Term Paper on "Mekong River Basin"

Term Paper 5 pages (1275 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Mekong River Basin

Research, Review and Evaluation of Present and Future

Conditions of the Region

Physical Geological Information

Present Environmental Condition

Cultural Significance of the Mekong River Basin Region

Economic Significance of the Mekong River Basin

The Mekong River Basin

Research, Review and Evaluation of Present and Future

Conditions of the Region

The Geography of the River

The Mekong River Basin is one of the ten longest rivers existing in the world and has a significant impact upon the nature, environment, societal aspects as well as the economical aspects of the Indo-china Peninsula. The origination of the name of "Mekong" is in the Thai language of Mae Nam Khnong. (Bao, et al., 2004) the Tibet Mountains are home to the Mekong's beginning which travels from the River of Rick or the Dza Chu River, or River of Rock, which is the primary source for the Mekong River. The Dza Chu runs through a valley that is narrow and parallel to the two rivers of Yangz Jiang and Salween River. Upon the Mekong having reached the Chinese province of Yung-Nan it is then called the Lancang Jiang or "Turbulent River" Next the river travels through the Golden Triangle, Myanmar and Laos boarder, and on into the Vientiane Plain. The phrase lower Mekong means downstream segment from the point [According to a geographic review online at http://cantho.cool.ne.jp/mekong/outline/mcxxcxekong_river_e.html

] After the Vientiane Plain the rapids which are termed notorious flows into Cambodia and on into the Mekong Delta in Vietnam where the water is distributed into the paddy fields.

I. The Countries of the Mekong River Basin

The countries of the Mekong River Basin region are listed as follows with other relevant data:

Countries Area (km2) Basin in Nation (km2)

Ratio

The Kingdom of Thailand 9,597,000

The Union of Myanmar 678.030

The People's Republic of China 236,725

202,400 85.5%

The Lao Peoples Democratic

Republic 513.115

Cambodia 181,100

Social Republic of Vietnam 331.700

There is much history due to frictions between countries in the Mekong River Basin area and this is cited as the reason that the river is known by some very many different names. The relationships of Laos and Cambodia are integral to the people of this country as 85% of the areas of both countries are connected intricately with the river in one way or another whether economical, environmental, or simply in the dependence upon the river for the resource of water the river provides. The River is 795,000 km2 in length of 4, 6-20 km and is at its' highest point in Tibet 4,620 km. The catchments area of the Mekong Delta is "very unstable due to lack of proper survey especially in upstream mountainous area and in the Mekong Delta of which watershed is obscure.

II. Environmental and Ecological Data

The Lower Mekong River Basin fishery is called "one of the most abundant river fisheries in the world" and is critically important to 55 million individuals living in the basin area. From this income is earned in the industry of the catching, preserving and marketing of fish and other aquatic products and as well this provides the main source of animal protein for those living in the area. (Coates, et al., 2003) This is the reason that this area has been cited as one vitally important in maintaining and protecting the biodiversity that is under great threat of being destroyed. The people of this area farm the land surrounding the river basin as well as fishing and working in the fishery industry. The waters are for the most part unregulated. Threats to biodiversity are stated to arise from "over-exploitation and the use of destructive gears in the surrounding industry. The results of the threats, which mostly come from outside of the fishery operations are known to cause "extensive loss of habitat, ecosystem simplification and reduced water… READ MORE

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