Yellow River (Huang He)

The basin of the Yellow River is thought to have been the birthplace of the Chinese civilisation. Like the Nile, the Yellow River basin was surrounded by moist, nutrient rich soil suitable for agriculture. The Yellow River is also responsible for some of the worst floods in history, having flooded 1593 times in the last four thousand years, killing millions of people living in the flat plains surrounding the river. Due to the build-up of silt, the river has changed its course suddenly and dramatically 18 times, leaving many people homeless and their lands flooded. The Yellow River’s source is in the Bayankala mountains in Qinghai province and its mouth is in the Bahai Sea. Its name comes from the muddy sediment deposits on the lower stretches of the river.