Which 6,300 km river is the longest river in Asia?

At roughly 6,300 kilometres, the Yangtze is Asia’s longest river.

Known in Chinese as the Chang Jiang, or “Long River,” it rises on the Tibetan Plateau and flows generally eastward across China to the East China Sea. It passes through or supports major urban and agricultural regions, including Chongqing, Wuhan and the Yangtze River Delta near Shanghai. The river basin covers about 1.8 million square kilometres and supports nearly one-third of China’s population.

The exact length varies by how geographers define the river’s most distant source and which headwaters are included. One commonly cited figure is 6,300 kilometres; measurements incorporating the Dam Qu source can reach about 6,374 kilometres. These differences do not change the standard answer: it remains Asia’s longest river and the world’s third-longest.

The Yangtze is also a major economic and ecological system. The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydroelectric power station, while the basin contains distinctive wildlife such as the Chinese alligator and the endangered narrow-ridged finless porpoise. The Yellow River is historically prominent, but it is much shorter.