On which continent is the Irtysh River?

The Irtysh Rive is a major river of west-central and western Asia. With a length of 2,640 miles (4,248 km), it is one of the continent’s longest rivers. The Irtysh and the Ob River, of which the Irtysh is the principal tributary, together constitute the world’s seventh longest river system.

The Irtysh rises from the glaciers on the southwestern slopes of the Altai Mountains in the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang in far northwestern China. It flows west across the Chinese border through Lake Zaysan and then northwest across Kazakhstan. Northwest of the city of Semey the river flows onto the southern portion of the West Siberian Plain, entering Siberia about 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Omsk, through which it flows. Downstream of Omsk the Irtysh enters a vast swampy region, making a large U-shaped bend to the northeast and north before resuming a northwestward course. It again turns to the north, passing through the western portion of the Vasyuganye Swamp before joining the Ob River near Khanty-Mansiysk in western Siberia.

In Kazakhstan and Russia, tankers, passenger ships, and cargo vessels navigate the river during the ice-free season, between April and October. Omsk, home to the headquarters of the state-owned Irtysh River Shipping Company, functions as the largest river port in Western Siberia.