The
Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon or
Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon or simply the
Tsangpo Canyon,
Brahmaputra Canyon or
Tsangpo Gorge, along the
Yarlung Tsangpo River in
Tibet,
China, is regarded by some as the deepest
canyon in the world, and at 504.6 km (314 miles) is slightly longer than the
Grand Canyon in the United States, making it one of the world's largest. The Yarlung Tsangpo (Tibetan name for the upper course of the
Brahmaputra) originates near
Mount Kailash and runs east for about 1700 km, draining a northern section of the
Himalayas before it enters the gorge just downstream of
Pei, Tibet near the settlement of Zhibe. The canyon has a length of about 150 miles (240 km) as the gorge bends around Mount
Namcha Barwa (7782 m) and cuts its way through the eastern Himalayan range. Its waters drop from about 2,900 m near Pei to about 1,500 m at the end of the Upper Gorge where the Po Tsangpo River enters. The river continues through the Lower Gorge to the Indian border at an elevation of 660 m. The river then enters
Arunachal Pradesh and eventually becomes the
Brahmaputra.