Lena

Lena, river, Siberian Russia, rising west of Lake Baikal. The river flows first north-east and then gradually north for 4,313 km (2,680 mi) before emptying into a delta on the Laptev Sea, an arm of the Arctic Ocean. The Lena drains a region of about 2.6 million sq km (1 million sq mi) and is navigable for some 3,380 km (2,100 mi) to the port at Osetrovo. Yakutsk is the principal city on the river. Although rainfall in its catchment area is small, the Lena's average discharge is 16.4 million litres (3.6 million gallons) per second. Large sections of the river are frozen over for several months a year. Dairy and arable farming is found in the lowlands around Yakutsk.