Amur-Heilong River Basin

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Virtual Information Center for Amur River Region (VICARR)

Page editors:
Eugene Simonov,
Olga Sass

Argun River, the southern source of the Amur-Heilong, forms the border between China and Russia

Where is Amur-Heilong?

The Amur-Heilong River is one of the world's largest free-flowing rivers at approximately 4,444 kilometres in length and with a watershed that far exceeds 2 million square kilometres.

Boundary Rivers

The Amur, Argun and Ussury rivers form the border between China and Russia for over 3,000 km, making the Amur river network one of the world's longest riverine borders. This is the largest international river basin in East Asia. It flows eastwards from the Mongolian Plateau through 13 provinces of Mongolia, China, and Russia and covers a tiny part of North Korea at Tianchi Lake (Heaven's Pool) in the Changbai Mountains.

Sea Connections

The Amur River empties into the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk via the Tatar Straights, and to a large extent determines the chemical composition and biological productivity of these waters so important for Japanese and other Northeast Asian fishermen. Therefore, although none of the basin area lies within the bounds of Japan or South Korea, both nations' economies heavily depend on its environmental condition. For them it has much greater economic importance than any of the many rivers crossing their own territory.

Flyways

Major migratory bird flyways criss-cross the basin and connect it to remote countries of South and Southeast Asia, and even Australia. European countries also receive birds breeding in the Amur Basin. Therefore, through vital ecological links the Amur-Heilong is firmly connected with the half of the world in one life-supporting system, making its ecological well-being of global concern and world-wide importance.