Yalu River
Amber Fellows
• iver of northeastern Asia that forms the northwestern
boundary between North Korea and the Northeast
region (Manchuria) of China. The Chinese provinces of
Jilin and Liaoning are bordered by the river. Its length is
estimated to be about 500 miles (800 km), and it drains
an area of some 12,260 square miles (31,750 square
km). From a mountainous source in the Changbai
Mountains, the river flows southwestward to drain into
Korea Bay (an embayment of the Yellow Sea). The river
is an important source of hydroelectric power, is used
for transportation (especially of lumber from the rich
forests on its banks), and provides fish for the riverine
populations.
• In addition to serving as a political boundary, the Yalu River
constitutes a dividing line between Chinese and Korean
cultures. It is generally known abroad by its Chinese name,
Yalu, instead of by its Korean name, Amnok. According to
ancient writing, the Chinese name, which is derived from
the characters ya (“duck”) and lu (“greenish blue”), is a
comparison of the blueness of the river's waters to the
greenish blue of a particular species of domestic duck that
inhabits it. The Yalu did not become a political boundary
until the Korean-Chinese border was established toward
the end of the Korean Koryo dynasty in the 14th century.
The river played an important political role in the Korean
War (1950–53).
• The Yalu rises in Tian Lake (known in Korean as
Ch'on Lake), a body of water of indeterminate
depth on top of Mount Baitou (Mount Paektu),
on the Chinese–North Korean border, at an
elevation of about 9,000 feet (2,700 metres)
above sea level. Winding southward as far as
Hyesan, N.Kor., and then meandering
northwestward for some 80 miles (130 km), the
river reaches Linjiang, Jilin province, from which it
flows southwestward for 200 miles (320 km)
before emptying into Korea Bay.
• Except for small areas of basaltic lava along the
easternmost part of the river's course, the Yalu
flows over Precambrian rock (more than 540
million years old) before its distributaries begin to
spread out to form its delta. Throughout much of
its course it flows through deep, gorgelike valleys,
with mountains ranging in height from 1,900 to
3,800 feet (600 to 1,200 metres) above sea level
rising on either bank. The principal tributaries are
the Herchun, Changjin, and Tokro rivers from
North Korea and the Hun River from China.
• The upper part of the Yalu as far as Linjiang has rapid
currents, many waterfalls, and sunken rocks. The
middle part, which extends as far as Ch'osan (N.Kor.),
contains considerable deposits of alluvium that make
the riverbed so shallow in places that it prevents even
timber rafts from passing downstream during the dry
season. The lower part of the river's course has a very
slow current in which deposits of alluvium are even
greater and form a vast delta containing many islands.
The silting of the river has increased so much since the
mid-20th century that, whereas ships of 1,000 tons
could easily sail upstream to the port of Sinuiju, N.Kor.,
in 1910, 500-ton ships can hardly manage to do so now
• The climate along the river's course is typically continental
and characterized by cold winters and warm summers. The
river is frozen and thus closed to navigation during the four
winter months (November through February). Because it is
situated in mountain ranges and is not far from oceans, the
river's basin receives fairly heavy precipitation, much of
which occurs as rainfall during June, July, August, and
September. The abundant rainfall waters rich forests of
conifers as well as deciduous trees. The forests provide a
sanctuary for wildlife, including wild boars, wolves, tigers,
jaguars, bears, foxes, and such birds as ptarmigans and
pheasants. The river abounds in carp and eels.
• It is notable that fish in two of the tributaries of
the Yalu—the Herchun and Changjin—are like
those in the upper stream of the Amur River in
China and not like those in the Yalu. It is
supposed that these tributaries once were
connected with the Sungari (Songhua) River, a
tributary to the Amur, only to be separated from
it and connected with the Yalu when an eruption
of Mount Baitou produced a flow of basaltic lava
during the Quaternary Period (within the last 1.8
million years).
• Ever since a tribe called the Yojin was driven into
Manchuria in the 16th century, the Korean side of
the river has been inhabited only by Koreans. The
northwestern (Chinese) bank is inhabited by
Manchu and Han Chinese. The arable land along
the river amounts to no more than 220,000 acres
(89,000 hectares). Rice is the main crop grown
along the river's lower course; corn (maize),
millet, soybeans, barley, and sweet potatoes are
raised farther upstream, in the mountainous
middle and upper reaches of the river.
• The river measures about 460 feet (140 metres) in width and 3 feet (1
metre) in depth at Hyesan and is 640 to 800 feet (200 to 250 metres) wide
and 4.5 feet (1.4 metres) deep at Chunggang. It reaches 1,280 feet (390
metres) in width at Sindojang, the location of an immense reservoir of the
Sup'ung (Shuifeng) Dam hydroelectric station. In its estuary the river is 3
miles (5 km) wide and 8 feet (2.5 metres) deep.
• The river is primarily important as a source for hydroelectricity. The largest
dam on the river is located at Sup'ung, N.Kor., 35 miles (56 km) upstream
from Sinuiju. The height of the dam is 320 feet (100 metres) and its length
is 2,880 feet (880 metres); the surface area of the reservoir is 133 square
miles (345 square km). Its potential generating capacity amounts to about
7 million kilowatts, and it supplies electricity for a large area of the
northern part of North Korea as well as adjacent areas of Jilin and
Liaoning. Its importance to China, especially at the time of the
establishment of the People's Republic, was one of the main reasons that
China entered the Korean War in 1950, when United Nations troops were
advancing northward toward the Yalu.