The Ileksa (russian: Илекса) is a river in
Onezhsky District of
Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land ...
and
Pudozhsky District of the
Republic of Karelia
The Republic of Karelia (russian: Респу́блика Каре́лия, Respublika Kareliya; ; krl, Karjalan tašavalta; ; fi, Karjalan tasavalta; vep, Karjalan Tazovaldkund, Ludic: ''Kard’alan tazavald''), also known as just Karelia (rus ...
in
Russia. It is the principal
tributary of
Lake Vodlozero, and thus belongs to the basins of
Lake Onega and of the
Baltic Sea. It is long, and the area of its basin . The main tributary of the Ileksa is the
Chusreka (left).
Ileksa is part of major waterway, which starts as the
Verkhnyaya, which is a tributary of
Lake Kalgachinskoye, and continues as the
Vodla (which flows out of Lake Vodlozero) to Lake Onega, further as the
Svir
The Svir (, Veps: , Karelian/Finnish: ) is a river in Podporozhsky, Lodeynopolsky, and Volkhovsky districts in the north-east of Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It flows westwards from Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga, thus connecting the two largest ...
to
Lake Ladoga
Lake Ladoga (; rus, Ла́дожское о́зеро, r=Ladozhskoye ozero, p=ˈladəʂskəjə ˈozʲɪrə or rus, Ла́дога, r=Ladoga, p=ˈladəɡə, fi, Laatokka arlier in Finnish ''Nevajärvi'' ; vep, Ladog, Ladoganjärv) is a fresh ...
, and further as the
Neva to the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
of the Baltic Sea. The Ileksa connects lakes Kalgachinskoye and Vodlozero. The course of the river passes a number of lakes, the biggest of which are Lake Monastyrskoye, Lake Ik, and Lake Luzskoye, all located in Arkhangelsk Oblast close to the border with Karelia. There are many
rapid
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...
s on the Ileksa.
The river flows in the coniferous forest (
taiga). Until the 1990s, the Ileksa was used for timber rafting.
There is currently no population along the Ileksa.
Almost all of the valley of the Ileksa belongs to the
Vodlozersky National Park
Vodlozersky National Park (russian: Водлозерский национальный парк) is a national park in the north of Russia, located in Onezhsky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast
Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельс ...
, shared by Arkhangelsk Oblast and the Republic of Karelia. The park was established in 1991 to protect the taiga, coniferous forests. Since 2001, the National Park has the status of the
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, the first one in Russia.
References
External links
*{{GVR, 150765
Rivers of Arkhangelsk Oblast
Rivers of the Republic of Karelia