The Nanyang Basin ( zh, t=南陽盆地, s=南阳盆地, hp=Nányáng Péndì, j=Naam4joeng4 Pun4dei6) is a major

river basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, th ...

, principally of the Han River ( zh, t=漢水, s=汉水, hp=Hàn Shuǐ, j=Hon3 Seoi2), located in the central inland part of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, and thus forms part of the Middle Yangtze region. Much of its northern section is administered by

Henan Province Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Luo ...

, with a smaller southern region of the basin lying in Hubei Province. Its total area is 46291 square kilometers, and it is one of the most populous basins in China, with around 20 million residents.

Geography

The basin lies between 80 and 140 meters above sea level. Most of the minor tributaries within the basin feed into the ( zh, c=唐白河, hp=Tángbái Hé , j=Tong4baak6 ho4), which flows into the Han at the city of

Xiangyang Xiangyang is the second-largest prefecture-level city by population in northwestern Hubei province, China. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River (Hanshui), Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city n ...

( zh, t=襄陽, s=襄阳, hp=Xiāngyáng, j=Soeng1joeng4). The basin also includes the source of the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

. Many other tributaries in the basin flow northward into the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

. Thus the basin is a watershed of three major river basins, and is part of a transition zone between the north and the south of China, often forming a buffer zone in

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

. The basin is flanked on three sides by highlands: to the west are the Daba Mountains, to the north lie the

Funiu Mountains The Funiu Mountains, also known by their Chinese name Funiu Shan, are a mountain range in southern Shanxi and western Henan provinces in China. Geography The Funiu are an eastern extension of the Qins, running south of the Yellow River after i ...

, an eastern extension of the Qinling Mountains; to the east are the , which separate the valley from the Huai River drainage. To the south and southeast lies the Jianghan Plain, to which lowland access is provided through the Han River valley and the corridor, with the intervening. NanyangBaseNASA

The basin is home to some of the major historic cities of central China. The eponymous city of Nanyang () is located in the north-central area of the basin. The other major city, Xiangyang, is an agglomeration of Xiangcheng and Fancheng on opposite banks of the Han River, in the southern extremity of the basin.

Suizhou Suizhou ( zh, s= , t= , p=Suízhōu), formerly Sui County ( zh, s=, t=, p=Suí Xian, Suixian, links=no), is a prefecture-level city in northern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan province to the north and east. Etymolo ...

in the far southeast of the basin along the Yun River, is where the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, with its famous ''bianzhong'', was discovered in the 1970s. It is presumed that the state of Zeng was located here. Xichuan County ( zh, t=淅川縣, s=淅川县, hp=Xīchuān Xiàn, j=Sik1cyun1 jyun6), situated in the northwest of the basin, is presumed to be the cradle of the

state of Chu Chu (, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was an Ancient Chinese states, ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BC. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted ...

, a major polity of early Chinese history. The first capital of the state, Danyang ( zh, t=丹陽, s=丹阳, hp=Dānyáng, j=Daan1joeng4), is located in the county, and now falls under the city of Nanyang.

History

References

Drainage basins of China Landforms of Henan Landforms of Hubei {{china-stub