page_title: Chinit River
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Chinit River / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Map of the Chinit River (Tonlé Sap river) and Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Tributaries of the Mekong. GIS data used in the map from Mekong River Commission. Map done by using ArcGIS. File type: PNG-8.
context_page_description: Chinit River is a river of Cambodia. Located in Kampong Thom Province, it is a major tributary of the Tonlé Sap Lake, which joins the Tonlé Sap River at the downstream end in the larger Mekong basin. Somewhat unusually the river is looped back into the same river system, which accounts for its length of 264 kilometres, leaving Tonlé Sap lake and entering its river again downstream. The prehistoric archaeological site of Samrong Sen is located on the river bank. Water resource projects, commencing in 1971 and in 2003, have had various measures of success. The river is an important trade route.
context_section_description: Chinit River, also called Stung Chinit River, is major tributary of the Tonlé Sap River, which flows down from the great lake of the same name from the northeast direction at 12°31′38″N 104°27′31″E, in central Cambodia. It reenters the Tonlé Sap system in the river at 13°32′N 105°47′E.  The river's length is approximately 264 kilometres (164 mi) and loops out and into the Tonlé Sap rsystem. Its width varies in the range of 60–90 metres (200–300 ft) over a total river stretch of 110 kilometres (68 mi). 
  The river drains a catchment area of 5,649 km² (2,181 sq mi) including the catchment of 1,145 km² (442 sq mi) of its tributary, the Stung Tang Krasaing, up to its outflow into Tonlé Sap Lake. The river passes through the Bolaven Plateau of Laos, reaches its highest elevation point, 288 metres (945 ft), at Phumi Chrach, and ends at its outflow point on Tonlé Sap Lake at an elevation of 5 metres (16 ft).There are gentler slopes noted towards the downstream.  Its main lake is Bung Real Lake.
  The main city along the river is Santuk District Capital. Samrong Sen, a prehistoric archaeological site of Neolithic Age is located on its right bank.
caption: Map showing the looping course of the Chinit River and the Tonlé Sap lake and river system
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