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Abstract:
The Mekong River drains a catchment of over 800,000 km2 and is the world's 12th longest river (4800 km), the 8th largest water discharge (470 × 106 m3/year), and the 10th largest sediment load (160 × 106 tons/year). The Mekong starts on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau with a maximal elevation of 5220 m, flows through six countries (China with 16% of its basin, Myanmar with 5% of its basin, Laos with 35% of its basin, Thailand with 18% of its basin, Cambodia with 18% of its basin, and Vietnam with 11% its basin), and empties into the Vietnam East Sea (South China Sea). The Mekong River basin (MRB) has the world's most diverse river ecosystem. It is the world's largest inland fishery. Its biodiversity is fundamental to agricultural production and the food security of 90 million people in the Lower Mekong basin, including about 18 million people in the Vietnamese Mekong delta.
