CAPITAL: Moscow
AREA: The river basin is 965,255 square miles (2,500,000 km2)
POPULATION: 150,000 (in the region surrounding the river)
GEOGRAPHY: Russia’s Lena River is 2,734 miles (4,400 kilometers) long,
making it the tenth longest in the world and the third longest river in Siberia after the
Yenisei and Ob rivers. The Lena originates in the Baikal Mountains, south of the Central
Siberian Plateau and west of Lake Baikal, and flows northeast until it empties in the Laptev
Sea and the Arctic Ocean southwest of the New Siberian Islands. The width of the river
valley varies from 1 to 6 miles (2 to 10 kilometers) to about 700 feet (200 meters). The
river is covered by ice for much of winter, which dams the river during the spring thaw,
causing large-scale flooding.
CLIMATE: Temperatures range from as low as -76° to -94°F (-60° to -70°C),
with average air temperatures in January ranging from -22° to -40°F (-30° to -40°C). In
July, average temperatures range from 50° to 68°F (10° to 20°C).
ECONOMY: Various crops, including barley, oats, wheat, potatoes and
cucumbers, are grown in the lowland regions. There are also large meadows and pastures that
support livestock. Large deposits of coal and natural gas as well gold have been mined in
the Lena Basin. Rich deposits of diamonds were discovered in 1955 in the western Sakha
Republic. A large area of salt beds (about 20 square miles or 52 km2) is found near
Olyokminsk, and to the south of Yakutsk there are deposits of iron ore and coking coal. The
Lena River also has enormous hydroelectric potential (estimated at some 40 million
kilowatts), but only a small part of it has been exploited.