Hotan River

BW

Template: Infobox River / BILD_fehlt

Satellite image of the Taklamakan desert to the river of Hotan

Course of Hotan in the catchment area of the Tarim

The Hotan (also Hotan Hey, chinese和田 河, Pinyin Hetian hé, Hotan River ' ) is a river in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China.

The Hotan arises in the Taklamakan Desert at the confluence of its two source rivers Karakax and Yurungkax, about 150 km north of the city of Hotan. It flows in a northerly direction through the Tarim Basin. Its water is used for irrigation. Only with strong water flow, while the snow melt in the summer months of July and August, reached the river about 300 kilometers from the Tarim. In dry years, it happens that the Hotan the Tarim not reached, but seeps before. The Hotan drains an area of ​​43,600 km ², which extends to the south through the western Kunlun Mountains.