Yangtze

Yangtze River
长江
Dusk on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (Three Gorges) 2002
Map of the Yangtze River drainage basin
Native nameCháng Jiāng (Chinese)
Location
CountryChina
ProvincesQinghai, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu
MunicipalitiesChongqing and Shanghai
Autonomous regionTibet
CitiesLuzhou, Chongqing, Yichang, Jingzhou, Yueyang, Changsha, Wuhan, Jiujiang, Anqing, Tongling, Wuhu, Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Yangzhou, Nantong, Shanghai
Physical characteristics
SourceDam Qu (Jari Hill)
 • locationTanggula Mountains, Qinghai
 • coordinates32°36′14″N 94°30′44″E / 32.60389°N 94.51222°E / 32.60389; 94.51222
 • elevation5,170 m (16,960 ft)
2nd sourceUlan Moron
 • coordinates33°23′40″N 90°53′46″E / 33.39444°N 90.89611°E / 33.39444; 90.89611
3rd sourceChuma'er River
 • coordinates35°27′19″N 90°55′50″E / 35.45528°N 90.93056°E / 35.45528; 90.93056
4th sourceMuluwusu River
 • coordinates33°22′13″N 91°10′29″E / 33.37028°N 91.17472°E / 33.37028; 91.17472
5th sourceBi Qu
 • coordinates33°16′58″N 91°23′29″E / 33.28278°N 91.39139°E / 33.28278; 91.39139
MouthEast China Sea
 • location
Shanghai and Jiangsu
 • coordinates
31°23′37″N 121°58′59″E / 31.39361°N 121.98306°E / 31.39361; 121.98306
Length6,300 km (3,900 mi)[1]
Basin size1,808,500 km2 (698,300 sq mi)[2]
Discharge 
 • average30,146 m3/s (1,064,600 cu ft/s)[3]
 • minimum2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s)
 • maximum110,000 m3/s (3,900,000 cu ft/s)[4][5]
Discharge 
 • locationDatong hydrometric station, Anhui (Uppermost boundary of the ocean tide)
 • average(Period: 1980–2020)905.7 km3/a (28,700 m3/s)[6] 30,708 m3/s (1,084,400 cu ft/s) (2019–2020)[7]
Discharge 
 • locationWuhan (Hankou)
 • average(Period: 1980–2020)711.1 km3/a (22,530 m3/s)[6]
Discharge 
 • locationYichang (Three Gorges Dam)
 • average(Period: 1980–2020)428.7 km3/a (13,580 m3/s)[6]
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftYalong, Min, Tuo, Jialing, Han
 • rightWu, Yuan, Zi, Xiang, Gan, Huangpu
Map
Chang Jiang
"Yangtze River (Cháng jiāng)" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese长江
Traditional Chinese長江
Literal meaning"Long River"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinCháng Jiāng
Wade–GilesCh'ang2 Chiang1
IPA[ʈʂʰǎŋ tɕjáŋ]
Wu
RomanizationZan Kaon
Xiang
IPAdɒŋ13kiɒŋ44
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationChèuhng Gōng
JyutpingCoeng4 Gong1
IPA[tsʰœŋ˩ kɔŋ˥]
Southern Min
Tâi-lôTiông Kang
Middle Chinese
Middle Chineseɖjang kæwng
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*Cə-[N]-traŋ kˤroŋ
Yangtze River
Simplified Chinese扬子江
Traditional Chinese揚子江
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYángzǐ Jiāng
Wade–GilesYang-tzu Chiang
IPA[jǎŋtsì tɕjáŋ]
Wu
RomanizationYang Tse Kaon
Xiang
IPAjɒŋ13tsɯ31kiɒŋ44
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingJoeng4-zi2 Gong1
Tibetan name
Tibetanའབྲི་ཆུ་
Transcriptions
Wylie'Bri Chu
THLDri Chu

Yangtze or Yangzi (English: /ˈjæŋtsi/ or /ˈjɑːŋtsi/ simplified Chinese: 长江; traditional Chinese: 長江; pinyin: Cháng Jiāng; lit. 'long river') is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows 6,300 km (3,915 mi) in a generally easterly direction to the East China Sea.[8] It is the fifth-largest primary river by discharge volume in the world. Its drainage basin comprises one-fifth of the land area of China, and is home to nearly one-third of the country's population.[9]

The Yangtze has played a major role in the history, culture, and economy of China. For thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking, and war. The Yangtze Delta generates as much as 20% of China's GDP, and the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world that is in use.[10][11] In mid-2014, the Chinese government announced it was building a multi-tier transport network, comprising railways, roads and airports to create a new economic belt alongside the river.[12]

The Yangtze flows through a wide array of ecosystems and is habitat to several endemic and threatened species, including the Chinese alligator, the narrow-ridged finless porpoise, and also was the home of the now extinct Yangtze river dolphin (or baiji) and Chinese paddlefish, as well as the Yangtze sturgeon, which is extinct in the wild. In recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, plastic pollution,[13] agricultural runoff, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves. A stretch of the upstream Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

  1. ^ Yangtze River at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  2. ^ Zhang Zengxin; Tao Hui; Zhang Qiang; Zhang Jinchi; Forher, Nicola; Hörmann, Georg (2009). "Moisture budget variations in the Yangtze River Basin, China, and possible associations with large-scale circulation". Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment. 24 (5): 579–589. doi:10.1007/s00477-009-0338-7. S2CID 122626377.
  3. ^ "Main Rivers". National Conditions. China.org.cn. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  4. ^ "Flood types on the Yangtze River". probeinternational.org. September 12, 2002. Archived from the original on January 21, 2010.
  5. ^ "Three Gorges Says Yangtze River Flow Surpasses 1998". Bloomberg Businessweek. July 20, 2010. Archived from the original on July 23, 2010. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c Yunping, Yang; Mingjin, Zhang; Jinhai, Zheng; Lingling, Zhu (2023). "Sediment sink-source transitions in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River estuary". Frontiers in Marine Science. 10. doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1201533.
  7. ^ Zhu, Ze-Nan; Zhu, Xiao-Hua; Zhang, Chuanzheng; Chen, Minmo; Zheng, Hua; Zhang, Zhensheng; Zhong, Jiwen; Wei, Lixin; Li, Qiang; Wang, Hua; Li, Shuming; Kaneko, Arata (2021). "Monitoring of Yangtze River Discharge at Datong Hydrometric Station Using Acoustic Tomography Technology". Frontiers in Earth Science. 9: 855. Bibcode:2021FrEaS...9..855Z. doi:10.3389/feart.2021.723123.
  8. ^ "Yangtze River". Britannica. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
  9. ^ quote="Today, the Yangtze region is home to more than 400 million people, or nearly one-third of China's population. Some of China's largest cities" Archived December 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine [1][permanent dead link]. Retrieved September 10, 2010. (in Chinese)
  10. ^ "Three Gorges Dam, China: Image of the Day". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. June 8, 2009. Archived from the original on October 16, 2009. Retrieved November 3, 2009.
  11. ^ International Rivers, Three Gorges Dam profile Archived April 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 3, 2009
  12. ^ "New stimulus measures by China to boost economic growth". Beijing Bulletin. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 12, 2014.
  13. ^ "90 percent of ocean plastic waste comes from Asia and Africa • Earth.com". Earth.com. Archived from the original on January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.