Heilong Jiang - Definition

The Amur (Russian: Амур) (Simplified Chinese: 黑龙江; Traditional Chinese: 黑龍江; Hēilóng Jiāng, literally meaning "Black Dragon River") (Mongolian: Хара-Мурэн, Khara-Muren or "Black River") (Manchu: Sahaliyan Ula, literal meaning "Black River") is one of the world's ten longest rivers, located between the Russian Far East and Manchuria of China.

Flowing across northeast Asia for over 4400 km (2,700 mi), from the mountains of northeastern China to the Sea of Okhotsk (near Nikolayevsk-na-Amure), it drains a remarkable watershed that includes diverse landscapes of desert, steppe, tundra, and taiga in northeast Asia.

The Amur proper is the 2,874 km after the junction of two rivers:

• North: the Shilka, originating from the eastern slope of Kente Mountain in Mongolia.
• South: the Argun, originating on the western slope of the Daxing'an Range (大興安嶺) in northeastern China.

The two sources join in Moguhe Village (洛古河村), western Mohe County (漠河县), Heilongjiang Province, China, and become the Amur proper.

Major tributaries are:

• the Zeya,
• the Ussuri,
• the Bureya,
• the Songhua, and
• the Amgun

The Amur is bordered by Heilongjiang Province and Khabarovsk Krai, and passes through the following cities:

• South bank (China)
  • Heihe
  • Tongjiang
  • Huma
  • Jiayin
• North bank (Russia)
  • Khabarovsk
  • Komsomolsk-na-Amure
  • Nikolayevsk-na-Amure
  • Blagoveshchensk

Amur leopard

The Amur leopard is an endangered subspecies of the Leopard; it is estimated that there are fewer than 50 Amur leopards left in the wild.

See also: Geography of China

External links

• Information and a map of the Amur's watershed (http://earthtrends.wri.org/maps_spatial/maps_detail_static.cfm?map_select=344&theme=2)