   #copyright

Mekong

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Asia

   View of the Mekong before sunset
   Enlarge
   View of the Mekong before sunset

   The Mekong is one of the world's major rivers. It is the 13th-longest
   in the world, and the 10th-largest by volume (discharging 475 km³ of
   water annually). Its estimated length is 4,023 km. It drains an area of
   795,000 km²: From Tibet it runs through China's Yunnan province,
   Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. All except China and
   Myanmar belong to the Mekong River Commission. The extreme seasonal
   variations in flow and the presence of rapids and waterfalls have made
   navigation extremely difficult.

History

   A map of 1715, incorrectly showing the Chao Praya river as a branch of
   the Mekong
   Enlarge
   A map of 1715, incorrectly showing the Chao Praya river as a branch of
   the Mekong
   The members of the French Mekong Expedition of 1866
   Enlarge
   The members of the French Mekong Expedition of 1866

   The difficulty of navigating the river has meant that it has divided,
   rather than united, the people who live near it. The earliest known
   settlements date to 2100 BCE, with Ban Chiang being an excellent
   example of that early Iron age culture. The earliest recorded
   civilisation was the 1st century Indianised-Khmer culture of Funan, in
   the Mekong Delta. Excavations at Oc Eo, near modern An Giang, have
   found coins from as far away as the Roman Empire. This was succeeded by
   the Khmer culture Chenla state by around the 5th century. The Khmer
   empire of Angkor was the last great Indianized state in the region.
   From around the time of the fall of the Khmer empire, the Mekong was
   the frontline between the emergent states of Siam and Tonkin (North
   Vietnam), with Laos and Cambodia, then situated on the coast, torn
   between their influence.

   The first European to encounter the Mekong was the Portuguese Antonio
   de Faria in 1540; a European map of 1563 depicts the river, although
   even by then little was known of the river upstream of the delta.
   European interest was sporadic: the Spaniards and Portuguese mounted
   some missionary and trade expeditions, while the Dutch Gerrit van
   Wuysthoff led an expedition up the river as far as Vientiane in
   1641-42.

   The French took a serious interest in the region in the mid-19th
   century, capturing Saigon, from Vietnamese invaders, in 1861, and
   establishing a protectorate over Cambodia in 1863.

   The first systematic exploration began with the French Mekong
   Expedition led by Ernest Doudard de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, which
   ascended the river from its mouth to Yunnan between 1866 to 1868. Their
   chief finding was that the Mekong had too many falls and rapids to ever
   be useful for navigation. The river's source was located by Pyotr
   Kuzmich Kozlov in 1900.

   From 1893, the French extended their control of the river into Laos,
   establishing French Indochina by the first decade of the 20th century.
   This lasted until the First and Second Indochina Wars ended French and
   American involvement in the region.

   After the Vietnam War, the tensions between the U.S.-backed Thai
   government and the new Communist governments in the other countries
   prevented cooperation on use of the river.

Phenomena

   Balls of light are observable from time to time rising from the water's
   surface in the stretch of the river near Vientiane or Nong Khai. These
   are sometimes referred to as Naga fireballs. The locals attribute the
   phenomenon to Phaya Naga, Mekong Dragons.

   According to researchers the river houses more species of giant fish
   than any world river^ , most notably the Giant Mekong Catfish.

   The low tide level of the river in Cambodia is lower than the high tide
   level out at sea, and the flow of the Mekong inverts with the tides
   throughout its stretch in Vietnam and up to Phnom Penh. The very flat
   Mekong Delta area in Vietnam is thus prone to flooding, especially in
   the provinces of An Giang and Dong Thap (Đồng Tháp), near the Cambodian
   border.

   A Mekong is also a type of alcoholic drink.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
