Salween

Geography and naming

The Salween basin includes about 283,500 km (109,500 mi), of which 48 percent is in China, 44 percent in Myanmar, and 8 percent in Thailand. The basin is extremely long and narrow, situated between the Irrawaddy and Brahmaputra river systems on the west and the Mekong system on the east, and sharing a shorter boundary with the Yangtze system to the north. With a mean elevation of 3,515 m (11,532 ft), the Salween basin includes numerous glaciated mountain ranges, and the river flows for much of its length at high elevation. In China, the Salween basin is situated in Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan. In Myanmar the Salween flows through Shan State, Karenni State, Karen State and Mon State. In Thailand the Salween borders only on Mae Hong Son province, with tributaries extending into Chiang Mai, Tak and Kanchanaburi province.