The Upper Angara (, ''Verkhnyaya Angara''; , ''Deede Angar'') is a river in
Buryatia
Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia (russian: Республика Бурятия, r=Respublika Buryatiya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə bʊˈrʲætʲɪjə; bua, Буряад Улас, Buryaad Ulas, , mn, Буриад Улс, Buriad Uls), is ...
,
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...
to the northeast of
Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the ...
. the third longest river in the Baikal basin. It is long, and has a
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...
of .
The
Baikal–Amur Mainline
The Baikal–Amur Mainline (russian: Байкало-Амурская магистраль, , , ) is a broad-gauge railway line in Russia. Traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East, the -long BAM runs about 610 to 770 km (380 to 4 ...
runs along the north side of the river northeast up its valley, crossing between Anamakit and
Novy Uoyan and crossing the river a second time upstream before heading into the mountains.
Wikimapia approximate site of basin
Course
The Upper Angara rises at about in an area of small glacial lake
A glacial lake is a body of water with origins from glacier activity. They are formed when a glacier erodes the land and then melts, filling the depression created by the glacier.
Formation
Near the end of the last glacial period, roughly 10, ...
s of the Delyun-Uran
The Delyun-Uran Range (russian: Делюн-Уранский хребет, translit=Delyun-Uranskiy khrebet) is a mountain range in Irkutsk Oblast and Buryatia, Russia, part of the Stanovoy Highlands.
The nearest airport is Bodaybo AirportGoogl ...
range, right by the Northern Muya Range, Stanovoy Highlands. It its upper course the river flows in a WSW direction across mountainous terrain, with rapids
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade' ...
and waterfalls. It enters then a floodplain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
and crosses the spurs of the Upper Angara
The Upper Angara (, ''Verkhnyaya Angara''; , ''Deede Angar'') is a river in Buryatia, Siberia to the northeast of Lake Baikal. the third longest river in the Baikal basin. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .
The Baikal–Amur Mainline run ...
and the Barguzin ranges. Near Yanchukan
Yanchukan (russian: Янчукан) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) in Severo-Baykalsky District of the Republic of Buryatia, Russia. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 392.
History
Urban-type settlement status was g ...
it flows through the Upper Angara tectonic basin. Finally it ends in Lake Baikal forming a delta in the shallow northern end of the lake, separated from the deep part by long sandy spits, including Yarki Island. The Upper Angara is navigable in its last stretch.[Верхняя Ангара - Water of Russia]
/ref>
The main tributaries of the Upper Angara are the long Angarakan, the long Yanchui, the long Churo
The Churo (russian: Чуро) is a river in Buryatia, southern East Siberia, Russia. It is a tributary of the Upper Angara river of the Angara - Baikal basin. The river is long, and has a drainage basin of . There are no settlements by the river. ...
and the long Kotera.[
]
See also
*List of rivers of Russia
Russia can be divided into a European and an Asian part. The dividing line is generally considered to be the Ural Mountains. The European part is drained into the Arctic Ocean, Baltic Sea, Black Sea, and Caspian Sea. The Asian part is draine ...
References
External links
* .
Rivers of Buryatia
Stanovoy Highlands
{{Russia-river-stub