Yellow River
The Yellow River (simplified Chinese: 黄河; traditional Chinese: 黃河; pinyin: Huáng Hé) is the second-longest river in China,[2] after the Yangtze; with an estimated length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi) it is the sixth-longest river system on Earth.[3] Originating at an elevation above 15,000 feet (4,600 metres)[4] in the Bayan Har Mountains, it empties into the Bohai Sea. The Yellow River basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization.[5][6] Its yellow sediments are carried downstream from the Loess Plateau.[7] The river experiences frequent devastating floods and course changes produced by the continual elevation of the river bed, sometimes above the level of its surrounding farm fields.
For other Yellow Rivers, see Yellow River (disambiguation).Etymology[edit]
When the Yellow River was still somewhat clear, it was simply referred to as 'the river' (河, Old Chinese: *gâi).[8] Observations made at the Yumenkou gorge, where the river leaves the modern Loess Plateau, indicated the river changed to muddy sometime between 367 BC and 165 AD, according to chronicles' records.[9] The alternative names 'murky river' (濁河, *drôk-gâi) and '(muddy) yellow river' (黃河, *gwâŋ-gâi)[8] were attested in 145 BC[10][11] and in 429 AD respectively.[a] The name Yellow River edges out Murky River by the end of Tang dynasty, for unclear reasons.[b]
In the Shaanxi loess plateau, it is referred to as 'river, my lord' (老爺河, [lo˦˩˨ i˧ xɤu̯˧]) in the Jin language.[18][19] In Mongolian, it is called Šar mörön (Шар мөрөн 'yellow river')[20] or Khatan gol (Хатан гол 'queen river').[21] The river is mentioned in the Kul Tigin stele as the 'green river' (Old Turkic: yašïl ügüz, 𐰖𐱁𐰞𐰽𐰺𐰍).[22] The Tibetan name is "River of the Peacock" (Tibetan: རྨ་ཆུ, Wylie: rma.chu, THL: Ma chu; 玛曲; 瑪曲; Mǎ qǔ).
Below is the list of hydroelectric power stations built on the Yellow River, arranged according to the first year of operation (in brackets):
As reported in 2000, the 7 largest hydro power plants (Longyangxia, Lijiaxia, Liujiaxia, Yanguoxia, Bapanxia, Daxia and Qinglongxia) had the total installed capacity of 5,618 MW.[57]