Han River (Shaanxi and Hubei)

For the river located mostly in Guangdong, see Han River (Guangdong).

Han River (汉江)
Han Jiang / Hanshui
The Hankou side of the Han River in Wuhan
Country	China
Regions	Shaanxi, Hubei
Part of	Yangtze River basin
Tributaries
- left	Xun, Dan, zh, Fushui River
- right	Du, Chi, Nan, Muma
Cities	Hanzhong, Ankang, Shiyan, Xiangyang, 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)
Map highlighting watershed of the Han Jiang

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 1,532 kilometres (952 mi). Historically it was referred to as Hanshui (simplified Chinese: 汉水; traditional Chinese: 漢水; pinyin: Hànshuǐ) and the name is still occasionally used today. The river lent its name to Hanzhong, which lent its name to the Han Dynasty.

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.

See also

• Xihan River, the "Western Han"