Brahmaputra [key] [Sanskrit,=son of Brahma], river, c.1,800 mi (2,900 km) long, rising in the Kailas range of the Himalayas, SW Tibet, China, and flowing through NE India to join with the Ganges River in central Bangladesh to form a vast delta; it is navigable for large craft c.800 mi (1,290 km) upstream. In Tibet, where it is called the Tsangpo or Yarlung Zangbo, the river flows c.700 mi (1,130 km) east to form an important east-west transport route. In SE Tibet it turns south and flows swiftly through what is, at 16,650 ft (5,075 m), the world's deepest valley into India's Arunachal Pradesh state, where the river is known Dihang, or Siang. In Assam state it is receives the Lohit River and takes the name Brahmaputra, flowing c.450 mi (725 km) through the broad, fertile Assam valley. Entering Bangladesh, where it is called the Jamuna, it continues S to the Bay of Bengal via the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. Its lower course is sacred to Hindus. There the river is used heavily for transporting agricultural products.
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