THE IRTYSH RIVER

The Irtysh is a river in Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. It is the chief tributary of the Ob, and at a length of 2,640 miles, it is the longest tributary river in the world.  The Irtysh and the Ob River together constitute the world’s seventh longest river system.  From its origins as the Kara-Irtysh (Black Irtysh) in the Mongolian Altay mountains in Xinjiang, China, the Irtysh flows northwest through Lake Zaysan in Kazakhstan, meeting the Ishim and Tobol rivers before merging with the Ob near Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia, Russia.