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| Physical characteristics | |
| Mouth | East Siberian Sea |
| Length | 2,129 km |
The Kolyma River (Template:Lang-ru) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. It rises in the mountains north of Okhotsk and Magadan, in the area of 62°N 149°E / 62°N 149°E / 62; 149 and empties into the Kolyma Gulf (Kolymskiy Zaliv) of the East Siberian Sea, a division of the Arctic Ocean, at 69°30′N 161°30′E / 69.500°N 161.500°E / 69.500; 161.500. The length of the Kolyma is 2,129 km. The area of its basin is 644,000 km².
The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250 days each year, becoming free of ice only in early June, until October.
History
In 1892-1894 Baron Eduard Von Toll carried out geological surveys in the basin of the Kolyma (among other Far-eastern Siberian rivers) on behalf of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Barr, 1980). During one year and two days the expedition covered 25,000 km, of which 4,200 km were up rivers, carrying out geodesic surveys en route.
The Kolyma is known for its Gulag labour camps and gold mining, both of which have been extensively documented since Stalin era Soviet archives opened. The river gives its title to a famous anthology about life in Gulag camps by Varlam Shalamov, The Kolyma Tales.
After the camps were closed, state subsidies, local industries and communication have dwindled to almost nothing. Many people have migrated, but those who remain in the area make a living by fishing and hunting.
Exploration east of the Lena
(This section is parked here until it can be mover to a better place.)
The area between the Lena and the Kolyma was explored in 1633-1645. East of the Lena there are no convenient east-west rivers, so the area was mainly entered by sailing along the Arctic coast and then going upriver. There were also land routes of lesser importance. It is 1710 kilometers by river from Yakutsk down the Lena to its mouth and about 1250 kilometers from the mouth of Lena to the mouth of the Kolyma.
For reference, landmarks along the Arctic coast from west to east are: Taimyr Peninsula, Khatanga River, Anabar River, Olenyok River, Lena River, Omoloy River, Yana River, Chondon River, Indigirka River, Alazeya River, Kolyma River. East of the Kolyma there are no useful rivers and most traffic used the Anyuy River branch of the Kolyma to reach the Anadyrsk, and from there to the Pacific or south to Kamchatka.
The Lena ostrog of Zhigansk halfway between Yakutsk and the sea was founded in 1632, the same year as Yakutsk. In 1633 Ivan Rebrov sailed downriver to the mouth of the Lena (apparently the first Russian to do so), turned west and spent about four years on the Olenek, then went downriver and sailed east past the Lena to the Yana where he met Perfilyev (September 1637), and in 1638 probably went to the mouth of the Indigirka where he built a zimovye. (The Indigirka story comes from Lantzeff, page 185, but he seems to contradict this on page 188)Rebrov was later on the Olenek with Fedot Alekseyev Popov in 1642-44. Ilya Perfilyev left at the same time as Rebrov and went east to explore the Yana, built a zimovye somewhere near Verkhoyansk and returned to Yakutsk in 1637 after meeting Rebrov. Elisei Buza left Yakutsk in 1636, went downriver and west to the Olenek, went overland to winter on the Lena, built boats and tried to reach the Yana but was blocked by ice. He ascended the Omoloy, built sledges and travelled overland for eight weeks to reach the Yana. After fighting the Yakuts and then helping them fight the Yukagirs, in the spring of 1638 he sailed down the Yana, and went east to the Chondon and turned back to the Yana where he stayed until 1641. Buza was the first to hear reports of a rich 'Pogycha River' to the east. In 1636-37 Poznik Ivanov, on a poorly-documented journey, crossed the Verkhoyansk Range east of the Lena. In 1638 Ivanov left Yakutsk and followed the river north on horseback. He crossed the Verkhoyansk Range by what later became the standard route and reached the Yana where he wintered at Verkhoyansk. He then crossed the Chersky Range to the Indigirka, built an ostrozhek (1640) and returned to Yakutsk in 1642. In 1640 Dimitry Zyryan (also called Yarilo or Yerilo) went overland to the Indigirka. In 1641 he sailed down the Indigirka, went east and up the Alazeya. Here they heard of the Kolyma and met Chukchis for the first time. In 1643 he returned to the Indigirka, sent his yasak to Yakutsk and went back to the Alazeya. In 1645 he returned to the Lena where he met a party and learned that he had been appointed prekazshchik of the Kolyma. He returned east and died in early 1646. In the winter of 1641/42 Mikhail Stadukhin, accompanied by Semyon Dezhnyov, went overland to the upper Indigirka. (If he took a direct route he would have been south of the headwaters of the Yana.) He spent the next winter there, built boats and sailed down the Indigirka and east to the Alazeya where he joined Zyryan and the united group went east reaching the Kolyma in July 1643. They built a zimovye, probably at Srednekolymsk and returned to Yakutsk in late 1645. In 1650 Stadukhin reached Anadyrsk. The exploration of Kamchatka began in 1697.
Mouths of the Kolyma
In the last 75 km stretch the Kolyma divides into two large branches. There are many islands at the mouth of the Kolyma before it meets the East Siberian sea. The main ones are:
- Mikhalkino 69°24′58″N 161°15′18″E / 69.416°N 161.255°E / 69.416; 161.255 is the largest island, it lies to the west of the Kolyma's eastern branch, the Prot. Kammennaya Kolyma. This island breaks up into smaller islands on its northern end. It is 24 km long and 6 km wide. Mikhalkino is also known as "Glavsevmorput Island" after the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route.
- Sukharnyy, or Sukhornyy , is located 3 km from the northeastern shores of Mikhalkino. It is 11 km long and about 5 km wide. Northeast of Sukhornyy lies a cluster of small islands known as the Morskiye Sotki Islands.
- Piat' Pal'tsev lies 5 km to the southeast of Sukhornyy's southern end. It is 5 km long and has a maximum width of 1.8 km.
- Nazarovsky Island 69°31′59″N 161°05′10″E / 69.533°N 161.086°E / 69.533; 161.086 lies on the western side of the Kolyma's western branch, the Prot. Pokhodskaya Kolyma, in an area where there are many small islands. It is 4.5 km long and 1.3 km wide.
- Shtormovoy Island 69°39′58″N 161°01′52″E / 69.666°N 161.031°E / 69.666; 161.031 lies offshore, about 10 km to the north of Nazarovsky Island. Shtormovoy is the northernmost island off the Mouths of the Kolyma. It is 4.3 km long and 1.5 km wide.
See also
The Kolyma article which provides additional information about the Gulag.
References
- William Barr, Baron Eduard von Toll’s Last Expedition: The Russian Polar Expedition, 1900-1903 (1980).
- Shalamov, Varlam Tikhonovich (1994) Kolyma tales , Glad, John (transl.), Penguin twentieth-century classics, Harmondsworth : Penguin, ISBN 0-14-018695-6
- Once-cursed Gulag river now Siberian lifeline:
- Strandberg, Mikael and Johan Ivarsson, travelled down the full length of the Kolyma River 2004. An Expedition hailed internationally as one of the coldest ever.
- Position and names of islands
