Mekong river

The Mekong River is a long river in Southeast Asia that flows south—slightly southeast—through six countries—China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam—until it drains into the South China Sea. It has a length of 4880 km, which makes it the eighth longest river in the world, after the Amazon, Nile, Yangtze, Paraná, Mississippi- Missouri, the Yeniséi-Angará, the Amarillo and the Obi-Irtish.

Its basin is 810,000 km² and has an annual discharge of 475 km³. It is the only one of the Asian rivers that runs through six countries and the riparian countries, except China and Burma, belong to the "Mekong River Commission". There is also another association, the "Mekong-Ganges Cooperation", which brings together the countries of Southeast Asia for their regional development.

The extreme seasonal variations in its flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls have made navigation very difficult. It owes its name to the contraction of the Thai words Mae Nam Khong. It also has other names that vary according to the countries it passes through: in China it is called Lancang; in Laos, Ménom Khong; and, in Cambodia, Mékōngk or Tonle.

Geography

The Mekong River rises in the Himalayas and flows into the South China Sea after traveling 4,350 km, making it the longest river in Southeast Asia.

During his first half, which takes place entirely in China, he descends 4,500m. Its upper course runs through virgin areas, with very pronounced waterfalls and rapids that cross deep gorges.

In the second half of your course you only have to cover a 500 m drop. However, rapids (in Cambodia) and waterfalls (in Laos) known as Khone waterfalls are also found in this section. Its flow is higher than any other waterfall or cataract in the world.

The Mekong slows down as it approaches the delta, first splitting into two arms. In Vietnam it is divided into nine arms, which form a large delta of about 40,000 km², with about 3,200 km of navigable channels.

On its journey it covers six countries, in the following sections:

• 2.139 km in China (like Lancang Jiāng);
• 31 km on a border stretch between China and Burma;
• 777.4 km in Laos;
• 234 km on a border crossing between Laos and Myanmar;
• 976,3 km a border crossing between Laos and Thailand;
• 501.7 km in Cambodia;
• 229,8 km in Vietnam, at the Mekong Delta;

Course

The Mekong originates as the Za Qu (Tibetan: རྫ་ཆུ་, Wylie: rDza chu, ZYPY: Za qu; Chinese: 扎曲; pinyin: Zā Qū) and soon became known as the Lancang (simplified Chinese: 澜沧江; traditional Chinese: 瀾滄江; pinyin: Láncāng Jiāng, from the ancient name of the Lao kingdom Lan Xang; the characters can also be understood literally as "turbulent green river"). It is born in the "area of the sources of the three rivers" on the Tibetan Plateau, in the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve. The reserve protects the north-south headwaters of the Yellow (Huang He), Yangtze, and Mekong rivers. The Mekong flows through the Tibet Autonomous Region and then southeast into Yunnan province, and then into the area of three parallel rivers in the Hengduan Mountains, along with the Yangtze to the east and the Salween River (Nu Jiang in Chinese) to the west.

The Mekong then meets the China-Burma border and flows for about 10 kilometers along that border until it reaches the China-Burma-Laos triple junction. From there it flows southwest and forms the border of Burma and Laos for about 100 kilometers until it reaches the tripoint of Burma-Laos and Thailand. This is also the confluence point between the Ruak River (which follows the Thai-Burma border) and the Mekong. The area of this triangle is sometimes called the Golden Triangle, although the term also refers to the much broader area of these three countries that was notorious as a drug-producing region.

From the golden triangle, the Mekong turns southeast to briefly form Laos's border with Thailand.

Khon Pi Long is a series of rapids along a 1.6 kilometer stretch of the Mekong River that divides the provinces of Chiang Rai and Bokeo in Laos. The name of the rapids means 'where the ghost lost its way'. It then turns into the interior of Laos, flowing first east and then south for about 400 kilometers before returning to Laos. Find the border with Thailand. Once again, it marks the border between Laos and Thailand along about 850 km. it flows into eastern Laos, passing through the capital Vientiane and then turning south. A second time, the river leaves the border soon passing through the city of Pakse. It then turns and flows more or less directly south into Cambodia.

In Phnom Penh, the river joins the Tonlé Sap river and lake system on the right bank. When the Mekong is low, the Tonlé Sap is a tributary: water flows from the lake and river into the Mekong. When the Mekong floods its banks, the flow is reversed: the Mekong's waters rise up the Tonle Sap.

Immediately after the Sap River joins the Mekong at Phnom Penh, the Bassac River branches off the right (west) bank. The Bassac River is the first and main distributor of the Mekong. It is the beginning of the Mekong Delta. The two rivers, the Bassac to the west and the Mekong to the east, enter Vietnam soon after. In Vietnam, the Bassac is called the Hậu River (Sông Hậu or Hậu Giang); the main and eastern branch of the Mekong is called the Tiền or Tiền Giang River. In Vietnam, the distributors of the eastern (main, Mekong) branch are the Mỹ Tho River, Ba Lai River, Hàm Luông River, and Cổ Chiên River.

Wealth

The Mekong is a pillar of wealth for the Indochinese peninsula, supporting around 100 million people. Every year 1,300,000 t of fish are caught in its waters. It is estimated that it is home to some 1,200 species of fish, some of which are farmed. These include the Siamese mud carp (Henicorhynchus siamensis), and the panga (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus), a species with a production of one million tons per year. It is a very cheap white fish in the European markets. Other species include the Mekong catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) and the beluga Irrawaddy river dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), both of which exceed two meters in length.

Its wealth is the basis of other wealth, agriculture, rice being its main product. Its rice fields, enriched by river silt, make it possible to obtain three rice crops a year. In fact, Vietnam is the second world producer of this cereal.

Mekong in southern Laos.

The river is also rich in human activity. Along its tracks, in the 19th century, the French tried to find a navigable route upriver to China. His hopes were dashed when he ran into the Kratié rapids. Before reaching these rapids, all kinds of vessels pass through the river, from passenger ferries to merchandise ships.

On the banks of this impressive river, there are very representative cities, such as the capital of Laos, Vientiane, famous for its canals, pagodas and houses built on stilts. For more than a thousand years it has been a city noted for its religious, commercial and political activities.

Another historically important city is Luang Prabang, which was the capital of the Thai-Lao state and later the capital of the Kingdom of Laos until French colonial times. The capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, also lies on the course of the Mekong.

Threats

The main threats to the Mekong River are the construction of huge dams, the fishing techniques used, and the deforestation of large areas of its basin.