Indus River is a river of China, India, and Pakistan. It is the source of one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. The Indus rises north of the Himalaya, in the Tibet region of China, at an elevation of about 17,000 feet (5,180 meters). It travels northwest, west, and southwest, from Tibet through both Indian- and Pakistani-held areas of Kashmir, and then through Pakistan, for a total of about 1,900 miles (3,058 kilometers). It empties into the Arabian Sea through several mouths. The river drains an area of about 375,000 square miles (970,000 square kilometers).
The Indian Peninsula has a larger system of modern irrigation canals than any comparable region in the world. Many of these canals are in the Indus Valley. The partition (division) of India in 1947 gave most of the water in the Indus Basin to Pakistan. Dams along the Indus River supply water for the surrounding area. They include Tarbela Dam, one of the world’s largest dams in volume.
The river became less important as a trade route when the Indus Valley Railway was built along it in 1878. Today, so much water is removed for irrigation that only small boats can use the river.
