Karenga (river)

The Karenga (Каренга) is a river in Zabaykalsky Krai, southern East Siberia, Russia. It is 366 km long, and has a drainage basin of 10100 km2. The area through which the river flows is inhabited by indigenous Tungus people.

There are Neolithic archaeological sites near the mouth of the river where ancient ceramic remains belonging to the Ust-Karenga Culture have been found.

Course
The Karenga is a right tributary of the Vitim. Its sources are in the Chingikhan Saddle, located between the Yablonoi Mountains and the Chersky Range. Kontalaksky Golets, the highest peak of the Yablonoi rises to the NW of the river valley, near Tungokochen. It flows in a mainly northeastern direction within a winding channel. The vegetation along the banks of the river is mainly sparse larch taiga. Its lower course is at the eastern end of the Vitim Plateau. Finally, at the border with Buryatia it meets the Vitim 1083 km from its mouth in the Lena.

The longest tributaries of the Karenga are the 66 km long Bugarikhta and the 63 km long Bereya from the right. The river basin has 332 lakes with a total area of 7.4 sqkm. The river is frozen between late November and mid April. It has sharp fluctuations in the water level in the spring and summer. There is patchy distribution of permafrost in the basin.