Irkut


Irkut

 

a river in the Buriat ASSR and Irkutsk Oblast, RSFSR; left-bank tributary of the Angara. Length, 488 km (if the Cher-nyi Irkut is considered its beginning). Basin area, 15,000 sq km. It rises in three outlets from Lake Il’chir in the Vostochnyi Saian, further on down flows through the Tunkinskaia basin, and after emerging from it, runs through a ravine; there are rapids. The Irkut is fed chiefly by snow and rain. The average annual discharge at the mouth is 140 cu m per sec. The river freezes between the end of October and the middle of November, and the ice breaks up in late April or early May. The Irkut is used for floating timber. The city of Irkutsk is located at its mouth.