The basin over the upper reaches, or the Upper Basin, covers a large area, but because it is thinly populated, it is assigned a single geographical entity. The basin over the middle reaches, or the Middle Basin, includes the Loess Plateau which is an area of excessive erosion, and is the primary source of sediment in the river downstream.

This website advocates methods to control erosion in this region, and reduce sediment in Yellow River. The river in the lower reaches is lined by dikes on both sides, and since the river channel is much higher than the surrounding land, hardly any river will drain into it, and the Lower Basin is indicated by just a narrow neck within the dikes until the river exits to sea. However, people customarily consider the land north and south of the river, which receives irrigation water from the river to be the Lower Basin.

Editor:Yang Jie