Pathein River
River in Ayeyarwady Region, Myanmar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pathein River (Burmese: ပုသိမ်မြစ်), formerly called the Bassein River, is the westernmost distributary of the Irrawaddy River in the Irrawaddy delta of Myanmar flowing through Ayeyarwady Region.[1] The river is also interchangeably known as the Ngawun River (Burmese: ငဝန်မြစ်).[2]
| Pathein River ပုသိမ်မြစ် Ngawun River ငဝန်မြစ် | |
|---|---|
View of Pathein from the Pathein River | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country |  Myanmar |
| Region |  Ayeyarwady Region |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Irrawaddy River near Hinthada |
| • elevation | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Andaman Sea |
• elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Length | 114 mi (183 km) |
| Basin features | |
| Cities | Lemyethna, Ngathaingchaung, Thabaung, Pathein, Ngapudaw, Hainggyi Island |
Seafaring vessels from Andaman Sea are able to travel about 75 miles (121 km) inland up the Pathein River to the city of Pathein.[3] As far south as Thabaung Township, about 20 miles north of Pathein, the river becomes prone to seasonal flooding in a flood plain environment.[4]
The river also provides fresh water to the city of Pathein through a treatment plant in the village of Mayanchaung.[5]
Physiography
The river diverges from the Ayeyarwady in southeastern Ingapu Township, close to the city of Hinthada.[6] The Pathein river is part of the tide-dominated Irrawaddy delta system and has several distributaries of its own.[1] The overall Pathein distributary system carries less than 10% of the Ayeyarwady River's total discharge volume.[7] It flows southwards and empties into the Andaman Sea next to Hainggyi Island.[8]
Ecology
The mouth of the Pathein River is home to nesting beaches for five species of marine turtles, including the rare Hawksbill sea turtle and Leatherback sea turtle species.[9] Thameehla Island at the mouth of the Pathein River is known to be a major nesting ground for Green sea turtle and is the location of a conservation effort by the Department of Fisheries.[10]