Indus River, Leh, Ladakh, India Royalty-Free Stock Image

The Indus River is originating in the Tibetan plateau in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar in Tibet Autonomous Region, the river runs a course through the Ladakh district of Jammu and Kashmir and then enters Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan), flowing through the North in a southerly direction along the entire length of the country, to merge into the Arabian Sea near port city of Karachi in Sindh. The total length of the river is 3, 180 kilometers (1, 976 miles) and is Pakistan's longest river. The river has a total drainage area exceeding 1, 165, 000 square kilometers (450, 000 square miles). The river's estimated annual flow stands at around 207 cubic kilometers, making it the twenty-first largest river in the world in terms of annual flow. Beginning at the heights of the world with glaciers, the river feeds the ecosystem of temperate forests, plains and arid countryside. Together with the rivers Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, Jhelum, Beas and two tributaries from the North West Frontier and Afghanistan, the Indus forms the Sapta Sindhu (Seven Rivers) delta of Pakistan.