The Huang River Valley

1
The Huang River Valley

2
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.

3
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
  worlds largest deltas.

4
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 worlds muddiest river.

5
Farming

• About 4000 B.C. farming communities developed
  along the banks of the Huang River.
• Chinas oldest civilization grew from these
  farming communities.

6
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.

7
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.

8
Floods

• Overtime however, the Huang River built up silt
  causing mud deposits.
• As the mud deposits grew the river spilled over
  the farmers levees.

9
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.

10
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.

11
Rise in Population

• As the crops grew more successful, the Huang
  River Valleys 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.

12
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 Huangs many
  floods and storms.
• Without the fertile loess soil it was difficult
  for farmers to grow crops.

13
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.

14
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.