Salween

Salween, river, SE Asia: see Thanlwin.

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Salween

a river in SW Asia, rising in the Tibetan Plateau and flowing east and south through SW China and Myanmar to the Gulf of Martaban. Length: 2400 km (1500 miles)

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Salween 

(in Chinese, Na Ch’ü and Nu Chiang), a river in China and Burma; for a short distance it is a border between Burma and Thailand. The Salween is 2,820 km long and drains an area of approximately 325,000 sq km. Originating in the glaciers of the Tanghla Range in the eastern part of the Tibetan Highlands, it flows for some distance over the Yunnan and Shan highlands, where it has formed gorges up to 3,000 m deep. The lower Salween flows over a plain; there are shoals and bars near the river’s mouth. The Salween empties through two branches into the Andaman Sea.

The upper Salween is fed primarily by snow, and the middle and lower Salween by rain. The Salween has a monsoon regime; during summer flash floods, the water level in the gorges rises by 20–27 m in places. The mean annual flow rate near the mouth is approximately 6,700 cu m per sec.

The Salween is used to float timber. It is navigable in certain sections. The Burmese seaport of Moulmein is at the mouth of the Salween.