| Han River (漢江) | |
| Hanshui | |
| River | |
| Country | China |
|---|---|
| Regions | Shaanxi, Hubei |
| Part of | Yangtze River basin |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Xun River, Dan River, Bai River, Fu River |
| - right | Nan River |
| Cities | Hanzhong, Ankang, Shiyan, Xiangfan, Wuhan |
| Source | Near Hanzhong |
| - location | Qin Mountains, Shaanxi |
| - elevation | 580 m (1,903 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| Mouth | Yangtze River |
| - location | Wuhan, Hubei |
| - elevation | 75 m (246 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| Length | 1,532 km (952 mi), Northwest-southeast |
| Basin | 174,300 km2 (67,298 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| - average | 2,156 m3/s (76,138 cu ft/s) |
| - max | 105,000 m3/s (3,708,040 cu ft/s) |
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Map highlighting watershed of the Han Jiang
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The Han River (simplified Chinese: 汉江; traditional Chinese: 漢江; pinyin: Hàn Jiāng) is a left tributary of the Yangtze River (Cháng Jiāng) with a length of 1532 km. Historically it was referred to as Hànshuǐ (Chinese: 汉水) and the name is still occasionally used today.
The Han River rises in southwestern Shaanxi and flows east across the southern part of that province. To the north are the Qin Mountains, then the Wei River tributary of the Yellow River and the Ordos Loop region. To the south are the Daba Mountains which separate it from Sichuan and Chongqing. The main cities are Hanzhong in the west and Ankang in the east. It then enters Hubei. It crosses most of Hubei from the northwest to the southeast, falling into the Yangtze at the provincial capital Wuhan, a city of several million inhabitants. The merging rivers divide the city of Wuhan into three sections: Wuchang (on the south side of the Yangtze, across the river from the mouth of the Han River), Hankou (on the north side of the Yangtze and the Han), and Hanyang (between the Yangtze and the Han).
Danjiangkou Dam was constructed on the Han River in northern Hubei in 1958. It has been heightened since. The Danjiangkou Reservoir created thereby is now used as part of the South–North Water Transfer Project.