| back  photo1
photo2
photo3
|
The longest river
of China and of Asia, flowing about 5,551 km (3,450 mi) from Xizang (Tibet) to the East
China Sea. The river has been an important trade and transportation route since ancient
times.  The Yangtze is a great transportation
network through densely populated and economically important areas. Jiangsu province,
largely a deltaic plain of silt deposited by the Yangtze, is one of the chief rice-growing
areas of China.
In 1995 construction began on the massive Three Gorges Dam near Yichang. Scheduled for
completion in 2009, the dam will be about 180 m (about 600 ft) high and about 2.5 km
(about 1.5 mi) wide. The dam will help control flooding and will be the largest
electricity-generating facility in the world. A lake 661 km (411 mi) long will form behind
the dam, forcing the relocation of more than 1 million people and many historical
treasures.
(back)
|
Yangtze River