Kempendyay (river)

The Kempendyay (Кемпендяй; Кэмпэндээйи) is a river in Yakutia (Sakha Republic), Russia. It is a right hand tributary of the Vilyuy, with a length of 266 km and a drainage basin area of 3100 km2.

The river flows across the mostly uninhabited territory of Suntarsky District. Kempendyay village is located in its middle course. Ustye village lies near its confluence with the Vilyuy, and Suntar, the administrative center of the district, lies a little to the west on the facing bank. There are deposits of rock salt in the Kempendyay basin, as well as a mud bath resort.

Course
The Kempendyay begins in the Lena Plateau and flows within it along its course. It heads first roughly southwestwards and in its last stretch, shortly after Kempendyay village, it bends and heads northwestwards strongly meandering within a floodplain among oxbow lakes. Finally the river joins the right bank of the Vilyuy 737 km from its mouth. The Kempendyay freezes between the second half of October and late May.

The largest tributary of the Kempendyay is the 47 km long Ulakhan-Karyalaakh that joins it from the right.