Yalu River - Geography

Geography

From 2,500 m above sea level on Changbai Mountain, on the China-North Korea border, the river flows south to Hyesan before sweeping 130 km northwest to Linjiang and then returning to a more southerly route for a further 300 km to empty into the Korea Bay between Dandong (China) and Sinŭiju (North Korea).

The bordering Chinese provinces are Jilin and Liaoning.

The river is 790 km (491 mi) long and receives the water from over 30,000 km² of land. The Yalu's most significant tributaries are the Changjin (장진강, 長津江), Heochun (허천강, 虚川江), Tokro and Ai (瑷河) rivers. The river is not easily navigable for most of its length.

The depth of the Yalu River varies from some of the more shallow parts on the eastern side in Hyesan (1 metre) to the deeper parts of the river near the Yellow Sea (2.5 metres).

There are 205 islands on the Yalu. A 1962 border treaty between North Korea and China split the islands according to which ethnic group were living on each island. North Korea possesses 127 and China 78. Due to the division criteria, some islands such as Hwanggumpyong Island belong to North Korea but abut the Chinese side of the river.