
From about 230 m³/s in the lowest month to 5,000 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
Vilyuy: the basin in numbers
455,223 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 167,000people live in the basin
- 0/km²people per km²
- 312maverage altitude of the basin
- 316mmof rain a year (basin average)
- -10.4°Caverage air temperature
- 11%protected areas
- 1.1%covered by lakes
- 94%permafrost
- 36km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 80% 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
Vilyuy: what you find on the way
- 16Ferry piersKrestyakh and 15 more
- 1River beaches
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Vilyuy 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
- Vilyuy Reservoirkm 921 · 8 m deep2,190km²
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
It flows into
Lena RiverRussia4,294 km16,400 m³/sTributaries (25)
Also: Markha, Tyung, Ygyatta, Chona, Tyukyan, Ochchuguy-Botuobuya, Ulakhan-Botuobuya, Bappagay River, Akhtaranda, Kempendyay, Chybyda, Ulakhan-Vava, Tangnary River, Tonguo, Lakharchana, Chirkuo, Botomoyu, Mostovka, Ilin-Dyeli, Mogdy, Vavukan, Vilyuychaan, Kyundyaye, Verkhny Vilyuykan
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q26433) · 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?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit