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Homes of Chinese Lakes
It is well known that there exists the Great Lakes Region in USA. However, do you know China also has the Great Lakes Region where the numerous lakes in the country exist?
Most lakes in China are small lakes, with only 31 large lakes bigger than 500 km2, which cover an area of 58490 km2. The major lakes are Qinghai Lake, Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake and Taihu Lake, etc. Compared with some large lakes in other countries, the lakes in China are much smaller. The area of the Caspian Sea is up to 395000 km2. The Great Lakes lying between Canada and USA are much larger than the largest lake in China.
The lake distribution in China is rather uneven, with about 99.98 percent of the lake area distributed in the Eastern Plain, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Mongolia-Xinjiang District, Northeastern Plain and Mountainous District, and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which are called Five Major Lake Districts in China. Among them, the Eastern Plain and Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau accommodate the largest number of lakes, which account for 81.6 percent of the total lake area in China and form the two dense lake clusters in the east and west China respectively. Now, let's have a look at the Five Major Lake Districts in China.
Regional distribution of the lake area and water storage in China
|
Lake region |
The lake area |
Lake Volume
(x108m3) |
Volume of Freshwater Lakes(x108m3) |
|
area(km2) |
percentage(%) |
|
Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau |
36899 |
45.2 |
5182 |
1035.0 |
|
Eastern Plain |
22900 |
28.1 |
711 |
211.0 |
|
Mongolia-Xinjiang District |
16400 |
20.1 |
697 |
23.5 |
|
Northeastern Plain and Mmountainous Region |
3800 |
4.6 |
190 |
188.5 |
|
Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau |
1200 |
1.5 |
288 |
288.5 |
|
Others |
372 |
0.5 |
20 |
15.0 |
|
Total |
81571 |
100.0 |
7088 |
2261.0 |
Data from "Lake Resources in China" by Wang Hongdao,Agriculture Publishing House,December,1987.
Various Titles for Lakes <<
A land of fish and rice -- Eastern Plain Lake District >>
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