Kuskokwim River

Kuskokwim River
Aerial photograph of the river
Watershed of the Kuskokwim River in Alaska
Etymology	from the Yupʼik, kusquqviim[1]
Native name	Kusquqvak (Central Yupik) Dichinanekʼ (Upper Kuskokwim) Digenegh (Degexit'an)
Location
Country	United States
State	Alaska
Districts	Bethel Census Area Yukon–Koyukuk Census Area
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 / 63.08778°N 154.64250°W / 63.08778; -154.64250[2]
• elevation	3,655 ft (1,114 m)[3]
Mouth	Kuskokwim Bay
• location	near Eek, Bethel Census Area
• coordinates	60°04′59″N 162°20′02″W / 60.08306°N 162.33389°W / 60.08306; -162.33389[2]
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)[2]
Length	702 mi (1,130 km)[4]
Basin size	48,000 sq mi (120,000 km2)[5]
Discharge
• location	mouth[5]
• average	67,000 cu ft/s (1,900 m3/s)[5]

The Kuskokwim River or Kusko River (Yupʼik: Kusquqvak; Deg Xinag: Digenegh; Upper Kuskokwim: Dichinanekʼ; Russian: Кускоквим (Kuskokvim)^[6][7]) is a river, 702 miles (1,130 km) long, in Southwest Alaska in the United States.^[4] It is the ninth largest river in the United States by average discharge volume at its mouth and seventeenth largest by basin drainage area.^[8] The Kuskokwim River is the longest river system contained entirely within a single U.S. state.

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.^[9] It is the longest free flowing river in the United States.

Kuskokwim is a loose transliteration of a Yupʼik word. It is a compound word meaning big slow moving thing.

The Alaska Natives of Kuskokwim are Yupʼik Eskimo on the lower Kuskokwim, Deg Xitʼan Athabaskan on the middle Kuskokwim, Upper Kuskokwim Athabaskan on the upper Kuskokwim, and Koyukon Athabaskan on the North Fork, Lake Minchumina.