Course
Rising at a height of 1,640 metres (5,381 ft) at its source in the Baikal Mountains south of the Central Siberian Plateau, 7 kilometres (4 mi) west of Lake Baikal, the Lena flows northeast, being joined by the Kirenga River, Vitim River and Olyokma River. From Yakutsk it enters the lowlands and flows north until joined by its right-hand tributary the Aldan River. The Verkhoyansk Range deflects it to the north-west; then after receiving its most important left-hand tributary, the Vilyuy River, it makes its way nearly due north to the Laptev Sea, a division of the Arctic Ocean, emptying south-west of the New Siberian Islands by the Lena Delta - 30,000 square kilometres (11,583 sq mi) in area, and traversed by seven principal branches, the most important being the Bykov, farthest east.
Read more about this topic: Lena River