River
Han River
1,532 km from source to mouth · China.
ChinaFlows into Yangtze River8th longest in China
In numbers
Length
1,532km
Average flow
2,200m³/s
Basin
175,000km²
Drop
509m
from 525 m to 16 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,532 km of river and 31 stops on the way: 18 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 525 m
- 29 kmHanzhong1,006,557 people
- 70 kmChenggu116,375 people
- 95 kmYangzhou64,349 people
- 218 kmShiquan53,422 people
- 329 kmZiyang Chengguanzhen35,496 people
- 389 kmAnkang Reservoir57 km²
- 389 kmAnkang Dam
- 408 kmAnkang870,126 people
- 461 kmXunyang67,929 people
- 760 kmDanjiangkou Reservoir Bridge
- 784 kmDan Rivertributary
- 785 kmDanjiangkou Shuiku286 km²
- 787 kmDanjiangkou92,008 people
- 816 kmLaohekou241,431 people
- 911 kmXiangyang1,294,733 people
- 966 kmYicheng61,027 people
- 1,055 kmZhongxiang Han River Bridge
- 1,057 kmZhongxiang439,394 people
- 1,154 kmDuobao90,257 people
- 1,287 kmXiantao239,406 people
- 1,340 kmHanchuan87,737 people
- 1,405 kmCaidian71,891 people
- 1,425 kmLongyang Lake1.2 km²
- 1,427 kmHanjiangwan Bridge
- 1,428 kmCross Han river tunnel of Wuhan Metro line 3
- 1,429 kmHanshui railway bridge
- 1,430 kmCross Han river tunnel of Wuhan Metro line 12
- 1,433 kmCross Han river tunnel of Wuhan Metro line 6
- 1,434 kmWuhan13,739,000 people
- 1,435 kmQingchuan Bridge
- 1,436 kmWuchang1,102,188 people
- 1,532 kmYangtze Riverat 16 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Longest tributary of the Yangtze River, China
At the mouth it carries 2,156 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.2 seconds. It drops from 525 m to 16 m, 0.3 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 175,000 km², about the size of UY. 284 million people live in it. Highest water: from July to October; lowest: from January to March. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (18% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- WuhanLargest city on its banks · 13,739,000 people
- Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (WUH)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 22 km from the city
- On the water76 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From April to June and from September to OctoberThe best months to visit
Han River, month by month
Highest water: from July to October
Lowest water: from January to March. Best months to visit: from April to June and from September to October.
From about 8,800 m³/s in the lowest month to 42,000 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Han River: the basin in numbers
1,459,290 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 284millionpeople live in the basin
- 198/km²people per km²
- 1,911maverage altitude of the basin
- 973mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 10.4°Caverage air temperature
- 20%protected areas
- 0.6%covered by lakes
- 8%permafrost
- 132km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 38% Forest
- 19% Cropland
- 34% Pasture
- 5% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Han River: what you find on the way
- 2Weirs
- 6LocksHan Jiang, Yakou Lock Canal and 4 more
- 3Boat ramps
- 63Ferry piersXiaobeimen Pier, Guanting Pier, Zhakou Wharf and 60 more
- 10MarinasQianfu Pier, Longzikou Wharf, Yangchun Gate Scenic Pier and 7 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 3.1 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Han River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
3lakes on its wayLakeyas
Lakes and reservoirs (3)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Ankang Reservoirkm 34157km²
- Danjiangkou Shuikukm 688286km²
- Longyang Lakekm 1,2501.2km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Han River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Yangtze RiverChina6,300 km31,900 m³/sTributaries (3)
Also: Dan River, Du River, Jinqian River
In the same basin
China1,110 km1,200 m³/sYalong RiverChina1,323 km2,000 m³/sGan RiverChina758 km1,700 m³/sJialing RiverChina1,119 km2,100 m³/sWu RiverChina1,150 km1,800 m³/sXiang RiverChina801 km6,400 m³/sMin RiverChina711 km2,300 m³/sYuan RiverChina993 km2,000 m³/sDadu RiverChina642 km1,400 m³/sJinsha RiverChina3,005 km4,500 m³/sWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q875573) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit