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The Mekong is a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia. It is the world's 12th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia.

Its estimated length is 4,350 km (2,703 mi), and it drains an area of 795,000 km2 (307,000 sq mi), discharging 475 km3(114 cu mi) of water annually. From the Tibetan Plateau this river runs through China's Yunnan province, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia andVietnam. In 1995, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam established the Mekong River Commission to assist in the management and coordinated use of the Mekong's resources. In 1996 China and Burma (Myanmar) became "dialogue partners" of the MRC and the six countries now work together within a cooperative framework. The extreme seasonal variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls in this river have made navigation difficult. The river is a major trading route linking Chinas southwestern province of Yunnan to Laos, Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand to the south, an important trade route between western China and Southeast Asia.

In English the river is called "the Mekong River", derived from "Mae Nam Khong" or "Tonle Mekong", a term of both Thai, Lao and Khmer (Cambodia) origin. In Khmer language "Mae" meaning "Big, Mother, Boss or Large" and "Kong" is a short word of "Kongkea" and it means "Water". In the Lao-Khmer-Thai toponymy, all great rivers are considered "mother rivers" signalled by the prefix "mae", meaning "mother", and "nam" for water. In the Mekong's case, Mae Nam Khong means Khong, The Mother of Water. "Khong" or "Kongkea" is derived from the Sanskrit "Ganga", meaning "Sacred Water" or the Ganges. Many Northern Thai and Laos locals refer to it as the "River Khong". Such is the case with the Mae Nam Ping in Chiang Mai which is known as the "Ping River". The Beung Tonle Sap in Cambodia is a similar example where Beung translates as "Lake",Tonle translates as "Great flowing lake or river" and Sap translates as "Freshwater, tasteless, flavourless and unsalted", making the Tonle Sap River or "Beung Tonle Sap River" an unnecessary repetition of what is in fact the "Sap River Lake".

The Mekong rises in the "Three Rivers Area" on the Tibetan Plateau in the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve as the Lancang, together with the Yangtze and Yellow (Huang He) Rivers. It flows southwest through Yunnan Province, and through the Three Parallel Rivers Area in the Hengduan Mountains, along with the Salween River (Nujiang in Chinese) and the Yangtze. After leaving China, it flows southwest and forms the border of Burma (Myanmar) and Laos for about 100 kilometres (62 mi) then turns southeast to briefly form the border of Laoswith Thailand. The Mekong then flows east and south into Laos for some 400 kilometres (250 mi) and defines the Laos-Thailand border again for some 850 kilometres (530 mi) as it flows first east, passing in front of the capital of Laos, Vientiane, then turns south through central Southeast Asia. The river leaves the border and flows into Laos shortly before passing the city of Pakse. Thereafter, it runs more or less directly south, crossing into Cambodia.

At Phnom Penh the river is joined on the right bank by the river and lake system the Tonle Sap. When the Mekong is low, the Tonle Sap is a tributary; water flows from the lake and river into the Mekong. When the Mekong floods, the flow reverses; the floodwaters of the Mekong flow up the Tonle Sap. Immediately after the Sap River joins the Mekong by Phnom Penh, the Bassac River branches off the right (south) bank. The Bassac River is the first and main distributary of the Mekong; thus, this is the beginning of the Mekong Delta. The two rivers, the Bassac to the south and the Mekong to the north, enter Vietnam very soon after this. In Vietnam, the Bassac is called the Hu River (Sng Hu or Hu Giang); the main, northern, branch of the Mekong is called the Sng Tin or Tin Giang. In Vietnam, distributaries of the northern branch include the sng (river) M Tho, the sng Ba Lai, the sng Hm Lung, and the sng C Chin.

Keynie Mae M. Orial


II-Sampaguita Mrs. Susan San Andres /Mr. Allen Casing

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