The N'Mai River or N'Mai Hka ( my, မေခမြစ်, ) is a river in 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).

Course

The N'Mai, runs parallel to the Mali River, and has its source in the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 10 ...

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

of eastern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

at about 28° north latitude.Kalaya Lu
"Abstract: Floradiversity of North-eastern Kachin Myanmar Section of Sino-himalaya (N'mai Hka-Than Lwin Water Division)"
Myitkyina University, Faculty of Botanics, 2006. Accessed June 27, 2009. It is not navigable because of strong currents. The N'mai River ends at its

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

(''Myit-son'') with the Mali River in

Kachin State Kachin State ( my, ကချင်ပြည်နယ်; Jingpho language, Kachin: ), also known by the endonym Kachinland, is the northernmost administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east ...

where the two rivers form the start of the

Ayeyarwady River The Irrawaddy River ( Ayeyarwady River; , , from Indo-Aryan languages, 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 comm ...

. The confluence is "one of the most significant cultural heritage sites for the Kachin people and an important landmark for all of Burma."Burma Rivers Network,
Irrawaddy/N'Mai/Mali Dams
, 2009" Construction of the Myitsone Dam has begun at this confluence.

History

The British forester and ornithologist,

Bertram E. Smythies Bertram Evelyn (Bill) Smythies (11 July 1912 (Nainital, India) – 27 June 1999 (Redhill, England)) was a British forester and ornithologist. Life Bertram 'Bill' Smythies, the elder brother of John Raymond Smythies, was born in India in 19 ...

studied the area in the 1940s. More recently, Kalaya Lu, Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Botany at Myitkyina University between 2002 and 2006, published a paper on plant diversity in the river watershed, concluding it consists of many different ecosystems, changing in elevation from 800 metres to more than 4,600 metres, and containing among the richest areas of Sino-Himalaya flora diversity in the world. In 2007, the government of Myanmar signed an agreement with China Power Investment Corporation to construct a series of dams on the Ayeyarwady, Mali, and N’Mai rivers. Up to five dams were proposed for the N'Mai, one on the Mali and one at the confluence. This dam, the largest of the seven, would destroy the confluence. Construction started in 2008 and a local protest about one of the dams at Chibwe met with government suppression.Burma News Network
"Christian leaders questioned over anti-dam campaign"
July 29, 2008.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* Earth Snapshot
Satellite image

Rivers of Myanmar

Course

History

See also

References

External links