Kuoyka

The Kuoyka or Kuoika (Куойка; Куойка) is a river in Yakutia (Sakha Republic), Russian Federation. It is a tributary of the Olenyok with a length of 294 km and a drainage basin area of 4750 km2. The Kuoyka flows north of the Arctic Circle across a lonely, desolate area of the Olenyoksky District devoid of settlements.

The name of the river comes from the Nganasan word "kuoika", (куойка), meaning a household deity.

Course
The Kuoika is a left tributary of the Olenyok. Its sources are at the limit of the Northern Siberian Lowland, off the northeastern end of the Central Siberian Plateau. It flows roughly eastwards to the southwest and south of the Beyenchime in an area with numerous lakes. In its last stretch the Kuoika turns in a SSE direction entering the Central Siberian Plateau area. It meanders strongly in its southernmost section within a wide gorge until it meets the left bank of the Olenyok 473 km from its mouth.

The river is frozen between early October and early June. Its main tributary is the 169 km long Sektelyakh from the right. Other tributaries are much shorter, such as the 42 km long Kuchchugui-Kuoyka, the 39 km long Kusagan-Khayalakh and the 36 km long Oyur from the left.

Quote
The last, tortuous stretch of the river was described in such terms by Yuri Tsenin in Vokrug sveta: "Its channel bends so whimsically in a wide canyon that sometimes one can't understand in which direction it flows. We are surrounded by lemon-yellow mountains. The shores of the Kuoika rise above the water as a fortified wall with odd-looking towers and ramparts."