Vilyuy


The Vilyuy is a river in Russia, the longest tributary of the Lena. About long, it flows mostly within the Sakha Republic. Its basin covers about.

History

The river is first mentioned in the 17th century in connection with the Russian conquest of Siberia.
In 1634, Russian Cossacks, headed by Voin Shakhov, established a winter settlement at the confluence of the rivers Vilyuy and Tyukyan. This settlement served as the administrative center of the area for several decades, after which it was moved to the Yolyonnyokh area down by the Vilyuy, where the ostrog of Olensk was founded in 1773.
In the 1950s diamond deposits were discovered in the area, about from its mouth. This led to the construction of the Mir Mine, together with access roads and an airport, and the Vilyuy Dam complex to generate power needed for the diamond concentrators.

Course

The Vilyuy has its sources in the Vilyuy Plateau, part of the Central Siberian Plateau, in the Evenkiysky District and, flowing east, soon enters Sakha. It turns towards the south and southeast in the Central Yakutian Lowland, then back towards the east, and finally enters the Lena about downstream of Yakutsk, near Sangar. The Ust-Vilyuy Range rises above the facing bank of the Lena, opposite the mouth of the Vilyuy.
To the west of the Vilyuy and Chona is the Nizhnyaya Tunguska basin.
The Vilyuy basin is sparsely populated. Small settlements along the river include Vilyuysk, Verkhnevilyuysk, Suntar, and Nyurba.
The main tributaries of the Vilyuy are the Ulakhan-Vava, Chirkuo, Chona, Chybyda, Ulakhan-Botuobuya, Ochchuguy-Botuobuya, Tangnary and Bappagay on the right; and the Akhtaranda, Ygyatta, Markha, Tyukyan and Tyung on the left.