The Angara is the only river flowing out of Lake Baikal. It leaves the lake near Listvyanka in Russia’s Irkutsk Oblast and then runs generally north before turning west toward the Yenisey River.
Baikal receives water from more than 300 rivers and streams, including the Selenga, Barguzin, and Upper Angara. Yet the Angara is its sole natural outflow, making the lake unusual among major freshwater bodies. The river eventually joins the Yenisey near Strelka, linking Baikal’s water system to the Arctic Ocean.
The Angara passes Irkutsk, Angarsk, Bratsk, and Ust-Ilimsk. Several major hydroelectric dams were built along it from the 1950s onward, creating large reservoirs and transforming parts of the valley. These dams also interrupted continuous navigation between Baikal and the Yenisey.
A common mix-up is the Upper Angara: despite its name, that river flows into Lake Baikal rather than out of it. The Angara River itself is the lake’s single outlet.