Irtysh

American  

[ir-tish] / ɪrˈtɪʃ /

Or Irtish

noun

1. a river in central Asia, flowing NW from the Altai Mountains in China through NE Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation to the Ob River. About 1,840 miles (2,960 km) long.

---

Irtysh British  

/ ɪəˈtɪʃ /

noun

1. a river in central Asia, rising in China in the Altai Mountains and flowing west through Kazakhstan, then northwest into Russia to join the Ob River as its chief tributary. Length: 4444 km (2760 miles)

---

Example Sentences

The city occupies a promontory overlooking the Irtysh River in northeastern Kazakhstan and was first recorded in the early 2000s.

From Science Daily • Dec. 5, 2025

In 2008, a fossil collector named Nikolai V. Peristov was traveling along the Irtysh River in Siberia, searching for mammoth tusks in the muddy banks.

From New York Times • Oct. 22, 2014

The Asian portion is no less ambitious, involving the rechanneling of Siberia's mighty Ob River and its major tributary, the Irtysh.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sloping bank of the Irtysh was nearly three feet above the level; it was of clay, bare, hollowed out, and looked slippery.

From Letters of Anton Chekhov by Garnett, Constance

The Irtysh makes no loud or roaring sound, but it sounds as though it were hammering on coffins in its depths….

From Letters of Anton Chekhov by Garnett, Constance