The Gaoligong Mountains () are a mountainous sub-range of the southern Hengduan Mountain Range, located in the western

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

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 List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

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 Wells explai ...

(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, 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 , ''Mae Nam Salawin'' ( , name_etymology = , image = Sweet_View_of_Salween_River_in_Tang_Yan_Township,_Shan_State,_Myanmar.jpg , image_size = , image_caption = Salween River in Shan State, Myanmar , map ...

) 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. Orig ...

. 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 The Nujiang Lancang Gorge alpine conifer and mixed forests are a temperate coniferous forests ecoregion in Southwest China and northeastern Myanmar. The forests cover mountains and valleys in the western Hengduan Mountains and because of the ex ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

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 a ...

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 k ...

. 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 The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the W ...

, designated it a level A grade protected area. In 2000,

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

accepted it as a

Biosphere Reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

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 A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

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