Yukon River

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Five Finger Rapid on the upper Yukon River in Yukon.

The Alaskan mountain ranges and the Mackenzie and Yukon river basins and their drainage networks.

Sandhill crane chick, Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, east-central Alaska, U.S.

Section of white-water rapids on the Charley River, a tributary of the Yukon River, Yukon–Charley Rivers National Preserve, east-central Alaska, U.S.

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Geography & Travel

Yukon River

river, North America

Written by J. Lewis Robinson

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 11, 2024 • Article History

Recent News

Apr. 7, 2024, 3:08 AM ET (CBC)

Agreement on Yukon River chinook salmon called essential, but some still have questions

Apr. 4, 2024, 5:03 AM ET (CBC)

Canada, Alaska suspend fishing of Yukon River chinook salmon for 7 years

Yukon River, major North American river that flows through the central Yukon territory of northwestern Canada and the central region of the U.S. state of Alaska. It measures 1,980 miles (3,190 km) from the headwaters of the McNeil River (a tributary of the Nisutlin River). The Yukon discharges into the Bering Sea after flowing northwestward and then generally southwestward through a low plateau that slopes down across Alaska. The main east- and north-bank tributaries are the Teslin, Big Salmon, Pelly, Stewart, Klondike, Porcupine, and Koyukuk; the west- and south-bank tributaries are the Takhini, White, and Tanana. Its headwater tributaries drain ...(100 of 2402 words)

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