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Why were people relocated for the Three Gorges Dam project?
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Three Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam spanning the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) near Yichang, Hubei province, China.
People were relocated for the Three Gorges Dam project primarily because the creation of the dam's massive reservoir necessitated the inundation of large areas of land along the Yangtze River.12
As the reservoir filled, it submerged more than 1,500 cities, towns, and villages, as well as significant portions of the Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges. This forced the displacement of at least 1.3 million people, with some estimates suggesting the number of relocated individuals reached as high as 1.9 million. In addition to the human cost, the flooding of these areas resulted in the destruction of numerous rare architectural and archaeological sites, as well as the loss of significant natural scenery.12