Indus dolphin in the context of "Platanistidae"

The Beas River is a river in northwestern India, flowing through the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, and is the smallest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. Rising in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, the river flows for approximately 470 kilometres (290 mi) into the Sutlej River in Punjab. Its total length is 470 kilometres (290 mi) and its drainage basin is 20,303 square kilometres (7,839 sq mi) large.

As of 2017, the river is home to a tiny isolated population of the Indus dolphin.

The Indus River Delta forms where the Indus River flows into the Arabian Sea, mostly in the southern Sindh province of Pakistan with a small portion in the Kutch Region of India. The delta covers an area of about 41,440 km (16,000 sq mi), and is approximately 210 km (130 mi) across where it meets the sea. The active part of the delta is 6,000 km in area (2,300 sq mi). The climate is arid, the region only receives between 25 and 50 centimetres (9.8 and 19.7 in) of rainfall in a normal year. The delta is home to the largest arid mangrove forests in the world, as well as many birds, fish and the Indus dolphin. The fifth largest in the world, the Indus Delta is a designated wetland and Ramsar site, containing seventeen major creeks or estuaries and numerous minor creeks. Major estuaries of the Indus are home to the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin.

The population of the active part of the delta was estimated at 900,000 in 2003. Most of the population depends on agriculture and fishing. Mangrove forests provide fuel wood. Many former settlements have been abandoned as result of lack of water in the Indus and the encroaching Arabian Sea.