| Kuoyka
Куойка
| |
|---|---|
Course of the Kuoyka ONC map section
| |
  Mouth location in Yakutia, Russia  Kuoyka (Russia) Show map of Russia | |
| Location | |
| Country | Russian Federation |
| Federal subject | Yakutia |
| District | Olenyoksky District |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | North Siberian Lowland |
| • coordinates | 71°03′51″N 117°52′06″E / 71.06417°N 117.86833°E / 71.06417; 117.86833 |
| • elevation | ca 175 m (574 ft) |
| Mouth | Olenyok |
• coordinates | 70°29′06″N 120°31′36″E / 70.48500°N 120.52667°E / 70.48500; 120.52667 |
• elevation | 24 m (79 ft) |
| Length | 294 km (183 mi) |
| Basin size | 4,750 km2 (1,830 sq mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Olenyok→Laptev Sea |
The KuoykaorKuoika (Russian: Куойка; Yakut: Куойка) is a river in Yakutia (Sakha Republic), Russian Federation. It is a tributary of the Olenyok with a length of 294 kilometres (183 mi) and a drainage basin area of 4,750 square kilometres (1,830 sq mi).[1] The Kuoyka flows north of the Arctic Circle across a lonely, desolate area of the Olenyoksky District devoid of settlements.[2]
The name of the river comes from the Nganasan word "kuoika", (куойка), meaning a household deity.[3]
The Kuoika is a left tributary of the Olenyok. Its sources are at the limit of the Northern Siberian Lowland, off the northeastern end of the Central Siberian Plateau.[4] It flows roughly eastwards to the southwest and south of the Beyenchime in an area with numerous lakes. In its last stretch the Kuoika turns in a SSE direction entering the Central Siberian Plateau area. It meanders strongly in its southernmost section within a wide gorge until it meets the left bank of the Olenyok 473 km (294 mi) from its mouth.[2][5][6]
The river is frozen between early October and early June.[4] Its main tributary is the 169 kilometres (105 mi) long Sektelyakh from the right. Other tributaries are much shorter, such as the 42 kilometres (26 mi) long Kuchchugui-Kuoyka, the 39 kilometres (24 mi) long Kusagan-Khayalakh and the 36 kilometres (22 mi) long Oyur from the left.[1]
The last, tortuous stretch of the river was described in such terms by Yuri Tsenin in Vokrug sveta:
Its channel bends so whimsically in a wide canyon that sometimes one can't understand in which direction it flows. We are surrounded by lemon-yellow mountains. The shores of the Kuoika rise above the water as a fortified wall with odd-looking towers and ramparts.[7]
