Transcript The Huang River Valley

The Huang River Valley
Huang River
The Huang River is the 6th longest river
in the world. It is 3,395 miles long.
This river is the 2nd longest river in
China and passes through many
Chinese cities.
Huang River
As the Huang River flows
from Tibet downward it
picks up silt along the way.
During the summer floods it
spreads enough silt on the
North China Plain to create
one of the world’s largest
deltas.
Huang River
The Huang River is also
known as the Yellow River.
It is called the Yellow River
because as it flows it picks
up loess which dusty
yellow soil. This yellow soil
can turn the color of the
water yellow.
The Huang River is the
world’s muddiest river.
Farming
About 4000 B.C. farming communities
developed along the banks of the Huang
River.
China’s oldest civilization grew from
these farming communities.
Loess
Loess is a blessing for farmers because
it is a very fine rock free soil that is good
for planting.
However because Loess is so light, it
can easily get washed or blown away in
storms leaving farmers with poor soil.
Floods
The Huang River is very prone to flooding.
About 3,000 years ago, farmers began to
build earth levees to hold back the Huang.
A levee is a wall built along the river bank to
prevent flooding.
Floods
Overtime however, the Huang River
built up silt causing mud deposits.
As the mud deposits grew the river
spilled over the farmer’s levees.
Canals
Farmers along the Huang River also used
canals to bring water from the river to their
fields.
Loess would often clog these canals
making them ineffective until the farmers
cleared them out.
Farming
Many crops grew successfully in the loess
soil.
Huang River farmers grew rice, millet (a type
of grain), wheat, green onions, and ginger.
They also harvested grapes, peaches, plums
and chestnuts.
Rise in Population
As the crops grew more successful,
the Huang River Valley’s population
grew.
More and more farmers were moving
into this fertile area.
More farm land had to be created in
order to accommodate the growing
population.
Rise in Population Continued
Farmers cleared trees to take
advantage of the rich loess soil.
This resulted in erosion which is the
wearing away of soil by wind or water.
The soil was carried away in the
Huang’s many floods and storms.
Without the fertile loess soil it was
difficult for farmers to grow crops.
Famine
If too much of the soil washed away
there would not be enough food for
everyone.
This would result in a famine.
A famine is a time when very little
food is available to eat, and people
starve.
Other Regions of China
Not all areas of China are suitable
for farming.
An area to the north of the Huang
River Valley contains steppes.
A steppe is a dry, windswept,
treeless plain.
In this area no crops were grown,
instead farmers herded sheep and
cattle.