Annamite Range

Annamite Range
ພູຫລວງ Dãy Trường Sơn
Annamite Range in Pu Mat National Park, Vietnam
Highest point
Peak	Phou Bia
Elevation	2,598 m (8,524 ft)
Coordinates	18°35′30″N 103°48′0″E / 18.59167°N 103.80000°E / 18.59167; 103.80000Coordinates: 18°35′30″N 103°48′0″E / 18.59167°N 103.80000°E / 18.59167; 103.80000
Dimensions
Length	1,100 km (680 mi) NW/SE
Width	130 km (81 mi) NE/SW
Geography
Countries	Laos and Vietnam
Geology
Age of rock	Triassic

The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains is a mountain range of eastern Indochina, which extends approximately 1,100 km (680 mi) through Laos, Vietnam, and a small area in northeast Cambodia. It is known in Vietnamese as Dãy Trường Sơn, in Lao as Xai Phou Luang (ພູ ຫລວງ), and in French as the Chaîne Annamitique. The mountain range is also referred to variously as Annamese Range, Annamese Mountains, Annamese Cordillera, Annamite Mountains and Annamite Cordillera.

The highest points of the range are 2,819 m high Phou Bia, 2,720 m high Phu Xai Lai Leng and Ngọc Linh (Ngoc Pan), 2,598 m (8,524 ft). The latter is located at the northwestern edge of the Triassic Kontum Massif, in central Vietnam. Important passes are the Nape Pass and the Mu Gia Pass.

The Annamite Range runs parallel to the Vietnamese coast, in a gentle curve which divides the basin of the Mekong River from Vietnam's narrow coastal plain along the South China Sea. Most of the crests are on the Laotian side. The eastern slope of the range rises steeply from the plain, drained by numerous short rivers. The western slope is more gentle, forming significant plateaus before descending to the banks of the Mekong. The range itself has three main plateaus, from north to south: Phouane Plateau, Nakai Plateau and Bolaven Plateau.

Laos lies mostly within the Mekong basin, west of the divide, although most of Houaphan Province and a portion of Xiangkhoang Province (where the famous Plain of Jars is located) lie east of the divide. Most of Vietnam lies east of the divide, although Vietnam's Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) region lies west of the divide, in the Mekong basin.