, or Huang Ho English Yellow River
River, northern central and eastern China.
The second-longest river in China, it flows 3,395 mi (5,464 km) from the Plateau of Tibet east to the Yellow Sea (Huang Hai). In its lower reaches it has often overflowed its banks, flooding millions of acres of rich farmland, China's rice granary. Its outlet has shifted over the years to enter the Yellow Sea at points as far apart as 500 mi (800 km). Irrigation and flood-control works have been maintained for centuries, and dams, begun in 1955, exploit the river's hydroelectric potential.