Pearl River (China)

Pearl River (珠江)
Zhū Jiāng
Pearl River in Humen near Humen Town
Countries	China, Vietnam
States	Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, Cao Bằng, Lạng Sơn
Source	various sources of its tributaries
Mouth	South China Sea
Length	2,400 km (1,491 mi)
Basin	453,700 km2 (175,175 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	9,500 m3/s (335,489 cu ft/s)
The course of the Pearl River system through China and Vietnam

Coordinates: 22°46′N 113°38′E / 22.767°N 113.633°E / 22.767; 113.633

The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang and formerly often known as the Canton River, is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Xi ("West"), Bei ("North"), and Dong ("East") rivers of Guangdong. These rivers are all considered tributaries of the Pearl River because they share a common delta, the Pearl River Delta. Measured from the farthest reaches of the Xi River, the Pearl River system is China's third-longest river, 2,400 kilometres (1,500 mi), after the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and second largest by volume, after the Yangtze. The 409,480-square-kilometre (158,100 sq mi) Pearl River Basin (珠江流域) drains the majority of Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi provinces), as well as parts of Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan and Jiangxi in China; it also drains northern parts of Vietnam's Northeast Cao Bằng and Lạng Sơn provinces.