, image = 2000 Charoite 613.jpg
, image_size =
, image_caption = View of the river and piece of
charoite
Charoite is a rare silicate mineral, first described in 1978. It was believed to be named after the Chara River, but due to the river being 70 km away from its discovery place, now it is believed to be named after the Russian word ''chary'' ...
, pushpin_map = Russia Sakha Republic
, pushpin_map_size =
, pushpin_map_caption= Location in the
Sakha Republic, Russia
, source1_location =
Bolshoye Leprindo
Bolshoye (russian: Большое) is a rural locality (a selo) in Prokhorovsky District, Belgorod Oblast
Belgorod Oblast (russian: Белгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Belgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an obl ...
Lake
, source1_coordinates =
, source1_elevation =
, mouth =
Olyokma
, mouth_coordinates =
, mouth_elevation =
, progression =
Olyokma→
, subdivision_type1 = Country
, subdivision_name1 =
Yakutia
Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia),, is the largest republic of Russia, located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Sakha comprises half of the area of its governing Far ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
, length =
, discharge1_avg =
, basin_size =

The Chara (russian: Ча́ра; sah, Чаара, ''Çaara'') is a left tributary of the
Olyokma in
Eastern 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 of ...
,
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...
. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .
Together with the Olyokma, river Chara gives its name to the
Olyokma-Chara Plateau (Олёкмо-Чарское плоскогорье), located to the east of its eastern bank.
History
The region is famous for a peculiar mountain where
charoite
Charoite is a rare silicate mineral, first described in 1978. It was believed to be named after the Chara River, but due to the river being 70 km away from its discovery place, now it is believed to be named after the Russian word ''chary'' ...
has been mined for decades. This intensely purple mineral, named after the river, is only found here and was discovered in the 1940s when a rail tunnel was constructed. Part of the Russian governmental debt was paid in charoite and slabs of this now expensive ornamental material were stored in basements of houses of the Hungarian capital city, Budapest.
Course
The Chara begins as an outflow of
Bolshoye Leprindo
Bolshoye (russian: Большое) is a rural locality (a selo) in Prokhorovsky District, Belgorod Oblast
Belgorod Oblast (russian: Белгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Belgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an obl ...
lake in the
Kodar Mountains,
Stanovoy Highlands
The Stanovoy Highlands ( rus, Станово́е наго́рье) or Stanovoy Uplands is a mountain range in the Transbaikal region of Siberia, Russia.
Geography
The Stanovoy Highlands are a mountainous area between the Patom Highlands to the n ...
in northern
Zabaykalsky Krai
Zabaykalsky Krai ( rus, Забайкальский край, r=Zabaikal'skii krai, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲskʲɪj kraj, lit. " Transbaikal krai"; bua, Yбэр Байгалай хизаар, Uber Baigalai Xizaar) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai ...
. It flows through the Chara Basin between the Kodar and
Kalar Mountains, passing the ''Chara Sands'', a area of active sand dunes. It joins the left bank of the Olyokma not far form its mouth in the Lena. The Chara has 103 tributaries over in length. The most important are the
Apsat and the
Zhuya from the left and the
Tokko from the right. The
Sen River flows into the left bank of the Chara from the northern end of lake
Nichatka.
Чара (река)
Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya e ...
See also
*Charoite
Charoite is a rare silicate mineral, first described in 1978. It was believed to be named after the Chara River, but due to the river being 70 km away from its discovery place, now it is believed to be named after the Russian word ''chary'' ...
*List of rivers of Russia
Russia can be divided into a European Russia, European and an North Asia, 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. Th ...
*Patom Highlands
The Patom Highlands ( rus, Патомское нагорье) are a mountainous area in Eastern Siberia, Russia. Administratively most of the territory of the uplands is part of Irkutsk Oblast, with a smaller section in northern Transbaikal Krai. ...
References
Stanovoy Highlands
Rivers of Buryatia
{{Russia-river-stub