The Chitinka (russian: Читинка, also Чита ''Chita'') is a river in
Zabaykalsky Krai in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. It is a left tributary of the
Ingoda (in
Amur
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
's
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
). It is long, and has a drainage basin of .
The river has its sources in the
Yablonovy Mountains
The Yablonoi Mountains or Yablonovy Mountains ( rus, Яблоновый хребет, bua, Яабланай шэлэ нуруу, ; mn, Яблоны нуруу, ''Yablony nuruu'') are a mountain range, in Transbaikal (mainly in Zabaykalsky Krai ...
, and then flows in a south-southwesterly direction, until it joins the Ingoda in the city of
Chita.
The river is heavily polluted, particularly from runoff from the city of Chita. In the years following the breakup of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
there were also built a large number of holiday houses (
dachas) along the river. This, combined with infills and straightening of river bends and other developments in the river bed, has made the river narrower and caused the water levels to rise. Because of this the risk of flooding in the spring has increased considerably.
References
Rivers of Zabaykalsky Krai
{{Russia-river-stub