"Cleft"[citation needed]) is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai.

It then crosses the Angara Range and turns west, entering Krasnoyarsk Krai, and joining the Yenisey near Strelka, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of Lesosibirsk.

Four dams of major hydroelectric plants - constructed since the 1950s - exploit the waters of the Angara: The reservoirs of these dams flooded a number of villages along the Angara and its tributaries (including the historic fort of Ilimsk on the Ilim), as well as numerous agricultural areas in the river valley.

Despite the absence of a continuous navigable waterway, the Angara and its tributary the Ilim were of considerable importance for Russian colonization of Siberia since ca.

The river lost its transportation significance after the construction of an overland route between Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk and, later, the Trans-Siberian Railway.