Mekong

The Mekong is one of the major rivers (4909 km long) of Asia, running through China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. All except China belong to the Mekong River Commission[?].

Its end is a delta.

Major cities along the Mekong include: Vientiane, Laos and Phnom Penh.

The Mekong is the last major undammed river in Asia. There are projects now underway to change that, which will radically alter the river's ecology and fishing habitat. Political conflict is expected over this issue as China's dams are put into place first, and are expected to seriously harm fishing downstream.

The location of its source, and therefore its exact length, has been a challenge for many years. This is due to the existence of several tributaries in a difficult to reach mountainous environment. Chinese researchers now believe that the source is located in the Jifu Mountains in Zaduo County, Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture of northwest China's Qinghai Province, which is some 5,200 meters above sea level.

The 2,198 km section which passes through China, is called the Lancang River (澜沧江; pinyin lan2cang1jiang1). Once it flows out of China and continues to flow 2,711 km through Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, the river is called the Mekong.

External link

• Locating the source of the Mekong (http://www.shangri-la-river-expeditions.com/1stdes/mekong/mekongsource/TUA2001)