The Chegitun (russian: Чегитун) is a river located in the

Chukotka Peninsula The Chukchi Peninsula (also Chukotka Peninsula or Chukotski Peninsula; russian: Чуко́тский полуо́стров, ''Chukotskiy poluostrov'', short form russian: Чуко́тка, ''Chukotka''), at about 66° N 172° W, is the eastern ...

in Far East Siberia. It is the easternmost river flowing into the Chukchi Sea from the Siberian side, which makes it the easternmost significant river of the

Eurasian continent Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago an ...

. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The name of the river is based in the

Eskimo–Aleut The Eskaleut (), Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of w ...

term ''Sahtuk'', meaning 'straightened', which became ''Чегтун'' in the Chukchi language. The waters of the river are an important spawning ground for

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populat ...

, Taranets char, Siberian salmon,

Pink salmon Pink salmon or humpback salmon (''Oncorhynchus gorbuscha'') is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. It is the smallest and most abundant of the Pacific salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name for ...

, Chum salmon, Sockeye salmon and

Dolly Varden trout The Dolly Varden trout (''Salvelinus malma'') is a species of salmonid fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It belongs to the genus '' Salvelinus'', or true chars, which includes 51 recognized ...

are common in its waters.

Geography

The Chegitun flows in a roughly northeastern direction and crosses the Arctic circle a few miles before it meets the sea in a 500 m wide

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

. Close to its mouth there is the small abandoned village of Chegitun; the villages of

Inchoun Inchoun (russian: Инчоун, Chukchi: ,Inchoun Information
, Beringia Nature Park We ...

and

Uelen Uelen (russian: Уэлéн; Chukchi: , ''Uvèlèn''; Siberian Yupik: Улыӄ, ''Ulyḳ''; Naukan Yupik: Олыӄ, ''Oleq''; also known as Whalen in older English-language sources and Ugelen on USCGS charts) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') ...

are located not far down the coast. The Chegitun is frozen from October to June. This river and its basin belong to the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug administrative region of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. The lower part of the river is included in the Beringia National Park.«Beringia National Park»
/ref> Belaya (Chukotka)

References

External links

Rivers of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Drainage basins of the Chukchi Sea {{Russia-river-stub