The Mekong rises as the Za Qu and soon becomes known as the Lancang (Lantsang) in

the "Three Rivers Source Area" on the Tibetan Plateau in the Sanjiangyuan National
Nature Reserve; the reserve protects the headwaters of, from north to south,
the Yellow (Huang He), the Yangtze, and the Mekong Rivers.[3] It flows through the Tibetan
Autonomous Region and then southeast into Yunnan Province, and then the Three Parallel
Rivers Area in the Hengduan Mountains, along with the Yangtze to its east and
the Salween River (Nujiang in Chinese) to its west.
The Mekong then meets the tripoint of China, Myanmar and Laos. From there it flows
southwest and forms the border of Myanmar and Laos for about 100 kilometres (62 mi)
until it arrives at the tripoint of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand. This is also the point of
confluence between the Ruak River (which follows the Thai–Myanmar border) and the
Mekong. The area of this tripoint is sometimes termed the Golden Triangle, although the
term also refers to the much larger area of those three countries that was notorious as a
drug producing region.
From the Golden Triangle tripoint, the Mekong turns southeast to briefly form the border of
Laos with Thailand.
Khon Pi Long is a series of rapids along a 1.6-kilometre section of the Mekong River
dividing Chiang Rai and Bokeo Province in Laos. The name of the rapids means "where the
ghost lost its way".[7] It then turns east into the interior of Laos, flowing first east and then
south for some 400 kilometres (250 mi) before meeting the border with Thailand again.
Once more, it defines the Laos-Thailand border for some 850 kilometres (530 mi) as it
flows first east, passing the capital of Laos, Vientiane, then turns south. A second time, the
river leaves the border and flows east into Laos soon passing the city of Pakse. Thereafter,
it turns and runs more or less directly south, crossing into Cambodia.
At Phnom Penh the river is joined on the right bank by the river and lake system the Tonlé
Sap. When the Mekong is low, the Tonle Sap is a tributary: water flows from the lake and
river into the Mekong. When the Mekong floods, the flow reverses: the floodwaters of the
Mekong flow up the Tonle Sap.
Immediately after the Sap River joins the Mekong by Phnom Penh, the Bassac
River branches off the right (west) bank. The Bassac River is the first and main distributary
of the Mekong. This is the beginning of the Mekong Delta. The two rivers, the Bassac to the
west and the Mekong to the east, enter Vietnam shortly after this. In Vietnam, the Bassac is
called the Hậu River (Sông Hậu or Hậu Giang); the main, eastern, branch of the Mekong is
called the Tiền River or Tiền Giang. In Vietnam, distributaries of the eastern (main,
Mekong) branch include the Mỹ Tho River, the Ba Lai River, the Hàm Luông River, and
the Cổ Chiên River.

Drainage basin[edit]

Mekong River south of Chamdo.

The Mekong from Phou si

The confluence of the Mekong and the Nam Ou Rivers, Laos

The Mekong Basin can be divided into two parts: the "upper Mekong basin" in Tibet of
China, and the "lower Mekong basin" from Yunnan downstream from China to the South
China Sea.[8] From the point where it rises to its mouth, the most precipitous drop in the
Mekong occurs in the upper Mekong basin, a stretch of some 2,200 km (1,400 mi). Here, it
drops 4,500 metres (14,800 ft) before it enters the lower basin where the borders of
Thailand, Laos, China, and Myanmar come together in the Golden Triangle. Downstream
from the Golden Triangle, the river flows for a further 2,600 km (1,600 mi) through Laos,
Thailand, and Cambodia before entering the South China Seavia a complex delta system
in Vietnam.[8]

Upper basin[edit]
The upper basin makes up 24 percent of the total area and contributes 15-20 percent of the
water that flows into the Mekong River. The catchment here is steep and narrow. Soil
erosion has been a major problem and approximately 50 percent of the sediment in the
river comes from the upper basin.
In Yunnan Province in China, the river and its tributaries are confined by narrow, deep
gorges. The tributary river systems in this part of the basin are small. Only 14 have
catchment areas that exceed 1,000 km2 (390 sq mi), yet the greatest amount of loss
of forest cover in the entire river system per square kilometer has occurred in this region
due to heavy unchecked demand for natural resources. In the south of Yunnan,
in Simao and XishuangbannaPrefectures, the river changes as the valley opens out, the
floodplain becomes wider, and the river becomes wider and slower.

Lower basin[edit]
Major tributary systems develop in the lower basin. These systems can be separated into
two groups: tributaries that contribute to the major wet season flows, and tributaries that
drain low relief regions of lower rainfall. The first group are left bank tributaries that drain
the high rainfall areas of Laos. The second group are those on the right bank, mainly the
Mun and Chi Rivers, that drain a large part of northeast Thailand.
Laos lies almost entirely within the lower Mekong basin. Its climate, landscape and land
use are the major factors shaping the hydrology of the river. The mountainous landscape
means that only 16 percent of the country is farmed under lowland terrace or
upland shifting cultivation.[8] With upland shifting agriculture (slash and burn), soils recover
within 10 to 20 years but the vegetation does not. Shifting cultivation is common in the
uplands of northern Laos and is reported to account for as much as 27 percent of the total
land under rice cultivation.[8] As elsewhere in the basin, forest cover has been steadily
reduced during the last three decades by shifting agriculture and permanent agriculture.
The cumulative impacts of these activities on the river regime have not been measured.
However, the hydrological impacts of land cover changes induced by the Vietnam
War were quantified in two sub-catchments of the lower Mekong River basin.[9]
Loss of forest cover in the Thai areas of the lower basin has been the highest of all the
lower Mekong countries over the past 60 years. On the Khorat Plateau, which includes
the Mun and Chi tributary systems, forest cover was reduced from 42 percent in 1961 to 13
percent in 1993.[8] Although this part of northeast Thailand has an annual rainfall of more
than 1,000 mm, a high evaporation rate means it is classified as a semi-arid region.
Consequently, although the Mun and Chi basins drain 15 percent of the entire Mekong
basin, they only contribute six percent of the average annual flow.[8] Sandy and saline soils
are the most common soil types, which makes much of the land unsuitable for wet rice
cultivation. In spite of poor fertility, however, agriculture is intensive. Glutinous rice, maize,
and cassava are the principal crops.[8] Drought is by far the major hydrological hazard in this
region.[8]

Floating homes on the Mekong, Cambodia

As the Mekong enters Cambodia, over 95 percent of its flows have already joined the
river.[8] From here on downstream the terrain is flat and water levels rather than flow
volumes determine the movement of water across the landscape. The seasonal cycle of
changing water levels at Phnom Penh results in the unique "flow reversal" of water into and
out of the Great Lake via the Tonle Sap River. Phnom Penh also marks the beginning of
the delta system of the Mekong River. Here the mainstream begins to break up into an
increasing number of branches.[8]
In Cambodia, wet rice is the main crop and is grown on the flood plains of the Tonle Sap,
Mekong, and Bassac (the Mekong delta distributary known as the Hậu in Vietnam)
Rivers.[8] More than half of Cambodia remains covered with mixed evergreen and
deciduous broadleaf forest, but forest cover has decreased from 73 percent in 1973 to 63
percent in 1993.[8] Here, the river landscape is flat. Small changes in water level determine
the direction of water movement, including the large-scale reversal of flow into and out of
the Tonle Sap basin from the Mekong River.[8]

Mekong Delta, Vietnam

The Mekong delta in Vietnam is farmed intensively and has little natural vegetation left.
Forest cover is less than 10 percent. In the Central Highlands of Vietnam, forest cover was
reduced from over 95 percent in the 1950s to around 50 percent in the mid-
1990s.[8] Agricultural expansion and population pressure are the major reasons for land
use and landscape change. Both drought and flood are common hazards in the Delta,
which many people believe is the most sensitive to upstream hydrological change.[8]