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===Mekong River Delta=== {{See also|Mekong Delta}} The Mekong Delta, covering about 40,000 square kilometers, is a low-level plain not more than three meters above sea level at any point and criss-crossed by a maze of canals and rivers. So much sediment is carried by the Mekong's various branches and tributaries that the delta advances sixty to eighty meters into the sea every year. An official Vietnamese source estimates the amount of sediment deposited annually to be about 1 billion cubic meters, or nearly thirteen times the amount deposited by the Red River. About 10,000 square kilometers of the delta are under rice cultivation, making the area one of the major rice-growing regions of the world. The southern tip, known as the [[Cà Mau province|Cà Mau Peninsula]] is covered by dense jungle and [[mangrove]] swamps. The [[Mekong River|Mekong]], which is 4,220 kilometers long, is one of the 12 great rivers of the world. From its source in the [[Tibetan Plateau]], it flows through the Tibetan and Yunnan regions of China, forms the boundary between Laos and [[Myanmar]] as well as between Laos and Thailand. At [[Phnom Penh]] it merges with the [[Tonlé Sap]] and divides into two branches – the Sông Hậu Giang (Hậu Giang river) (known as the [[Bassac River]] on the Cambodian side) and the Sông Tiền Giang (Tiền Giang river) – and continues through Cambodia and the Mekong basin before draining into the [[South China Sea]] through nine mouths known as the ''Cửu Long'' (nine dragons). The river is heavily silted and is navigable by seagoing craft of shallow draft as far as [[Kampong Cham (city)|Kompong Cham]] in Cambodia. A tributary entering the river at Phnom Penh drains the [[Tonlé Sap]], a shallow [[freshwater]] lake that acts as a natural reservoir to stabilize the flow of water through the lower Mekong. When the river is in flood stage, its [[silt]]ed delta outlets are unable to carry off the high volume of water. Floodwaters back up into the Tonlé Sap, causing the lake to inundate as much as 10,000 square kilometers. As the flood subsides, the flow of water reverses and proceeds from the lake to the sea. The effect is to reduce significantly the danger of devastating floods in the Mekong delta, where the river floods the surrounding fields each year to a level of one to two meters.
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