The Yangtze River ( or ), known in China as the Chang Jiang (literally: "Long River") or the Yangzi, is the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. The river is the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It drains one-fifth of the land area of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and its river basin is home to one-third of the country's population. The Yangtze is also one of the biggest rivers by discharge volume in the world.