Facts about the Mekong

1. 09

   Monsoon flooding in the Mekong basin can raise water levels by up to 10 meters during peak season, transforming the landscape into a vast inland sea across Cambodia and southern Laos.

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2. 08

   Each year, the Mekong Delta supplies approximately 50 percent of Vietnam's rice exports and feeds roughly 17 million people living within its borders.

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3. 07

   Mekong giant catfish, once abundant throughout the river, have declined by 90 percent since the 1980s due to dam construction and overfishing of their spawning grounds.

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4. 06

   In 1975, the Mekong Committee was established by Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam to coordinate water resource management and development across the four-nation basin.

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5. 05

   The Mekong River extends 2,703 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea, making it Southeast Asia's longest river and the 12th longest globally.

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6. 04

   Over 1,200 fish species inhabit the Mekong River, making it the world's second most biodiverse river system after the Amazon.

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7. 03

   Between 1997 and 2020, the Mekong River's flow decreased by approximately 35 percent during dry season months due to upstream dam construction in China and other countries.

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8. 02

   Sediment deposits from the Mekong Delta have built up at a rate of 100-150 millimeters per year over the past century, creating one of the world's fastest-growing river deltas.

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9. 01

   Approximately 60 million people depend on the Mekong River for food, water, and livelihoods across Southeast Asia.

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