The Gaoligong Mountains () are a mountainous sub-range of the southern Hengduan Mountain Range, located in the western Yunnan highlands and straddling the border of southwestern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and northern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(Burma).

Geography

The Gaoligong Mountains are located along the west bank of the Nujiang Valley; from

Gongshan Gongshan Derung and Nu Autonomous County (; Lisu: ꓗꓳꓹ-ꓢ ꓔꓴꓽ-ꓡꓳꓽ ꓫꓵꓽ ꓠꓳꓸ ꓫꓵꓽ ꓚꓲꓸ ꓛꓬꓽ ꓗꓪꓼ ꓫꓵꓽ ꓫꓯꓹ; Derung: Koksang, the name has nothing to do with the Derung language for Gaoligong ...

county down in to

Dehong Prefecture The Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture is located in western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China, and is one of the eight autonomous prefectures of the province, bordering Baoshan to the east and Burma's Kachin State to the west. ...

, a distance of approximately . It is the

drainage divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a singl ...

between the Nujiang ( Salween River) and the

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indic ''revatī'', meaning "abounding in riches") is a river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Origi ...

. The main peak is ''Ga her'' (嘎普) ''peak'', above sea level. The mountains contain part of the Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests ecoregion.

Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve

The Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve is made up of three distinct areas. One part is found in the south-central part of the mountain range and covers an area of . Around wide, and reaches over approximately from north to south — across parts of

Lushui County Lushui () is a county-level city in and the seat of Nujiang Prefecture, western Yunnan Province, China. It borders Myanmar's Kachin State to the west and occupies the southern fifth of Nujiang Prefecture. Administrative divisions Lushui City ha ...

Baoshan City (; historically also Yongchang, Burmese:ပေါက်ရှန်) is a prefecture-level city in Western Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. Baoshan is the second-biggest metropolitan area in western Yunnan after Dali. Geography an ...

Prefecture and

Tengchong County Tengchong () is a county-level city of Baoshan City, western Yunnan province, People's Republic of China. It is well known for its volcanic activity. The city is named after the town of Tengchong which serves as its political center, previously kn ...

. Another large part of the reserve is the Dulongjian area, west of

, and home to the Derung people. The highest peak within the reserve is ''Wona'' at high . ;Conservation history In 1983, the Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve was established, and in 1992, the World Wildlife Fund, designated it a level A grade protected area. In 2000, UNESCO accepted it as a Biosphere Reserve member. The reserve is part of the '' Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas'', established in 2003, and as such a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

References

Physical Geography of the Gaoligong Shan Area of Southwest China, in Relation to BiodiversityUNESCO - MAB Biosphere Reserves DirectoryGaoligongshan Official WebsiteWorld Database on Protected Areas
Mountains of Myanmar China–Myanmar border Mountain ranges of Yunnan World Heritage Sites in China Biosphere reserves of China Tourist attractions in Yunnan Geography of Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture Geography of Baoshan, Yunnan {{Yunnan-geo-stub

Geography

Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve

See also

References