Which river forms the world's deepest canyon, Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon?

The Yarlung Tsangpo River forms the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon, commonly described as the world’s deepest canyon.

The river flows through Tibet before entering the gorge near the eastern Himalayas. It bends dramatically around Mount Namcha Barwa and cuts between that peak and Gyala Peri, producing a canyon whose deepest measured sections reach about 6,009 metres. The canyon is also roughly 504.6 kilometres long, making it longer than Arizona’s Grand Canyon.

Yarlung Tsangpo is the Tibetan name for the river’s upper course. After crossing into India, the same river is known as the Siang or Dihang and then the Brahmaputra. That naming change creates the most common quiz confusion: Brahmaputra is a defensible name for the river farther downstream, but Yarlung Tsangpo is the canonical answer for the canyon in Tibet.

The gorge was long difficult for outsiders to explore. British-era expeditions investigated whether the Tsangpo connected to the Brahmaputra, and expeditions in the early twentieth century confirmed the river’s course. Its rapids, remoteness, and extreme terrain have earned it the nickname “Everest of Rivers.”