How long is the Lena River and where does it rank among the world's longest rivers?
The Lena River is 4,294 kilometres long, making it the eleventh-longest river in the world. It is also the longest river located entirely within Russia.
Questions about Lena River
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Where does the Lena River originate?
The Lena originates at an elevation of 1,640 metres in the Baikal Mountains, 7 kilometres west of Lake Baikal, south of the Central Siberian Plateau.
What was the Lena massacre of 1912?
The Lena massacre was the shooting-down of striking goldminers and local citizens who were protesting working conditions at a mine near Bodaybo in northern Irkutsk. The incident was reported in the Russian parliament by Kerensky and is credited with intensifying revolutionary feeling across Russia.
Did Lenin take his name from the Lena River?
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov may have adopted the alias Lenin from the Lena River while he was exiled to the Central Siberian Plateau. The connection is noted in historical accounts but is not definitively confirmed.
What happened to the Jeannette expedition at the Lena delta?
Two surviving groups from the ill-fated Jeannette expedition reached the Lena delta in September 1881. The group led by engineer George W. Melville was rescued by Tungus huntsmen, while most of the group led by Captain George W. De Long died of starvation, with only two men surviving.
How large is the Lena River delta and what is found there?
The Lena delta covers 30,000 square kilometres and extends roughly 100 kilometres into the Laptev Sea. The delta is frozen tundra for about seven months of the year and part of it is protected as the Lena Delta Wildlife Reserve. Mammoth tusks have been excavated from the delta's permafrost.