The Yenisey Gulf (, Yeniseysky zaliv) is a large and long estuary through which the lower Yenisey flows into the Kara Sea. The Yenisey Gulf and its islands belong to the Krasnoyarsk Krai administrative division of the Russian Federation and is part of the Great Arctic State Nature Reserve, the largest nature reserve of Russia. The Willem Barents Biological Station is a Polar station located northeast of Meduza Bay, at the northern end of the mouth of the Yenisey (73.35°N, 80.53333°W).

Geography

The Yenisey Gulf is formed by the river widening to an average of 50 km for up to 250 km in a roughly north-south direction, between a latitude of 70° 30′ N in the area around Munguy settlement, north of Dudinka. The whole region of the lower Yenisey is bleak and sparsely inhabited, and the settlements are built on permafrost ground. There is no vegetation except for mosses, lichens and some grass. Coastal waters are habitats for beluga whales. The maximum depth of the Yenisey Gulf is 208 ft. The mouth of the gulf is roughly located at 72° 30′ N, in the area of Sibiryakov Island, in the Kara Sea.

Islands

Climate

The weather pattern in this desolate area is severe, with long and bitter winters and frequent blizzards and gales. The Yenisey estuary is frozen for about nine months in a year and even in summer it is never quite free of ice floes. During the winter the shipping lanes are kept open by icebreakers.