Selenga
Selenga is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index, part of the Selenge system. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- System
- Selenge
- Coordinates
- 49.64°, 104.55°
About Selenga
The Selenga ( SEL-eng-GAH) or Selenge is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Originating from its headwater tributaries, the Ider and the Delger mörön, it flows for 992–1,024 kilometres (616–636 mi) before draining into Lake Baikal. The Selenga therefore makes up the most distant headwaters of the Yenisey-Angara river system.
Carrying 935 cubic metres per second (33,000 cu ft/s) of water into Lake Baikal, it makes up almost half of the riverine inflow into the lake, and forms a wide delta of 680 square kilometres (260 mi2) when it reaches the lake.
Periodic annual floods are a feature of the Selenga River. The floods can be classified as “ordinary”, “large” or “catastrophic” based on the degree of impact. Of the twenty-six documented floods that occurred between 1730 and 1900, three were “catastrophic”. The three “catastrophic” floods were the floods of 1830, 1869 and 1897.
The Selenga River basin is a semi-arid region occupying 280,000 square kilometres (110,000 mi2). It is part of the Arctic Ocean Basin and mainly located in northern Mongolia.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Selenga (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Selenga in Depth
River course
The Selenga River is 1,480 kilometres (920 mi) long and is formed from the convergence of the Ider and Delger rivers. It flows from Mongolia and into east-central Russia, acting as the main tributary of Lake Baikal. The Delger River flows from the Sangilen Mountains, "found on the border between Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tyva", while the Ider's headwaters are located in the Hangyn Mountains in central Mongolia. Upon the meeting of the Delger and Ider Rivers, the Selenga River moves northeast from Mongolia and joins with the Orkhon River at Suhbaatar. The river then continues north into Russia. Once in Russia, the river turns eastward towards Ulan-Ude, the capital of Buryatia and then goes northwards to Tataurovo.
History
At the end of the 19th century, evidence of Paleolithic culture was discovered in the Selenga River basin. The artifacts found were collections of stone implements. During 1928 and 1929, G. P. Sosnovskii, under the purview of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., directed an archaeological Stone Age study in the Selenga Valley near Kiakhta. In this expedition, Sosnovokii discovered remains of local Paleolithic culture in an area that stretched from "the valley of the Selenga River from the Mongolian Frontier down to Selenginsk."
Natural history
Leocottus kesslerii gussinensis and Leocottus kesslerii arachlensis are endemic subspecies of fish that are found in the Selenga River headwaters and the upper Khilok River. Lake Baikal is the habitat of the Siberian Baikal sturgeon. The Selenga river is a breeding ground for the sturgeon, with migration taking place within the river system. The fish has two migration periods, which occur during the warmer part of the year. The first migration period begins in the second half of April when the water temperature is 3 to 5 °C or 37 to 41 °F, and finishes in approximately mid-June. The second migration of the Baikal sturgeon is the main migration period. It coincides with the summer floods of the Selenga. When the water temperature begins to cool, this signals the end of the migration.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Selenga (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Selenga: Key Facts
| Length | 1,024 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 935 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 447,000 km² |
| Source | Delgermörön |
| Mouth | Lake Baikal |
| Drainage system | Yenisey basin |
| Tributaries | Eg River, Dzhida, Temnik, Orkhon River, Chikoy, Khilok River, Uda, Delgermörön |
Facts from Wikidata Q75745 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Selenga: Quick Answers
- Where is Selenga?
- Selenga is located in Mongolia and Russia, at 49.6370° N, 104.5454° E.
- Are there dams on the Selenga?
- No dam on the Selenga is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.
- Which river system is the Selenga part of?
- The Selenga is part of the Selenge system.