Rivers of China on a map with names. What are the major rivers and lakes in China? Land resources and minerals

Yangtze is longest river in China and throughout the Eurasian continent. Its length is about six thousand kilometers, which can allow it to compete with such big rivers, like the Nile and the Amazon. The source of the river is in the center of the Tibetan plateau.

The river most likely got its name from an ancient ferry crossing, the name of which was the Yangtze. This was usually the first word that merchants from Europe who arrived here would hear, so the name stuck to the river. However, in China, the name Yangtze has long been outdated, and now only poets use this name in their poems and poems. And the current name of the river is Chang Jiang, and it is translated as “ long river».

Based on the fact that Yangtze River very long then local residents in different sections of it they called it differently, because times were ancient and there were no special movements of peoples, so everyone called their section of the river as they saw fit and accepted it as true. For example, in its upper reaches the river was called Dangku (which means swamp river). Somewhat further downstream, the locals gave the river the name Tuotuo, and even further down, Tongtian (this is more of a philosophical name, which means a river that passes through the sky).

And there are a lot of similar names. And this is no coincidence. After all, the river comes out of Himalayan ice, at an altitude of more than five thousand meters above sea level, then it travels a relatively short distance and reaches a mark of thousands of meters above sea level. Naturally, such changes and features could not be ignored by the residents who settled along the banks of the river, and they gave this great river their names.

Flowing in a stormy current mountains, Yangtze It is very well fed by its tributaries, after which its channel widens noticeably. And reaching the borders of the Yangtze mountain range, he encounters the greatest hydraulic structure in the world - the dam, which is called “Sanxia”. It must be said that the Chinese are using the potential of this river, as they say, to the fullest. A number of dams have been built here, and several more are in the planning and development stage.

A huge number of rivers. The rivers of China can be large and small, calm and quite stormy, short and long. In a word, they are as different as China itself.

Yangtze

The largest river in China, with a total length of 6,300 kilometers, second only to the Amazon and the Nile in this indicator. It originates in the Geladandong Mountains and makes its way through eleven provinces. The landscapes of the river are constantly changing, for which locals call it the “river of contrasts.”

The Yangtze is navigable along almost its entire length and is the country's most convenient waterway. Moreover, it conventionally divides China into two parts: northern and southern. The country's largest cities are located on the banks of the river: Nanjing; Wuhan; Chongqing; .

Zhujiang

The Pearl River (also called the Pearl River) passes through eight provinces. This unusual name gave the river an island located on it. The water polished its shores so thoroughly that they became surprisingly smooth and thus resemble the surface of a pearl.

The Pearl River is of particular interest to visitors to the country. It is extraordinarily beautiful at night, when the lights turn on on the numerous bridges connecting its banks. The banks of the river surprise with a large number of attractions located here.

Yellow River

This is the second largest river in the country (5464 kilometers), originating on the Tibetan Plateau. The Yellow River is translated as “Yellow River” because of the special color of its water. IN summer time there is a huge amount of silt in its waters. It is during this period that the river is especially high in water and often overflows its banks.

Liaohe

Liaohe is a large river in northeast China. The very first mentions of it are dated 475-221. BC. The river has two sources at once. One is located in the east, the other in the west.

Heilongjiang

Heilongjiang lies along the border between the territory and China. And if for the Chinese this river is called Heilongjiang, then for us it is our native Amur. The river bends the territory of China from the east and flows into the waters Sea of ​​Okhotsk. The total length of the Heilongjiang is 4,370 kilometers and it is the eleventh longest river on the planet.

The Heilongjiang riverbed passes through amazingly picturesque places. If you look at it from a bird's eye view, it surprisingly resembles a black dragon. Which, in fact, is reflected in its name.

Hangang

The Hangang (or Han Shui River) is one of the powerful tributaries of the Yangtze, 1532 kilometers long. According to historians, it was she who gave the name to the kingdom of Han and one of the royal dynasties - also Han.

The basins of more than one and a half thousand rivers exceed 1000 square meters. km. The average annual flow of China's rivers is about 2.7 trillion cubic meters, ranking sixth in the world after Brazil, Russia, Canada, the United States and Indonesia. More famous rivers in China: Yangtze, Yellow River, Heilongjiang, Yalutsangpo, Zhujiang, Huihe, etc. The Tarim River in Xinjiang is the longest of China's inland rivers, with a length of 2,100 km.

Main rivers

The Yangtze is the largest river in China, originating in snowy mountains Geladandong mountain system The Tangla flows through 11 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and flows into the East China Sea, its total length is 6,300 km, its length ranks 3rd in the world and 1st in Asia. The Yangtze has many tributaries, the main ones being: Yalongjiang, Minjiang, Jialingjiang, Hanjiang, Wujiang, Xiangjiang, Ganjiang, etc. Pool area - 1.8 million square meters. km, or 18.8% of the total area of ​​China. The Yangtze is an important shipping route in China. On the section of the Yangtze River from Fengjie County, Chongqing City to Yichang, Hubei Province, the Sanxia Canyon is located 193 km long. The construction of the famous Sanxia hydroelectric complex began in 1994 and was completed in 2009, which will be able to curb rare floods, and the annual electricity production will be 84.7 billion kWh, the hydroelectric complex will also improve the fairway, ensure the provision of water for cities and towns on average and the lower reaches of the river, for irrigation of field lands.

The Yellow River is the second largest river in China, originating in the northern spurs of the Bayangla Mountains in Qinghai Province and flowing through nine provinces and autonomous regions, emptying into the Bohai Sea. The length of the Yellow River is 5464 km, its basin covers an area of ​​more than 750 thousand square meters. km. The number of its main tributaries is more than 40. The main ones are the Fenhe and Weihe. The soil of the Loess Plateau, through which the Yellow River flows, contains a lot of calcium carbonate, which is very hard in dry form, but as soon as it rains, it instantly turns into liquid and is easily washed off with water. A large number of silt and sand along with water fall into the Yellow River, turning it into a river with the highest silt content in the world, as a result, the height of the Yellow River bed rises by 10 cm annually. upper reaches On the Yellow River, many hydroelectric complexes have already been built, such as Longyangxia, Liujiaxia, Qingtongxia.

The Heilongjiang flows through the northern part of the country, the border river between China and Russia, its basin covers an area of ​​more than 900 thousand square meters. km, the length of the river within China is 3420 km.

The Yalutsangpo takes its sources from the Kimayangzom glacier in the northern spurs of the Himalayas in Zhongba County, the length of the river within China is 2057 km, the basin area of ​​which is 240,480 square meters. km, average height above sea level of the basin - about 4500 m, is the river with the highest altitude in the world above sea level.

The Zhujiang is the largest river in Southern China, with a total length of 2,214 km and a basin area of ​​453.69 thousand square meters. km, by water resources it ranks second in China, second only to the Yangtze.

Huihe: basin area - 269.238 thousand square meters. km, total length - 1000 km.

Songhuajiang: basin area - 557.18 thousand square meters. km, total length - 2308 km.

Liaohe: basin area - 228.96 thousand square meters. km, total length - 1390 km.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was dug in the 5th century BC. e., leads from Beijing to Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. It stretches from north to south for 1800 km, flows through the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and connects the Haihe, Yellow River, Huaihe, Yangtze and Qiantangjiang rivers, making it the earliest and longest artificial canal in the world .

Lakes

China is rich in lakes, with 2,800 lakes measuring more than 1 square kilometer. km each and 130 lakes with an area of ​​more than 100 km each. In addition, there are also many artificial lakes and reservoirs scattered throughout the country. These lakes can be divided into fresh and salty. Large lakes scattered mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The largest freshwater lake in China is Poyang Lake, the largest salt water lake is Qinghaihu.

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China is characterized by a very uneven distribution of rivers. If the east of the country is sufficiently watered, and there is an extensive hydrographic network and numerous rivers, then the west experiences a significant water deficit, the rivers have internal flow and are often watered only during the rainy season.

Numerous rivers flow in the east of the country, including the largest rivers in Asia - the Yellow River, the Yangtze, and the Xijiang. But even they are characterized by an uneven distribution of runoff throughout the year: its maximum falls on summer period monsoon rains. At this time, floods often cause catastrophic flooding. Floods are especially intense on the Yellow River and the rivers of Northern and Northeastern China. During the dry period, the flow decreases sharply. At this time, the rivers are fed by groundwater. In the third quarter of the twentieth century, the construction of large hydraulic structures began in China. Their creation had a dual purpose - generating electricity and creating reservoirs to regulate natural flow and accumulate water reserves for irrigating fields.

In the western part of China there are very few rivers, and in large areas they are completely absent. In most cases, rivers have low water and are quickly lost in the sand or flow into drainless depressions. The so-called saury rivers are often found here - riverbeds that do not have a permanent watercourse. They are filled with water only for a few hours after rains. Only those rivers that receive snow in the mountains have a constant flow. Here, in the south and east of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the great rivers of Asia originate: the Yellow River, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Brahmaputra, Indus, flowing into the Pacific and Indian Ocean s.

China's rivers are divided into two large groups: rivers of internal flow and external flow. External drainage rivers flow into the sea or ocean. Their total drainage area is approximately 64% of the country's territory, and the flow volume reaches 96%, with more in the south. The main direction of flow of rivers in the basin Pacific Ocean– from west to east. These include the Yellow River, Yangtze, Heilongjiang (Amur), Zhujiang (Xijiang), Liaohe, Haihe, Huaihe, etc. The Yalutsangpo River carries its waters to the Indian Ocean. It is famous for the fact that its bed passes through the largest canyon in the world, the length of which is 504.6 km and the depth is 6009 m. To the Northern Basin Arctic Ocean refers to Ertsis (Irtysh), rushing through the XUAR to the north.

Inland rivers flow into lakes and are lost in salt marshes and deserts. Their drainage area makes up only 36% of the country's territory. The largest of them is the Tarim, which flows through the territory of the XUAR.

The largest river in China is Yangtze(Yangzijiang, Changjiang, Blue River), which is approximately 6300 km long. It is the third largest river in the world after the Nile and the Amazon, and the longest and most abundant river in Eurasia. Its source is located on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, at an altitude of more than 5500 m above sea level. The area of ​​the Yangtze basin is 1807199 square meters. km, this is 18.8% of the country's area. The river is high-water: its flow reaches 37.7% of the total flow of rivers in China. Starting in the mountains, it passes through the deepest gorges with rapids and waterfalls of the Sino-Tibetan Mountains, in the middle reaches it crosses the southern part of the Sichuan Basin, one of the breadbaskets of China, and downstream it breaks through three steep-walled gorges - the “Three Gate Gorge”, Sanmenxia, famous for its beauty.

In its lower reaches, the river flows through Jianghai and the southern part of the Great Chinese Plain. The width of the channel here reaches 2 km or more; the river is often divided into branches. In the middle and lower reaches, the climate is warm and humid, with fairly heavy rainfall, fertile soils. Formed here ideal conditions for maintaining Agriculture. It is no coincidence that this is the main breadbasket of the country, “a land rich in rice and fish.” Since ancient times, silk weaving production and trade have also been developed here. Shanghai is also located here. The largest city China.

The Yangtze flows into the East China Sea, the delta area is approximately 80 thousand square meters. km. The river has a monsoon regime with summer floods, at which time the water level rises to 10 or more meters above the plain. Despite the fact that Dongting and Poyang acted as natural reservoirs, receiving a significant part of the flood waters, until the mid-twentieth century there were often devastating floods here, which even dams with a total length of 2.7 thousand km could not save from.

As V.V. Malyavin notes, “Between 1911 and 1932, 56 floods were recorded here, of which 42 were caused by cyclones, 9 by typhoons and 5 by severe thunderstorms. The Yangtze flood of 1931 affected an area of ​​25 million people and caused the death of 140,000. Droughts often occurred at the same time as floods on the Yangtze in Northern China.” Only after the creation of a number of hydraulic structures was it possible to pacify the temper of the river. Currently, more than 300 million inhabitants live in this area.

Europeans gave the Yangtze the name "Blue River", however, in reality, the water in the river is yellow due to the high content of suspended matter in the water. Over the course of a year, the river carries out 280-300 million tons of sediment, which settles in the riverbed, constantly increasing it. The Yangtze is the main shipping route of the country, the “golden transport artery”. Navigation is possible almost to the foot of the Sino-Tibetan mountains, 2850 km inland, for sea ​​vessels– to Wuhan. Currently, the river's waters are also used for irrigation, mainly for rice fields.

The second largest river in China is Yellow River, which translates to “Yellow River.” The color of the water is really yellow due to the abundance of loess. Its length is 5464 km (in different sources different figures are given), the area of ​​the pool is 752,443 sq. km. It originates in the east of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, at an altitude of more than 4000 m. In the upper reaches, it crosses lakes Orin-Nur and Dzharin-Nur, passes through the spurs of Kunlun and Nanshan. In the middle course, the river passes the Ordos plateau and the Loess plateau, where it makes a large bend. It then passes through the Dragon Gate Gorge in the Shanxi Mountains. The last 700 km of the river follows the Great Chinese Plain. In total, on its way it crosses Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Shandong and flows into the Bohai Bay (Bohaiwan) Yellow Sea, forming a delta.

Like the Yangtze, the Yellow River has a monsoon regime and summer floods. At this time, on the plains the water rises by 4-5 m, and in the mountains - up to 15-20 m. The waters intensively erode the Loess Plateau and the Shanxi Mountains - the annual removal is more than 1300 million tons of suspended sediment, according to this indicator the river takes first place in the world. Thanks to this, every year the river delta moves towards the sea, and in some areas at a speed of up to 5 km per year.

In the lower reaches, the river intensively deposits sediment, which led to the riverbed exceeding the level of the surrounding area by 3-10 m. As a result, floods often occurred here, in the northern provinces their frequency reached two out of three years. To protect against floods, the Yellow River and its tributaries were protected by dams, the length of which is currently about 5 thousand km. Their breakthroughs caused devastating floods and movement of the riverbed over a distance of up to 800 km. Thus, in certain periods, the Yellow River shifted north to the river. Haihe, in the south - to Huaihe, and flowed into the Yellow Sea north or south of the Shandong Peninsula.

Fertile fields and pastures are concentrated in the Yellow River basin. The subsoil contains mineral deposits. The water is used for irrigation. A whole system of hydraulic structures has been created on the river to protect against floods. For convenience, the Yellow River is connected by a canal to the river. Huaihe. Navigation is possible in certain sections of the Great Chinese Plain. However, currently, due to a number of environmental problems The river becomes shallow for most of the year, and navigation is only possible for small vessels. The Yellow River is traditionally considered the cradle of the Chinese nation, and the origins of ancient Chinese culture can be traced from here. Since ancient times, the river valley has been densely populated, as a result of which the natural landscapes here have been replaced by anthropogenic ones.

Heilongjiang(Amur, Mongolian Khara-Muren) flows in northern China. The total length of the river is 4440 km, if we count from the source of the Argun, and 2824 km from the confluence of the river. Shilka and Argun. It flows into the Amur Estuary of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. Up to 41 thousand tons of sediment pass along the river bed per day. The pool area is 1855 thousand square meters. km. The river runs through China for 3,101 km. The border between China and the Russian Federation runs along the Amur River. The spring flood is weakly expressed due to the lack of snow in winters, and merges with the flood caused by rains. Freeze up in the upper reaches - from early November to early May, in the lower reaches - from late November to late April. The Amur is navigable along its entire length and is an important waterway.

River Huaihe located between the Yellow River and the Yangtze and, like them, flows along the Great Chinese Plain. Its length is 813 km, its drainage area is 187 thousand square meters. km. Like all rivers of the plain, the Huaihe is characterized by summer floods caused by the monsoon. Since the waters carry a lot of suspended particles, the river beds are continuously rising, and to date, in a number of places, they are higher than the adjacent plain. Despite the construction of dams along the riverbed, the threat of flooding persisted until the recent past. Like the Yellow River and the Yangtze, the Huaihe also repeatedly changed its course after catastrophic floods and flowed either into the Yellow River, then into the Yangtze, or into the Yellow Sea. After the construction of large irrigation structures in the 50-60s. XX century, the threat of floods was largely eliminated. Currently, through a system of lakes and canals, most of the flow flows into the Yangtze. The river is navigable in its lower reaches, and a significant amount of water is used for irrigation. Connected by the Grand Canal to the Yangtze and Yellow River.

Xijiang- the largest and most deep river Southern China, its length is 2130 km, the basin area is about 437 thousand square meters. km. In its lower reaches it is called Zhujiang (the left branch of the Xijiang River delta below the confluence with the Beijiang River). Zhujiang means "Pearl River" because pearl fishing has been common here for many centuries. The river originates in the Yunnan Plateau, flows most of the way in gorges along the southern foot of the Nanling Mountains and flows into the South China Sea, where it forms a delta (Zhujiangkou, Canton Bay), common with the Beijiang and Dongjiang rivers. The maximum flow of the river is observed in the summer, seasonal fluctuations in the level reach 15-20 m. Floods are frequent, for protection against which over 2 thousand km of protective dams have been built. Currently used for irrigation. Rich in fish. Shipping to Wuzhou. Located in the delta sea ​​port Guangzhou (Canton).

Lancangjiang- 2153 km long, basin area 161430 sq. km. The river carries its waters through Qinghai, Tibet, Yunnan and flows into the South China Sea.

Tarim- the largest river of internal flow, is formed as a result of the confluence of the Yarkand, Aksu and Khotan rivers, originating in the Kunlun, Karakorum, Tien Shan and Pamir mountains. The length from the source of Yarkand is 2030 km, which makes the Tarim the longest river in Central Asia. The pool area is about 1 million square meters. km. In the middle and lower reaches it flows within the Tarim Basin, most of which is occupied by the Taklamakan Desert. The river forms several chaotic channels, which often change their position, as well as a complex delta, common with the Konchedarya River. Since Tarim alternately feeds two lakes - Lop Nor and Karaburankol, they constantly change their locations and outlines. The Tarim's flow is gradually lost to irrigation and evaporation; in some years the river does not even reach the lakes. In the 1st millennium AD The route of the Great Silk Road ran along Tarim.

Great Canal of China(Dayunhe) is one of the most famous in the world. It connects water systems Haihe, Yellow River, Huaihe, Yangtze, Qiantanjiang. Its length is 1801 km. In the north, starting in the Beijing area, in the south it reaches Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province. Throughout its length it includes natural waterways– the rivers Baihe, Weihe, Syshui, etc., as well as a number of lakes. The canal consists of several sections: the southern one was built in the 7th century, the northernmost - in the 13th century, part of the central one (from Huaiyin to Jiangdu) - along the ancient Hangou canal of the 6th-5th centuries. BC. Reconstructed several times. This is the longest and most ancient artificial canal.

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One of the attractions of China is its rivers. If you add up the lengths of all, then total it will be 220 thousand km.

The country's waterways form internal and external systems. External rivers flow into the sea or have access to the ocean. Inland rivers there are few, and they are located at a significant distance from each other, flow into lakes or are lost in swamps and deserts. In many parts of China, rivers have become shallow.

Among the abundance of rivers, there are those that are known throughout the world and are especially loved by tourists - the Yellow River, the Yangtze, the Zhujiang.

Yellow River

This is one of the largest rivers in Asia. Translated into Russian it means “Yellow River”. Moreover, its waters are actually yellow. Sand gives it this color. It, in turn, flows into the Yellow Sea. It is believed that it was on the banks of this river that the Chinese ethnic group began its history and formation. That is why the Yellow River of China is rich in tourism resources; the entire history of the great Chinese people is reflected on its banks. This is why river tours offered by numerous travel agencies, quite popular. The Yellow River is included in the list of twelve national tourist routes.

On the banks of the river you can meet peoples who have managed to preserve their original and colorful customs. There are quite a lot of architectural, antique and cultural monuments there. There is always something to see here. These are statues of warriors and horses in the tomb of Qin Shihuang, Buddhist relics in Shanxi province, the legendary Shaolin school of wushu and much more. The unique landscapes amaze with their beauty.

Yangtze

This river is also called the Blue River. Coming to the Celestial Empire, you probably expect to see clean and clear waters. But that's not true. In fact, the Yangtze is quite muddy, and it most likely got its name in opposition to the Yellow River. Another common name is “Long River”, or Changjiang. And here it is - pure truth because this water artery is one of the longest and deepest in Eurasia. Its length is 6 thousand km, and in some places it reaches a width of 2.5 km!

China's Blue River has many attractions and beauties. For example, its shores are formed mainly by mountains covered with green vegetation and steep gorges. The upper Tiger Leaping Gorge is the deepest in the world. The height of the stone walls is 2 thousand meters, and the height of the mountains towering above it reaches 4 thousand meters! Among the man-made “miracles” are the dam and hydroelectric power station, which are the largest in the world.

Zhujiang

The Pearl River of China also got its name not because there are pearls in it, but because of the island that lies in the middle of the riverbed. This is a rock that has been polished by nature over time to an almost brilliant shine, making it resemble a pearl. The island is called the Sea Pearl. Zhujiang ranks third in the "most long rivers China" with a result of 2129 km.

One of the most favorite entertainment among tourists is a cruise on night river in Guangzhou. Tourists are presented with a magnificent picture: the bright lights of the city are reflected in the dark jade waters. Everything looks quite romantic!