Asian RiversBrett Hu

Yangtze (Chang Jiang, lit. Long River)• Third longest in world, longest in Asia (6301 km)• Origin in Qinghai Province and flows into the East China Sea at

Shanghai• Also feeds Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanjing• Three Gorges Dam, largest in the world• Marks geographic and cultural boundary between north and south• Like a natural Mason-Dixon Line

Brahmaputra (Brahma’s son)

• Origin in Himalayas and 2900 km• Runs through East India, then Bangladesh before merging with

Ganges• Very prone to flooding

• Forms world’s largest delta with Ganges at the Bay of Bengal• Feeds Guwahati, Assam, India (population nearly 1M)

Yellow River (Huang He)

• Asia’s second longest river at 5464 km• Very important for Northern China• Named for all the loess silt it carries• Feeds Lanzhou, Baotou, Xi’an, Jinan, etc.• Also origins in Qinghai Province but exits in the Yellow Sea’s Bohai

Gulf• The Grand Canal, built during the Ming Dynasty, linked this river with

the Yangtze

Ganges

• Holy river for Hindus• Supports hundreds of millions of people• As population continues to soar, the already extreme pollution is only going to

get worse

• Rising in Himalayas and flows 2510 km • Joins Brahmaputra to empty in Bay of Bengal at world’s largest delta

Mekong

• Main river for Southeast Asia/Indochina, Asia’s third longest • Origin in Eastern Tibet and flows 4910 km• Marks border between Laos and Thailand and flows through

Cambodia• Enters South China Sea near Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon),

Vietnam• Feeds capitals of Laos and Cambodia, Vientiane and Phnom Penh,

respectively

Tigris

• Often paired with Euphrates as both fed the ancient region of Mesopotamia, which included Sumer and Akkad• This is the eastern one at 1900 km, originating in Turkey• Feeds Iraqi cities of Mosul, Tikrit, and capital Baghdad• Joins Euphrates as Shatt al Arab which flows into the Persian Gulf• Feeds Iraqi city Basra. Shatt al Arab once had the largest palm tree forest in

the world; this has since been severely reduced

Euphrates

• Western one and longer at 2800 km• Originates in Turkey’s Zagros Mountains• Feeds modern Iraqi city of Fallujah, ancient Mesopotamian Babylon• With the Tigris, these rivers frequently have changed courses,

devastating cities that find themselves in the desert

Irrawaddy/Ayeyarwaddy (Elephant)

• Burma/Myanmar’s main river at 2170 km• Feeds capital Yangon/Rangoon and Mandalay• Empties in Gulf of Martaban, part of the Bay of Bengal• Its delta is one of the world’s most important rice-growing regions

Indus

• Home to the ancient Indus River Valley Civilization which included Mohenjo-Daro• Main river of Pakistan, originates in Tibet and flows 2900 km• Its delta flows into the Arabian Sea and feeds the city of Karachi

Jordan

• Rises in Syria and flows through the Sea of Galilee into the Dead Sea• Marks boundary between Jordan and West Bank/Israel• John the Baptist was baptised here• The Dead Sea is several hundred metres below sea level and is one of

the world’s saltiest so there is little life in it• The Dead Sea itself is dying! Its area has shrunk alarmingly in recent decades,

like the Aral Sea in Central Asia, due to overirrigation

Extra: Ob

• Westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers• All flow into the arctic ocean

• At 3650 km, it feeds Russia’s third largest city, Novosibirsk• Empties into the world’s longest estuary, the Gulf of Ob

Extra: Yenisei

• Central of the three great Siberian rivers• Originates in Mongolia and at 5539 km, feeds Krasnoyarsk

Extra: Lena

• Easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers• Longest undammed Asian river• Originates near Lake Baikal and at 4472 km, feeds Yakutsk

Extra: Pearl River

• At 2400 km, flows into the South China Sea• The Pearl River Delta contains Hong Kong, Macau,

Guangzhou/Canton, Shenzhen, and several more cities• This megalopolis has recently overtaken Tokyo as the largest

metropolitan area in the world