The Irrawaddy (newer spelling Ayeyarwaddy) is a river that flows through the centre of Myanmar (formerly "Burma"). For the Second World War frigate class, see River class frigate The Murray River in Australia A river is a large natural waterway. ...

It is Myanmar's most important commercial waterway. Its total drainage area is about 158,700 square miles (411,000 square km). It is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. For the term related to television programmes, see watershed (television). ... A mile is any of several units of distance, or, in physics terminology, of length. ... KM, Km, or km may stand for: Khmer language (ISO 639 alpha-2, km) Kilometre/Kilometer (only km in minuscule is the correct representation of kilometer as an SI unit of length) Kinemantra Meditation Knowledge management, in the field of Library and information science Knowledge Machine, the KM knowledge representation...

The Ayeyarwaddy River starts in Kachin State, at the confluence of the Mali Hka and N'Mai Hka rivers. The western Mali Hka branch arises from the end of the southern Himalaya, north of Puta'o, and (like the main river) is called Nam Kiu in the Shan language. Kachin State is in the northen part of Myanmar, and it has many ethnic groups such as Burmese, Kachin (Jinghpaw, Rawang, Lisu, Zaiwa, Lawngwaw, Lachyit), Indians and some Shan. ... The Himalaya is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. ... The Shan are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. ...

The Ayeyarwaddy River dissects the country from north to south and empties through a nine armed delta into the Indian Ocean. In colonial times, before railways and automobiles, the river was known as the "Road to Mandalay". although navagatable by large vessels to Myitkyina for a distance over 1600 km from the ocean, the river is also full of sandbanks and islands, making navigation difficult. Nile River delta, as seen from Earth orbit. ... Myitkyina is the capital of the Kachin State in Burma (Myanmar). ...

Its name is believed to derive from the Sanskrit term "airavati", meaning "elephant river". The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

The Irrawaddy gives its name to a dolphin, the Irrawaddy Dolphin Orcaella brevistosus, which is found in the river. Though sometimes called the Irrawaddy River Dolphin, it is not a true river dolphin, since it is also found at sea. Genera See article below. ... Binomial name Orcaella brevirostris Gray, 1866 Irrawaddy Dolphin range The Irrawaddy Dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris) is a species of dolphin found near coasts and in estuaries in parts of south-east Asia. ... Families See text River dolphins are four species of dolphin which reside in freshwater rivers and estuarys. ...