Kuskokwim River
The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River (Yup'ik: Kusquqvak; Deg Xinag: Digenegh; Upper Kuskokwim: Dichinanek' ; Russian: Кускоквим (Kuskokvim)) is a river, 702 miles (1,130 km) long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States. It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area. The Kuskokwim River is the longest river system contained entirely within a single U.S. state.
| Kuskokwim River | |
|---|---|
Aerial photograph of the river | |
Watershed of the Kuskokwim River in Alaska | |
| Etymology | from the Yup'ik, kusquqviim |
| Native name |
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| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Alaska |
| Districts |
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| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | confluence of the river's east and north forks |
| • location | near Medfra, Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area |
| • coordinates | 63°05′16″N 154°38′33″W |
| • elevation | 3,655 ft (1,114 m) |
| Mouth | Kuskokwim Bay |
• location | near Eek, Bethel Census Area |
• coordinates | 60°04′59″N 162°20′02″W |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 702 mi (1,130 km) |
| Basin size | 48,000 sq mi (120,000 km2) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | mouth |
| • average | 67,000 cu ft/s (1,900 m3/s) |
The river provides the principal drainage for an area of the remote Alaska Interior on the north and west side of the Alaska Range, flowing southwest into Kuskokwim Bay on the Bering Sea. The highest point in its watershed is Mount Russell. Except for its headwaters in the mountains, the river is broad and flat for its entire course, making it a useful transportation route for many types of watercraft, as well as road vehicles during the winter when it is frozen over. It is the longest free flowing river in the United States.
Kuskokwim is a loose transliteration of a Yup'ik word. It is a compound word meaning big slow moving thing.
The Alaska Natives of Kuskokwim are Yup'ik Eskimo on the lower Kuskokwim, Deg Hit'an Athabaskan on the middle Kuskokwim, Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan on the upper Kuskokwim, and Koyukon Athabaskan on the North Fork, Lake Minchumina.