The Chaya is a right
tributary of the Lena. It has its sources in an alpine lake of the
Upper Angara Range. It flows mainly northwards at the bottom of a
glacial valley in its upper course. Then it flows across the
North Baikal Highlands within a narrow valley, with the
Akitkan Range to the west, easing into the
Prebaikal Depression in a roughly NNW direction, where its channel divides into branches. The riverbed is very rocky all along. Finally the Chaya meets the right bank of the Lena, about downstream from
Kirensk, from the Lena's mouth in the Laptev Sea. The main tributaries of the Chaya are the Magdana, Nalimda and Limpeya from the right, and the Olokit, Abchada and Kilyakta from the left. Snow falls usually from November to March in the area of the river. ==Flora and fauna==