Huang Hai

views updated May 21 2018

Huang Hai (Yellow Sea) Shallow branch of the Pacific Ocean, n of the East China Sea between the Chinese mainland and the Korean peninsula. It connects to the Chihli and Liaodong gulfs by the Strait of Chihli. The Huang He, Liao, and Yalu rivers drain into it; the yellow loess (fine-grained silt) from these rivers give the sea its popular name. Such deposits, along with shifting sandbanks and notorious fogs, make navigation perilous. Area: c.466,200sq km (180,000sq mi).