Tonle Sap (river)
Tonle Sap | ||
Map of Cambodia with the location of the river |
||
Data | ||
location | Cambodia | |
River system | Mekong | |
Drain over | Mekong → South China Sea | |
origin |
Tonle Sap Lake 12 ° 30 ′ 18 ″ N , 104 ° 33 ′ 43 ″ E |
|
Source height | 9 m | |
muzzle | in Phnom Penh in the Mekong Coordinates: 11 ° 33 ′ 54 " N , 104 ° 56 ′ 28" E 11 ° 33 ′ 54 " N , 104 ° 56 ′ 28" E |
|
Mouth height | 7 m | |
Height difference | 2 m | |
Bottom slope | 0.02 ‰ | |
length | 125 km |
The Tonle Sap is a river in Cambodia that belongs to the Tonle Sap Lake system and flows into the Mekong .
The peculiarity of the river is that its direction of flow changes annually. During the rainy season (from June), when the Mekong has a lot of water, part of it flows over the Tonle Sap River to the northwest into Tonle Sap Lake and enlarges it. When the Mekong has a lower level during the dry season (from November), water flows back from the lake to the Mekong.
River as a transport route
A speedboat connection connects the city of Siem Reap in the northeast of the Tonle Sap with the capital Phnom Penh in the south, where the river connects with the Mekong . The Tonle Sap River and Lake are important transportation routes in this part of Cambodia. However, due to the increasingly improved road conditions, an ever larger proportion of goods and people are transported by land.
Bon Om Touk
At the time of the change of flow direction in November, the water festival Bon Om Touk takes place on the river near Phnom Penh , where teams from all over Cambodia compete in boat races.
During the water festival in 2010, a mass panic broke out on the Diamond Bridge on November 22, in which 375 people were killed and 755 injured. The mass panic broke out on the newly constructed, but too small-sized footbridge over the Bassac Canal, which connected Phnom Penh with the island of Koh Pich (Diamond Island). It was then torn down. Today a memorial erected later on the west bank of the former bridge commemorates the accident.
swell
- ↑ Cambodia Stampede, Shocking Event on Final Day at Night of Cambodia Water Festival on Diamond Bridge, Diamond Island, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. In: welcome2cambodia November 24, 2010.
- ↑ The country's biggest festival ended tragically. In: ORF News. November 23, 2010.