The easternmost of the great Siberian rivers, running almost entirely through permafrost.
Length
4,400 km
Source
Baikal Mountains
Mouth
Arctic Ocean (Laptev Sea)
Continent
Asia
Countries
Russia
Did you know?
The Lena forms one of the largest river deltas in the world, a frozen wilderness protected as a vast reserve.
Little-known fact
Along its banks stand the Lena Pillars, towering rock columns up to 100 m tall, now a World Heritage Site.
Highlights
- A great river of eastern Siberia
- Forms an enormous Arctic delta
- Lined by the Lena Pillars
Life in the Lena
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
Northern pike
A long, torpedo-shaped ambush predator that lurks among weeds across the cool rivers and lakes of the north.
Eurasian otter
A sleek, playful hunter whose return to a river is a sign the water has run clean again.
Waterbirds
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Interactive · 3D journey
Journey of a river · source → sea
Every river runs the same great journey — from an icy mountain spring, down through gorges and looping meanders, to a wide delta where it meets the sea. Tap a stage to follow the water downstream.
Tip: hover to tilt the valley · tap a stage to float downstream
The Source
Every river begins high up — in a mountain spring, a melting glacier or a boggy upland. The water is cold, clear and fast, tumbling down the steepest ground of its whole journey.
Landforms here