The Mekong River and Its Delta: River vs. Landform

Distinction: River vs. Delta

The Mekong River is a river—a flowing watercourse that originates on the Tibetan Plateau and runs ~4,350 km through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. A delta is the landform created at its mouth where sediment deposition builds a fan-shaped plain.

The Mekong Delta

• Location: Southern Vietnam (and a small part of Cambodia)
• Area: ~40,000 km² (one of the world's largest deltas)
• Characteristics: Distributary channels, fertile alluvial soils, intensive rice cultivation, aquaculture, dense population
• Name in Vietnamese: Đồng bằng Sông Cửu Long ("Nine Dragon River Delta")

Why the Confusion?

The delta is so vast and economically vital that the region is often called "the Mekong Delta" as a shorthand for the entire lower basin. But geomorphologically, the river has a delta; it is not a delta.