Annamite Range

Annamite Range
ພູຫລວງ
Dãy Trường Sơn

Annamite Range in Pu Mat National Park, Vietnam
Highest point
Peak Phou Bia
Elevation 2,598 m (8,524 ft)
Coordinates 18°35′30″N 103°48′0″E / 18.59167°N 103.80000°E / 18.59167; 103.80000Coordinates: 18°35′30″N 103°48′0″E / 18.59167°N 103.80000°E / 18.59167; 103.80000
Dimensions
Length 1,100 km (680 mi) NW/SE
Width 130 km (81 mi) NE/SW
Geography
Countries Laos and Vietnam
Geology
Age of rock Triassic
Annamite Range in Hương Sơn District, Hà Tĩnh Province, Việt Nam
Landscape south of the Annamite Mountain Range near Hoi Yen, Quảng Nam Province, Việt Nam

The Annamite Range or the Annamese Mountains is a mountain range of eastern Indochina, which extends approximately 1,100 km (680 mi) through Laos, Vietnam, and a small area in northeast Cambodia. It is known in Vietnamese as Dãy Trường Sơn, in Lao as Xai Phou Luang (ພູ ຫລວງ), and in French as the Chaîne Annamitique. The mountain range is also referred to variously as Annamese Range, Annamese Mountains, Annamese Cordillera, Annamite Mountains and Annamite Cordillera.

The highest points of the range are 2,819 m high Phou Bia, 2,720 m high Phu Xai Lai Leng and Ngọc Linh (Ngoc Pan), 2,598 m (8,524 ft). The latter is located at the northwestern edge of the Triassic Kontum Massif, in central Vietnam.[1]

The Annamite Range runs parallel to the Vietnamese coast, in a gentle curve which divides the basin of the Mekong River from Vietnam's narrow coastal plain along the South China Sea. Most of the crests are on the Laotian side. The eastern slope of the range rises steeply from the plain, drained by numerous short rivers. The western slope is more gentle, forming significant plateaus before descending to the banks of the Mekong. The range itself has three main plateaus, from north to south: Phouane Plateau, Nakai Plateau and Bolaven Plateau.

Laos lies mostly within the Mekong basin, west of the divide, although most of Houaphan Province and a portion of Xiangkhoang Province (where the famous Plain of Jars is located) lie east of the divide. Most of Vietnam lies east of the divide, although Vietnam's Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) region lies west of the divide, in the Mekong basin.

"An-nam" means in Chinese "to pacify the south", referring to the region's location relative to China.

Ecology

The Annamite mountains now form an important tropical seasonal forest global ecoregion, the Annamite Range Moist Forests Ecoregion, which consists of two terrestrial ecoregions, the Southern Annamites montane forests and the Northern Annamites moist forests.[2]

The range is home to rare creatures such as the recently discovered Annamite rabbit and the antelope-like saola, the Douc langur, the large gaur, the Chinese pangolin and the Indochinese tiger.

History

Most of the highlands like the Annamite Range and the Central Highlands were populated by ethnic minorities who were not Vietnamese during the 20th century's start. The demographics were drastically transformed with the mass colonization of 6 million settlers from 1976 to the 1990s, which led to ethnic Vietnamese Kinh outnumbering the native ethnic groups in the highlands.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Southern Annamites montane rain forests Archived October 1, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ WWF - Annamite Range Moist Forests

External links

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