In the Tibet Autonomous Region, there are over 20 rivers with the drainage area more than 10,000 square kilometers and over 100 rivers with the drainage area more than 2,000 square kilometers. The largest rivers are Jinshajiang, Nujiang, Lancangjiang and Yarlung Zangbo. Several of Tibetan rivers flow to neighboring countries where they get their well-known names like Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Salween and Irrawaddy. Tibetan rivers generally carry a lot of good quality water with little sand.

Yarlung Zangbo, the largest river in Tibet, rises in Zhongba County at the northern foot of the Himalayas and flows through the Lhoyu area to India where it is called the Brahmaputra. In China, Yarlung Zangbo River is 2057 km long and has a drainage area of 240,000 square kilometers. This catchment area is on average over 4500 m above sea level. So the Yarlung Zangbo River is the highest river in the world.

The largest canyon of Yarlung Zangbo, with a depth of 5382 meters and a length of 370 kilometers, is the deepest canyon in the world. The narrowest part of the canyon floor is only 74 m, and the widest part is 200 m.