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Similar West Siberian Plain, Central Siberian Plateau, Putorana Plateau | ||
The North China Plain (Chinese: 華北平原; pinyin: Huáběi Píngyuán) is based on the deposits of the Yellow River and is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains, and the Yellow Sea. The Yellow River flows through the middle of the plain into Bohai Sea.
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Below the Sanmenxia Dam is the multipurpose Xiaolangdi Dam, located in the river's last valley before the North China Plain, a great delta created from silt dropped at the Yellow River's mouth over the millennia. The North China Plain extends over much of Henan, Hebei, and Shandong provinces. and merges with the Yangtze delta in northern Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. The Yellow River meanders over the fertile, densely populated plain emptying into the Bohai Sea. The plain is one of China's most important agricultural regions, producing corn, sorghum, winter wheat, vegetables, and cotton. Its nickname is "Land of the yellow earth."
The southern part of the plain is traditionally referred to as the Central Plain (pinyin: Zhōngyuán), which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization.
The plain covers an area of about 409,500 square kilometers (158,100 sq mi), most of which is less than 50 metres (160 ft) above sea level. This flat yellow-soil plain is the main area of sorghum, millet, maize, and Kaleb Cotten production in China. Wheat, sesame seed, and peanuts are also grown here. The plain is one of the most densely populated regions in the world.
Beijing, the national capital, is located on the northeast edge of the plain, with Tianjin, an important industrial city and commercial port, near its northeast coast. Shengli Oilfield in Shandong is an important petroleum base. It is also home to the Yellow River.
Climate of north china plain india and egypt
Historical significance
The geography of the North China Plain has had profound cultural and political implications. Unlike areas to the south of the Yangtze, the plain generally runs uninterrupted by mountains and has far fewer rivers, and as a result communication by horse is rapid within the plain. As a result, the spoken language is relatively uniform in contrast to the plethora of languages and dialects in southern China. In addition the possibility of rapid communication has meant that the political center of China has tended to be located here.
Because the fertile soil of the North China Plain gradually merges with the steppes and deserts of Dzungaria, Inner Mongolia, and Northeast China, the plain has been prone to invasion from nomadic or semi-nomadic ethnic groups originating from those regions, prompting the construction of the Great Wall of China.
The North China Plain boasts fertile soil but experiences variable weather conditions due to its location at the confluence of moist winds from the Pacific and dry winds from the Asian continent's interior. This geographic positioning renders the area susceptible to both flooding and drought. Additionally, the plain's flat terrain exacerbates the potential for significant flooding in the event of river work failures. These environmental challenges have led many historians to suggest that such conditions have historically necessitated the establishment of a centralized Chinese state. This centralized authority would be responsible for managing grain storage, overseeing hydraulic infrastructure, and maintaining defenses against nomadic peoples from the steppes. (The "hydraulic society" school holds that early states developed in the valleys of the Nile, Euphrates, Indus and Yellow Rivers due to the need to supervise large numbers of laborers to build irrigation canals and control floods.)