The Himalayas

Himalayas, also Himalaya (Sanskrit

for “abode of snow”), mountain
system in Asia, forming a broad
continuous arc for nearly 2,600 km
(1,600 mi) along the northern fringes
of the Indian subcontinent, from the
bend of the Indus River in the
northwest to the Brahmaputra River in
the east. The Himalayas range,
averaging 320 to 400 km (200 to 250
mi) in width, rises sharply from the
Gangetic Plain. North of this
mountain belt lies the Tibetan Plateau
(Qing Zang Gaoyuan). The Himalayas
form the earth’s highest mountain
region, containing 9 of the 10 highest
peaks in the world. Among these
peaks are the world’s highest
mountain, Mount Everest (8,850
m/29,035 ft), which is on the Nepal-
Tibet border; the second highest peak,
K2 or Mount Godwin Austen (8,611
m/28,251 ft), located on the border
between China and Jammu and
Kashmīr, a territory claimed by India
and Pakistan; the third highest peak,
Kānchenjunga (8,598 m/28,209 ft) on
the Nepal-India border; Makālu
(8,481 m/27,824 ft) on the Nepal-
Tibet border; Dhaulāgiri (8,172
m/26,811 ft) and Annapūrna 1 (8,091
m/26,545 ft) in Nepal; Nanga Parbat
(8,125 m/26,657 ft) in the Pakistani-
controlled portion of Jammu and
Kashmīr; and Nanda Devi (7817
m/25,645 ft) in India.

Karakoram Range
 (Chinese Karakorum Shan),
mountain range of south central Asia,
in the western Himalayas, extending
from the eastern edge of Afghanistan
into Jammu and Kashmīr, a territory
that is disputed by India and Pakistan.
The range includes K2, also known as
Mount Godwin Austen (8,611
m/28,251 ft), the second highest peak
in the world.

Hindu Kush Mountains,

Pakistan
The Hindu Kush mountain system in
central Asia extends for 1,000 km
(600 mi) in parts of Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and Tajikistan. With about
two dozen peaks surpassing 7,000 m
(23,000 ft), the range reaches its
highest point in Pakistan’s highlands,
where the peak known as Tirich Mīr
rises 7,690 m (25,230 ft) above sea
level.

Elburz Mountains,
mountain range, northern Iran,
extending along the southern shore of
the Caspian Sea. The range marks the
northern limit of the Iranian Plateau.
The Elburz have an average altitude
of about 1524 m (about 5000 ft). The
highest peak in the system, Mount
Damāvand, is 5,670 m (18,602 ft)
above sea level.
Caucasus Mountains,
mountain range, Georgia, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, and southwest Russia,
considered a boundary between
Europe and Asia. The range extends
for about 1200 km (about 750 mi)
from the Abşeron Peninsula on the
southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea
to the mouth of the Kuban’ River on
the northeastern shore of the Black
Sea. The western region is drained by
the Kuban’ River and the eastern
portion by the Kura River. Of the two
principal chains within the Caucasus,
the most northerly range has a number
of peaks higher than about 4570 m
(15,000 ft) above sea level.

Pamirs Mountain
northern Tajikistan, known until 1933
as Garmo Peak, from 1933 to 1962 as
Stalin Peak, and from 1962 to 1998 as
Communism Peak. The ice-covered
summit rises to 7,495 m (24,590 ft) in
the northwestern Pamirs. It marks the
highest elevation of the former Soviet
republics.

Taurus Mountains,
mountain chain, southern Turkey,
paralleling the Mediterranean coast
for 320 km (200 mi). Its highest point
is the Aladağ (3,734 m/12,251 ft).
North of the western end of the
Taurus Mountains lie the large Eğridir
and Beyşehir lakes. To the east lie the
Anti-Taurus Mountains. South of the
Aladağ and leading to the Seyhan
River valley is a pass, called the
Cilician Gates (Gülek Boğazı), used
from ancient times by many armies.

Kunlun Mountains,
also Kunlun Shan or K’un-lun Shan,
major mountain system, western
China. The mountains rise to 7,723 m
(25,338 ft) atop Muztag (Mu-tzu-t'a-
Ko) and extend east to west for more
than 2410 km (1500 mi) between the
northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau
(Qing Zang Gaoyuan) and the two
arid basins, the Tarim Pendi and the
Qaidam Pendi. The Altun (A-erh-
chin) Shan, a range that encircles the
Qaidam Pendi, is sometimes defined
as part of the Kunlun system. India
claims territory in the western Kunlun
Mountains.

Tian Shan
Tien Shan, major mountain system,
Central Asia, extending from the
Pamirs northeast along the border
between Kyrgyzstan, southeastern
Kazakhstan, and the Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region of China. The
Tian Shan (Chinese, “Heavenly
Mountains”) has a length of about
2414 km (about 1500 mi) and a width
of about 320 to 480 km (about 200 to
300 mi); it covers an area (1,036,000
sq km/400,000 sq mi) approximately
equal to that of the Rocky Mountains
in the United States

Altai Mountains,

mountain range of Asia, extending

from the headwaters of the Ob’ and
Irtysh rivers in southern Siberia in
Russia, into Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region of China and
into Mongolia. The highest peak of
the Altay range is Mount Belukha
(4,620 m/15,157 ft). Below about
1830 m (about 6000 ft) the mountain
slopes are thickly covered with trees,
including cedar, pine, larch, fir, and
birch. Between the forests and the
snow line, which lies between about
2440 to 3050 m (about 8000 and
10,000 ft), are alpine pastures some
gold, iron ore, copper, silver, and tin.

Ural Mountains

(Russian Ural’skiye Gory), mountain chain

in Russia, extending 2,400 km (1,500 mi)
from its northern boundary at the Arctic
Ocean to its southern limits at the steppes of
Kazakhstan, traditionally separating the
continents of Europe and Asia. The chain is
divided roughly into four main divisions: the
Polar, Northern, Middle, and Southern
Urals. The Polar Urals (above latitude 64°
North) are treeless arctic tundra. The
Northern Urals (latitude 64° North to
latitude 61° North) constitute a distinct
craggy, treeless, narrow range with crests
averaging 300 to 500 m (1,000 to 1,500 ft)
in height. This range contains the highest
Ural crest, Gora Narodnaya (1,894 m/ 6,214
ft). Other Northern peaks include Mount
Sablya, Telpos-Iz, and Isherim. The only
trees in the area are sparse growths of larch
(a type of pine tree).

Mount Everest
mountain peak in the Himalayas of southern
Asia, considered the highest mountain in the
world. Mount Everest is situated at the edge
of the Tibetan Plateau (Qing Zang
Gaoyuan), on the border of Nepal and the
Tibet Autonomous Region of
China.Mount Everest was known as Peak
XV until 1856, when it was named for Sir
George Everest, the surveyor general of
India from 1830 to 1843.. Most Nepali
people refer to the mountain as Sagarmatha,
meaning “Forehead in the
Sky.”The height of Mount Everest has been
determined to be 8,850 m (29,035 ft). The
mountain’s actual height, and the claim that
Everest is the highest mountain in the world,
have long been disputed.

K2 Mountain,

also Mount Godwin Austen, mountain peak

in the Karakoram Range of the western
Himalayas, straddling the border between
China and Jammu and Kashmīr, a territory
claimed by India and Pakistan. Pakistan
currently controls the portion where K2 lies.
K2, rising 8,611 m (28,251 ft), is the second
tallest mountain in the world. Only Mount
Everest (8,850 m/29,035 ft), also in the
Himalayas, is taller. K2 is an almost regular
cone of ice and limestone resting on a
granite base. In 1856 T. G. Montgomerie of
the Survey of India measured the mountain
and named it “K2” to denote it as one of 35
summits in the Karakoram Range. In 1861
the peak was unofficially renamed Mount
Godwin Austen, after British soldier and
topographer Henry Haversham Godwin
Austen, the second European to visit the
area. Several local names, including
Chogori, Lambha Pahar, Dapsang, and
Kechu (K2), are also used to identify the
peak.

Kangchenjunga Mountain

(Nepali:कञ्चनजङ्घा Kanchanjaŋghā), (Limbu

Language: Sewalungma), is the third highest
mountain in the world (after Mount Everest and
K2), with an elevation of 8,586 metres
(28,169 ft). Kangchenjunga translated means
"The Five Treasures of Snows", as it contains
five peaks, four of them over 8,450 metres. The
treasures represent the five repositories of God,
which are gold, silver, gems, grain, and holy
books. Kangchenjunga is called Sewalungma in
the local Limbu language, translates as
'Mountain that we offer Greetings to'.
Kanchenjunga or Sewalungma is considered
sacred in the Kirant religion.

Aral Sea
(Russian Aral’skoye More; Uzbek Orol
Dengizi), saltwater lake, or inland sea, in
Central Asia, in southwestern Kazakhstan
and northwestern Uzbekistan, about 450 km
(about 280 mi) east of the Caspian Sea. In
the Turkic languages of the area the sea’s
name means “island,” referring to it as an
island of water in a sea of deserts. A body of
water with no outlet, the Aral Sea is fed by
two large rivers, the Amu Darya from the
south and the Syr Darya from the east. The
rivers have been heavily diverted for crop
irrigation during the past several decades,
reducing the size of the Aral Sea by more
than 75 percent since 1960. The resulting
environmental changes pose a serious threat
to the local ecology and human health.

Lake Baikal,

lake in southern Siberian Russia, the deepest

lake in the world with a maximum depth of
1,637 m (5,371 ft). It is estimated to contain
approximately one-fifth of all the earth's
fresh surface water. The lake has an area of
31,500 sq km (12,200 sq mi) and about
1,963 km (about 1,220 mi) of shoreline,
making it the third largest lake in Asia, as
well as the continent’s largest freshwater
lake in terms of surface area. The crescent-
shaped lake is 636 km (395 mi) long and
varies in width from about 14 to 80 km
(about 9 to 50 mi). The lake is fed by the
Selenge, Barguzin, and Verkhnaya Angara
rivers and by more than 300 mountain
streams. The only outlet is the lower
Angara, which flows west from the lake into
the Yenisey River.
Lake Balkhash

is a lake in southeastern
Kazakhstan,presently the largest in Central
Asia (after the drying of most of the Aral
Sea).[1] It is a closed basin that is part of the
endorheic basin that includes the Caspian
and Aral seas.

Caspian Sea

(ancient Caspium Mare or Hyrcanium

Mare), saltwater lake in southeastern Europe
and southwestern Asia, the largest inland
body of water in the world. The Caspian Sea
is bordered on the west by Azerbaijan and
Russia, on the northeast and east by
Kazakhstan, on the east by Turkmenistan,
and on the south by Iran. It extends about
1210 km (about 750 mi) in a northern and
southern direction and about 210 to 436 km
(about 130 to 271 mi) in an eastern and
western direction. It has an area of 371,000
sq km (143,000 sq mi). The Caspian
coastline is irregular, with large gulfs on the
east, including Krasnovodsk Gulf and the
very shallow Garabogazköl Gulf, which acts
as an evaporation basin and is the site of a
major chemical plant that extracts salts from
the deposits.

Dead Sea
 salt lake in southwestern Asia. Bounded on
the west by Israel and the West Bank and on
the east by Jordan, the Dead Sea forms part
of the Israeli-Jordanian border. The surface
of the Dead Sea, 418 m (1,371 ft) below sea
level as of 2006, is the lowest water surface
on earth. The lake is 80 km (50 mi) long and
has a maximum width of 18 km (11 mi); its
area is 1,020 sq km (394 sq mi). The Dead
Sea occupies a north portion of the Great
Rift Valley. On the east the high plateau of
Moab rises about 1,340 m (about 4,400 ft)
above the sea; on the west the plateau of
Judea rises to half that height. From the
eastern shore a peninsula juts out into the
lake. To the south of this peninsula the lake
is shallow, less than 6 m (less than 20 ft)
deep; to the north lies its greatest depth.

Rub‘ al Khali desert

means “Empty Quarter” in Arabic, reflecting

the barren and forbidding nature of the
southern Arabian desert. It is much larger
and drier than the other Saudi deserts,
contains no oases, and can only be inhabited
temporarily, in the cooler winter months, by
camel-herding nomads called Bedouins. The
Rub‘ al Khali extends over much of
southeastern Saudi Arabia and beyond the
southern frontier into Yemen and Oman.
Like An Nafūd, the Rub‘ al Khali is a sea of
sand ridges and hills, some of which are as
high as 150 m (500 ft). One of the world’s
best-preserved meteor impact sites is located
in the middle of the Rub‘ al Khali, at a site
called Wabar

Garagum, Desert
in Central Asia, occupying most of
Turkmenistan; its name is Turkic for “black
sands.” The desert covers about three-
fourths of Turkmenistan. It extends from the
Ustyurt plateau on the north to the Köpetdag
Mountains on the south and from the Amu
Darya river on the east nearly to the Caspian
Sea on the west. The area of the Garagum is
about 350,000 sq km (about 140,000 sq
mi).The Garagum consists chiefly of large
expanses of hard-packed clay and rolling
sand dunes. The terrain is generally devoid
of vegetation. Certain species of steppe
bushes and a few varieties of flowering
plants grow in limited areas of the region,
mainly in the southeast.

Gobi Desert,

extensive desert area of southern Mongolia

and northern China. The largest desert in
Asia, it is also known as Shamo, the Chinese
word for “sand desert.” The Gobi, which is
about 1,600 km (about 1,000 mi) in extent
from east to west and about 1,000 km (about
600 mi) from north to south, has a total area
of 1,300,000 sq km (500,000 sq mi). It is
bounded by the Da Hinggan Ling (Greater
Khingan Range) on the east, the Altun Shan
and Nan Shan mountains on the south, the
Tian Shan mountains on the west, and the
Altay and Hangayn Nuruu (Khangai)
mountains and Yablonovyy Range on the
north.
South China Sea,

arm of the Pacific Ocean, located off the

eastern and southeastern coasts of Asia. On
the north, it is divided from the East China
Sea by Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait. It is
partly enclosed on the east by the
Philippines and Borneo. In the southwest it
merges with the Gulf of Thailand (Siam),
and on the west it is separated from the Gulf
of Tonkin by the Chinese island of Hainan.
The South China Sea increases in depth
from the south, where much of it is less than
300 m (1,000 ft) deep, to the north, where
depths of 4,600 m (15,000 ft) have been
found. The total area of the sea is 2,319,000
sq km (895,400 sq mi). The chief ports on or
near this sea include Manila, Singapore,
Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly
Saigon), Hong Kong, and Macao. The
principal rivers draining into the South
China Sea are the Mekong and the Xi Jiang.
Shipping and fishing in the sea are
economically important. Weather in the
region is marked by violent monsoons and
typhoons.

Sea of Japan or East Sea,

arm of the Pacific Ocean, lying between

Japan on the east and the Asian mainland on
the west. It is connected to the Sea of
Okhotsk, on the north, by La Pérouse Strait
(Sōya-kaikyō) and Tatar Strait; to the Pacific
Ocean, on the east and southeast, by
Tsugaru Strait and Bungo Strait,
respectively; and to the East China Sea, on
the south, by Korea Strait and Tsushima
Strait. Area, 1,008,000 sq km (389,200 sq
mi).

Amu Darya

(ancient Oxus; Russian Amudar’ya;

Turkmen Amuderya; Uzbek Amudaryo;
Tajik Dar”yoi Amu), largest river of Central
Asia. The Amu Darya is formed by the
junction of the Pandj and Vakhsh rivers in
the Pamirs mountain region, on Tajikistan's
southwestern border. The river measures
2,540 km (1,580 mi) in length. It follows a
northwest course between Tajikistan and
Afghanistan, continues northwest between
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and then
flows north through Uzbekistan into the
Large Aral Sea (Russian Bol’shoye
Aral’skoye More), which separated from the
northern Small Aral Sea (Russian Maloye
Aral’skoye More) in the late 1980s. The
Amu Darya’s main tributaries are the Panj
and Vakhsh rivers, which both rise in the
Pamirs.

Amur, River,

east central Asia, formed by the junction of

the Shilka and Argun rivers. The Amur
flows southeast, forming the border between
Russia and China for almost 1,610 km
(1,000 mi). It then flows northeast and
empties into Tatar Strait (Tatarskiy Proliv)
near the city of Nikolayevsk-na-Amure.
Some 2,874 km (1,786 mi) long, the Amur
is one of the great rivers of the world.
Including the chief headstreams, the total
system has a length of about 4,416 km
(2,744 mi). The Amur is navigable
throughout its entire course, and the Shilka
is navigable to Sretensk, Russia.

Brahmaputra

(Sanskrit, “son of Brahma”; ancient

Dyardanes or Oedanes), one of the great
rivers of southern Asia, 2,900 km (1,800 mi)
long. It flows from southwestern Tibet,
China, through Arunāchal Pradesh and
Assam states in India, into Bangladesh,
where it empties into the Bay of Bengal. In
Tibet it is called the Yarlung Zangbo. Rising
in the Kailas Range of the Himalayas, at an
elevation of 4,900 m (16,000 ft), the stream
follows an easterly course for about 1450
km (about 900 mi) in Tibet at an altitude of
about 3660 m (about 12,000 ft), then swings
south, crosses the Himalayas, and enters the
lowland plains of Assam, where it is called
the Dihang. Near Sadiya, Assam, it changes
course to southwest and becomes the
Brahmaputra

Chao Phraya, river,

western Thailand, chief river of the country.

It rises in the northern part of the country
and flows south 365 km (227 mi), emptying
into the Gulf of Thailand (Siam). Bangkok is
on the river near its mouth. The Chao
Phraya Valley is an important rice-
producing region.

The Tigris River

is 1,900 km (1,180 mi) long and drains an

area of more than 110,000 sq km (43,000 sq
mi). The river originates in the mountains of
eastern Turkey and flows southeast into Iraq
after briefly forming the extreme eastern
portion of the border between Syria and
Turkey.. In southern Iraq the Tigris joins
with the Euphrates to form the Shatt al Arab,
which is 170 km (110 mi) long and flows to
the head of the Persian Gulf.
Ganges River, most important river of
the Indian subcontinent. The Ganges flows
2,510 km (1,560 mi) from the Himalayas of
north central India southeast through
Bangladesh and into the Bay of Bengal.
Named for the Hindu goddess Ganga, the
river draws from a basin of 1 million sq km
(400,000 sq mi), one of the world’s most
fertile and densely populated regions

The Yellow River or Huang He /

Hwang Ho (Chinese: 黃 河 ; pinyin:
Huáng Hé; Mongolian: Hatan Gol, Queen
river is the second-longest river in China
(after the Yangtze River) and the sixth-
longest in the world at the estimated length
of 5,464 kilometers (3,395 mi)Originating in
the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai
Province in western China, it flows through
nine provinces of China and empties into the
Bohai Sea. The Yellow River basin has an
east-west extent of 1900 km (1,180 mi) and
a north-south extent of 1100 km (684 mi).
Total basin area is 742,443 km² (290,520
mi²).

Indus, river of Asia, formed in western

Tibet (an autonomous region of China) by
the confluence of the glacial streams from
the Himalayas. It flows from Tibet
northwest across the Indian-controlled
portion of Jammu and Kashmīr, passing
between the western extremity of the
Himalayas and the northern extremity of the
Hindu Kush mountain range; it then courses
generally south through Pakistan to the
Arabian Sea, covering a distance of 2,900
km (1,800 mi)..
 Province. After entering northeastern
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) the
Salween flows generally south, and then
forms part of the border between Myanmar
and Thailand before emptying into the Gulf
of Martaban at the port of Moulmein. The
Salween River is 2,800 km (1,740 mi) long,
but because of numerous rapids it is only
navigable for 120 km (74 mi) above its
mouth.

Irrawaddy River, also Irawadi, river

of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma),
principal river of the country, formed in the
north by the confluence of the Mali and
Nmai rivers. From Myitkyinā the river flows
generally south for 2,100 km (1,300 mi).
Near Henzada it branches into several
mouths, forming an extensive delta, and
empties into the Andaman Sea. The largest
tributary of the river is the Chindwin River;
other tributaries include the Mu and
Myitnge.

The Irtysh River (Russian: Иртыш ;

Kazakh: Ertis / Ертiс ; Tatar Cyrillic:
Иртеш, Latin: İrteş ; Chinese: É'ěrqísī hé /
额尔齐斯河) is a river in Siberia and is the
chief tributary of the river Ob. Its name
means White River. It is actually longer than
the Ob to their confluence. Irtysh's main
affluent is Tobol River. The Ob-Irtysh form
a major basin in Asia, encompassing most of
Western Siberia and the Altay Mountains.

Salween, River, southeastern Asia.

The river rises in Tibet Autonomous Region
in China, where it is also known as Nu
Jiang, and runs south through Yunnan
 hydroelectric power and as a waterway for
the logging industry. Among the Korean
cities on its banks are Sinŭiju, its port
Yongamp’o, and Hyesan. The Yalu figured
prominently in the fighting during the First
Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the Russo-
Japanese War, and the Korean War.

Shinano, River in central Japan, the

longest river in the country. The Shinano is
on Honshū Island, flowing through Niigata
and Nagano prefectures. It is 367 km (228
mi) long. The river, called the Chikuma
River in Nagano Prefecture, originates on
Mount Kobushiga in the Kantō Mountains;
it flows generally north past the towns of
Saku, Ueda, Kōshoku, and Nagano, and then
northeast across the Echigo Plain past
Iiyama and Tōkamachi. It then flows
through the larger city of Niigata, where it
empties into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).

Yalu or Amnok River in eastern

Asia, forming most of the boundary between
North Korea and China. About 790 km (490
mi) long, it rises on the southern slopes of
the Changbai Shan mountains, flows in a
generally southern and southwestern
direction, and empties into Korea Bay, an
arm of the Yellow Sea, just south of Andong
(An-tung), China. Among its tributaries are
the Hun, Changjin, and Tongno rivers.
Navigable only by small craft for most of its
length, the Yalu is important as a source of
 China’s principal navigable waterway and a
natural boundary between what is
traditionally considered northern and
southern China.

Yenisei River (Russian: Енисе́й), also

written as Yenisey[2], is the greatest river
system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. Rising
in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to
the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a
large part of central Siberia, the longest
stream following the Yenisei-Angara-
Selenga-Ider.Maximum depth of Yenisei
River is 80 feet (24 m) and average depth is
45 feet (14 m). The depth of river goes
outflow 106 feet (32 m) and river goes
inflow 101 feet (31 m).

Yamuna or Jumna (ancient

Jomanes), river, northern India,
principal tributary of the Ganges, rising in
the western Himalayas, near Kāmet peak.
After pursuing a southerly course of about
153 km (about 95 mi), the Yamuna enters
the plains north of Sahāranpur and follows a
winding route past Delhi and Āgra to
Allahābād, where it joins the Ganges, after a
course of 1,400 km (870 mi). The
confluence of the Yamuna and Ganges is a
place of pilgrimage for Hindus. The river is
navigable by barge, and it is used for
irrigation purposes

Yangtze or Chang Jiang, river

in China, the longest river of Asia and the
third longest river in the world. The Yangtze
flows a total distance of 6,300 km (3,900
mi), from the Tibetan Plateau in the west to
the East China Sea in the east, forming
 Michel Peissel discovered the source of the
Mekong in 1994 at a high mountain pass.

Dead Sea Coast,Until the winter of

1978-79, when a major mixing event took
place,[8] the Dead Sea was composed of two
stratified layers of water that differed in
temperature, density, age, and salinity. The
topmost 35 metres (115 ft) or so of the Dead
Sea had a salinity that ranged between 300
and 400 parts per thousand and a
temperature that swung between 19 °C
(66 °F) and 37 °C (99 °F). Underneath a
zone of transition, the lowest level of the
Dead Sea had waters of a consistent 22 °C
(72 °F) temperature and complete saturation
of sodium chloride (NaCl).[citation needed] Since
the water near the bottom is saturated, the
salt precipitates out of solution onto the sea
floor.

Mekong RIver(Tibetan Dza-chu;

Chinese Lancang Jiang; Thai Mae Nam
Khong), river in southeastern Asia, the
longest river in the region. From its source
in China's Qinghai Province near the border
with Tibet, the Mekong flows generally
southeast to the South China Sea, a distance
of 4,200 km (2,610 mi). The Mekong
crosses Yunnan Province, China, forms the
border between Myanmar (formerly known
as Burma) and Laos and most of the border
between Laos and Thailand, and flows
across Cambodia and southern Vietnam,
emptying into the South China Sea. In the
upper course are steep descents and swift
rapids, but the river is navigable south of
Louangphrabang, Laos. French explorer
 for 2,550 km (1,580 mi); its average width is
70 km (40 mi). The Mariana is one of many
deepwater ocean trenches formed by the
geologic process of subduction (see Plate
Tectonics). Near its southwestern extremity,
340 km (210 mi) southwest of the island of
Guam, is the deepest point on earth. This
point, the Challenger Deep, is estimated to
be 11,033 m (36,198 ft) deep. The
Challenger Deep was named after HMS
Challenger II, the vessel of those who
discovered the point in 1948.

San Juanico Strait in Samar, island,

eastern Philippines, separated on the
northwest from the island of Luzon by San
Bernardino Strait and on the south from the
island of Leyte by San Juanico Strait and
Leyte Gulf. Agricultural products include
hemp, rice, coconuts, and sweet potatoes.
Catbalogan, on the western coast, is a major
city. Area, 13,100 sq km (5,100 sq mi);
population (1990) 1,246,722.

Strait of Malacca, body of water,

southeastern Asia, separating the Malay
Peninsula on the northeast from the island of
Sumatra on the southwest, and connecting
the Andaman Sea, an arm of the Indian
Ocean, on the north with the South China
Sea on the south. The strait, 800 km (500
mi) long, extends in a southeast-northwest
direction and varies in width from 60 km to
480 km (from 40 to 300 mi).

Mariana Trench, depression in the

floor of the Pacific Ocean, the deepest
seafloor depression in the world. It is located
just east of the Mariana Islands in the
western part of the ocean basin. The
Mariana Trench is an arc-shaped valley
extending generally northeast to southwest
Bay of Bengal, arm of the Indian
Ocean, between India on the west and
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and
the Malay Peninsula on the east. In the
southeast, the Andaman and Nicobar
islands, formed by the peaks of a submerged
mountain range, separate the Bay of Bengal
from the Andaman Sea. The area
experiences monsoons in both winter and
summer, followed by cyclones in spring and
fall. Many large rivers flow into the bay,
including the Ganges and the Brahmaputra
on the north. The two rivers have deposited
a huge layer of sediments, called the Ganges
Fan, about 2,000 km (about 1,000 mi) into
the bay. The Mahānadī, the Godāvari, the
Krishna, and the Kāveri (Cauvery) rivers
flow in on the west.

Mayon Volcano, active volcano in the

Philippines, on the Bicol Peninsula,
southeastern Luzon Island, about 16 km (10
mi) north of the city of Legaspi in Albay
Province. Mayon Volcano rises 2,525 m
(8,284 ft) and has a circumference of nearly
130 km (80 mi) at its base. It is at the center
of Mayon Volcano National Park and is a
major tourist attraction in part because it is
the most perfectly symmetrical volcano in
the world. Mayon Volcano is crowned by a
halo of vapor that gives off a bright glow at
night. The first recorded eruption of the
volcano was in the early 17th century. Since
then it has erupted more than 30 times. The
most destructive eruption was in 1814, when
the nearby town of Cagsawa was buried.
Mayon Volcano erupted in February 1993,
spewing tons of volcanic material onto
neighboring farms and killing 67 people.
 Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, rises as
a cone to a height of 3,776 m (12,387 ft)
above sea level, with the apex broken by a
cone-shaped crater 610 m (2000 ft) in
diameter. The southern slopes extend to the
shore of Suruga Bay, and the isolated peak
can be seen from many of the outlying
prefectures. The mountain is part of Fuji-
Hakone-Izu National Park, the most popular
vacation area in Japan. According to legend,
Fuji arose from the plain during a single
night in 286 BC. Geologically the mountain
is much older than the legend asserts. The
most recent recorded eruption of Fuji lasted
from November 24, 1707, until January 22,
1708. Certain religious sects regard the
mountain as a sacred place. Fuji is visited
annually by thousands of pilgrims from all
parts of the country, and numerous shrines
and temples are on its slopes. Fuji is also
revered in Japanese literature and art (see
Japanese Art and Architecture).

Taal Volcano Island (Philippines),

uninhabited volcanic island in the northern
Philippines, located in Lake Taal, on the
southern part of Luzon Island. Volcano
Island lies in Batangas Province, 80 km (50
mi) south of Manila. Lake Taal occupies the
crater of an extinct volcano, out of which
rises Volcano Island, on top of which rises
the active Taal Volcano. Taal Volcano also
has a lake in its crater. Volcano Island has
an elevation of 311 m (1,020 ft) above sea
level. Taal Volcano has erupted at least 33
times since 1572, often taking lives and
causing significant damage. It last erupted in
1977. Of the Philippines' 21 active
volcanoes Taal Volcano is considered the
second most active, after Mayon Volcano.

Fuji (mountain) or Fujiyama, also

Fuji-san, celebrated dormant volcano of
Japan, southern Honshū Island, near Tokyo.
 the 3rd century BC, and for impressive stone
and earthen fortifications built along a
different northern border in the 15th and
16th centuries AD, long after the ancient
structure had mostly disappeared. Ruins of
the later wall are found today along former
border areas from Bo Hai (a gulf of the
Yellow Sea) in the east to Gansu Province in
the west. The Great Wall is visited often
near Beijing, at a site called Ju-yong-guan,
and at its eastern and western extremes.
The Great Wall is probably China's best-
known monument and one of its most
popular tourist destinations. In 1987 it was
designated a World Heritage Site by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The
Great Wall is not a single, continuous
structure. Rather, it consists of a network of
walls and towers that leaves the frontier
open in places. Estimates of the total length
of the monument vary, depending on which
sections are included and how they are
measured. The Great Wall is about 2,400 km
(about 1,500 mi) long, according to
conservative estimates. Other estimates cite
a length of 6,400 km (4,000 mi), or even
longer. Some long-standing myths about the
wall have been dispelled in recent decades.
The existing wall is not several thousand
years old, nor is it, as has been widely
asserted, visible with the naked eye from
outer space. (Astronauts have confirmed
this. However, some of the wall is
discernible in special radar images taken by
satellites.)

The Great Wall of China

, popular name for a semi-legendary wall
built to protect China’s northern border in
 (Persian for “Elect of the Palace”), who died
in 1631.
Building commenced about 1632. The
mausoleum was complete by about 1643 and
the surrounding complex of buildings and
gardens was complete by about 1653.
Situated on the southern bank of the
Yamuna River, the white marble mausoleum
is composed of four identical facades, each
containing a large central arch 33 m (108 ft)
high. A large bulb-shaped dome, over 73 m
(240 ft) tall, rises over the center, with four
smaller domes surrounding it. The building
is raised on a square podium with a minaret
(tower) at each corner. It is flanked by two
red sandstone buildings—a mosque and its
replica, the Jawab (Answer), a building of
which the main function is visual balance.
Visitors approach the Taj Mahal through an
imposing red sandstone gate, decorated with
inscriptions from the Muslim holy book, the
Qur'an (Koran). The gate and accompanying
walls also contain a vast, geometrically laid
out garden, 305 m (1,002 ft) on each side.
The enclosed garden, itself a Muslim
symbol of paradise, is centered on a large,
raised pool. Canals divide it into four equal
parts, each containing flower beds,
fountains, and cypress trees (symbols of
death).

Taj Mahal,
a mausoleum in Agra, India, regarded as
one of the most beautiful buildings in the
world. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan had
it built in memory of his wife, Arjumand
Banu Bagam, known as Mumtaz Mahal
 The complex, built of both sandstone and
laterite (a dense, porous, iron-bearing soil
that can be quarried like stone), forms a
rectangle of about 850 m by 1000 m (2800
by 3800 ft). It was constructed to serve both
as a sepulchre for Suryavarman II, whose
regime had adopted some aspects of
Hinduism, and as a celebration of his status
as an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.
As a sepulchre the temple was built facing
west (the direction taken by the dead in
going to their next life, in Hindu belief),
rather than facing east, which was traditional
for Hindu temples. Taking more than 30
years to build, the layout of the complex was
conceived as an architectural allegory of the
Hindu cosmology (world concept). At the
center of the complex stands a temple with
five lotus-shaped towers, a larger central
tower, and four smaller surrounding towers.
These represent the five peaks of Mount
Meru—according to Hindu belief, the
mountain where the gods reside and from
which all creation comes. The central tower
enclosure is surrounded by three square,
terraced enclosures that rise toward the
central towers. The series of terraces
symbolizes the mountain ranges that in
Hindu cosmology surround the habitable
world. The entire complex is surrounded by
a moat over 5 km in length, representing the
primordial ocean, over which extends an
elaborate 475-m causeway, leading to the
main of four gateways into the temple
complex. The causeway was decorated on
each side with carvings depicting the divine
serpents, known as nagas.
Angkor Wat,
Renowned Hindu temple complex at
Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire of
Cambodia from the early 9th century to the
mid-15th century, now a destination for
Buddhist pilgrims. Built for King
Suryavarman II in the 12th century, Angkor
Wat is the most famous temple in Cambodia
and is probably the largest religious
monument ever constructed.
 Terraces are commonly referred to by Filipinos
as the "Eighth Wonder of the World".[1][2][3] It is
commonly thought that the terraces were built
with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The
terraces are located approximately 1500 meters
(5000 ft) above sea level and cover 10,360
square kilometers (about 4000 square miles) of
mountainside. They are fed by an ancient
irrigation system from the rainforests above the
terraces. It is said that if the steps are put end to
end it would encircle half the globe.[4]

Borobudur, Hindu-Buddhist
temple, near Magelang on the island of
Java in Indonesia. Built in the 9th century
under the Sailendra dynasty of Java, it was
abandoned in the 11th century and partially
excavated by archaeologists in the early 20th
century. Influenced by the Gupta
architecture of India, the temple is
constructed on a hill 46 m (150 ft) high and
consists of eight steplike stone terraces, one
on top of the other. The first five terraces are
square and surrounded by walls adorned
with Buddhist sculpture in bas-relief; the
upper three are circular, each with a circle of
bell-shaped stupas (Buddhist shrines).. The
way to the summit extends through some 4.8
km (some 3 mi) of passages and stairways

Temple of Tōdai-ji, Nara

The temple of Tōdai-ji is located in the city
of Nara, the first permanent capital of Japan.
Built in the 8th century and reconstructed in
1692, it is one of the oldest and most
important Buddhist temples in Japan. It is
also one of the world’s largest structures
made of wood.

The Banaue Rice Terraces are 2000-

year old terraces that were carved into the
mountains of Ifugao in the Philippines by
ancestors of the indigenous people. The Rice