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The Khone Falls and Pha Pheng Falls is a waterfall
Waterfall

A waterfall is usually a geology geologic formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a nickpoint, or sudden break in elevation....
 on the Mekong River in Laos
Laos

Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west....
 in the Champasak Province
Champasak Province

Champasak is a province in southwestern Laos, near the borders with Thailand and Cambodia. It is one of the three principalities that succeeded the Laos kingdom of Lan Xang....
 near its border with Cambodia
Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
. The Khone Falls are the main reason that the Mekong is not navigable into China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.

The falls' total height is 21 meters (69 ft) in segmented cascades (or rapids) stretching over 10 kilometers (six miles) of the river's length. The average discharge of the cataract is nearly 11,000 cubic meters per second (3 million U.S.






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The Khone Falls and Pha Pheng Falls is a waterfall
Waterfall

A waterfall is usually a geology geologic formation resulting from water, often in the form of a stream, flowing over an erosion-resistant rock formation that forms a nickpoint, or sudden break in elevation....
 on the Mekong River in Laos
Laos

Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west....
 in the Champasak Province
Champasak Province

Champasak is a province in southwestern Laos, near the borders with Thailand and Cambodia. It is one of the three principalities that succeeded the Laos kingdom of Lan Xang....
 near its border with Cambodia
Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 13 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh....
. The Khone Falls are the main reason that the Mekong is not navigable into China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
.

The falls' total height is 21 meters (69 ft) in segmented cascades (or rapids) stretching over 10 kilometers (six miles) of the river's length. The average discharge of the cataract is nearly 11,000 cubic meters per second (3 million U.S. gallons per second), though the highest volume on record was reached at over 49,000 cubic meters per second (13 million U.S. gallons per second).

The area of the falls is dotted with islands and countless waterways, known as Si Phan Don
Si Phan Don

The Si Phan Don is a region of Champasak Province in southern Laos.The Mekong river flows through the province and, just above the Cambodia border, is broken by the Khone Falls, a large number of rapids which make this section impassable to river traffic....
 (meaning 4000 islands).

Navigable efforts

The Khone Falls are well known as the prime reason why the Mekong
Mekong

The Mekong River is one of the world?s major rivers. It is the 12th-longest river in the world, and 7th longest in Asia. . Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of ....
 river is not navigable into China
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
. In the late 19th century French colonialists made repeated efforts to navigate the falls but they all failed. The first time they succeeded in bringing vessels of any size to the part of the river above the falls was when they had built a railway between two islands on the falls, circumventing the steepest rapids and allowing trans-shipment.

Plabuck in the falls

The falls are home to the plabuck, an endangered species of catfish
Catfish

Catfish are a very diverse group of Actinopterygii fish. Named for their prominent barbel s, which resemble a cat's whiskers , catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest, the Pangasius gigas from Southeast Asia and the longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores , and even to a tiny parasite species commonly called the ca...
 said to be the largest freshwater fish in the world. The plabuck is alleged to reach lengths of 3 meters (10 ft) and weights of up to 646 pounds (293 kilograms).

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