Nam Sam River

Chu River (name in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, vi, Sông Chu, links=no) also known as the Nam Sam River or Nam Xam River (name in

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

) is the largest tributary of Ma River. It originates from Houa peak at 2062m near

Xam Neua Xam Neua (ຊຳເໜືອ , sometimes transcribed as ''Sam Neua'' or ''Samneua'', literally 'northern swamp'), is the capital of Houaphanh Province, Laos, in northeast Laos. Demographics Residents are mostly Lao, Vietnamese, and Hmong, with s ...

town,

Houaphanh Province Houaphanh province ( Laotian: ຫົວພັນ ; Romanization of Lao: ''Houaphan'') is a province in eastern Laos. Its capital is Xam Neua. Houaphanh province covers an area of . The province is bordered by Vietnam to the north, east, and so ...

in eastern Laos and travels east to meander through the Nghệ An and

Thanh Hóa Thanh Hóa () is the capital of Thanh Hóa Province. The city is situated in the east of the province on the Ma River (Sông Mã), about 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Hanoi and 1560 kilometers (969 miles) north of Ho Chi Minh City. Thanh ...

provinces of Vietnam. It joins Ma River on the left in Thiệu Hóa. The river is 325 km long (165 km in Laos and 160 km in Vietnam) with a

drainage area A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

of about 7,580 km² (4,570 km² in Laos and 3,010 km² in Vietnam). Rivers of Laos Rivers of Nghệ An province Rivers of Thanh Hóa province International rivers of Asia Geography of Houaphanh province Rivers of Vietnam {{Vietnam-river-stub