Irtysh River | |
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Irtysh River watershed
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Country | Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Russia |
Basin features | |
Main source | Altay Mountains |
River mouth | Ob River |
Basin size | 1,643,000 km2 (634,000 sq mi) |
Physical characteristics | |
Length | 4,248 km (2,640 mi) |
Discharge |
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The Irtysh River (Mongolian: Эрчис мөрөн/Erçis mörön, "erchleh", "twirl"; Russian: Иртыш/Irtyš; Kazakh: Ертiс/Ertis, هرتىس; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: É'ěrqísī hé, Xiao'erjing: عَعَرٿِسِ حْ; Uyghur: ئېرتىش/Ertish/Ертиш; Tatar: Cyrillic Иртеш, Latin İrteş, Arabic ﻴﺋرتئش, Siber: Эйәртеш/Eyärtesh) is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob River.
The river's source lies in the Mongolian Altai in Dzungaria (the northern part of Xinjiang, China) close to the border with Mongolia.
The Irtysh's main tributaries include the Tobol River and the Ishim River. The Ob-Irtysh system forms a major drainage basin in Asia, encompassing most of Western Siberia and the Altai Mountains.
From its origins as the Kara-Irtysh (Black Irtysh) in the Mongolian Altay mountains in Xinjiang, China, the Irtysh flows northwest through Lake Zaysan in Kazakhstan, meeting the Ishim and Tobol rivers before merging with the Ob near Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia, Russia after 4,248 kilometres (2,640 mi).