Salween River - Geography

Geography

The Salween rises at 5,450 metres (17,880 ft) in the Qinghai Mountains on the Tibetan Plateau, near the headwaters of the Mekong and Yangtze rivers. It initially flows west but then very shortly makes a great bend to the east, entering the Chinese province of Yunnan and the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Area, a World Heritage Site. Here, the Salween—called the Nu or Nujiang—has been proposed for a series of enormous dams that would theoretically generate more power than Three Gorges Dam, currently the world's largest hydroelectric station. It then makes a wide southward arc between the Tibetan and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateaus, dropping into what is often known as the "Grand Canyon of the East" or "China's Grand Canyon", a 4,000-metre (13,000 ft)-deep gorge that takes it past the Chinese border into northeastern Burma through Shan State and Kayah State,

A sharp bend west and another south takes the Salween between the great mountain ranges of eastern Burma, the Daen Lao Range, a subrange of the Shan Hills, followed by the Dawna Hills in the east and the Karen Hills in the west, to join the Moei River from the east as it approaches Thailand, where it is called the Salawin. Forming the Burma-Thailand boundary for about 120 kilometres (75 mi), the river receives Pai River also from the left and flows through Salawin National Park before re-entering Burma, passing through Karen State and Mon State. The river finally breaks out of its gorge about 250 kilometres (160 mi) from the mouth, and slows down dramatically as it courses through a series of agricultural valleys. About 89 kilometres (55 mi) from the mouth the river finally widens and deepens enough to become navigable for large watercraft. In quick succession it receives Dontham River from the right and Gyaing River from the left, from where the river turns west, flowing under Thanlwin Bridge and widening into a small river delta at Mawlamyaing (formerly Moeimein). This region is the most heavily developed on the river and contains most of the basin's population.

Near the mouth the river has an average annual discharge of 1,659 cubic metres per second (58,600 cu ft/s), although this varies widely. The river's base flow is provided by Tibetan glaciers, although it swells dramatically by the time it reaches the lowlands near the coast, especially in monsoon season.