FACTBOX: Facts about China's Three Gorges Dam

(Reuters) - China's Three Gorges Dam lies across the country's longest river, the Yangtze, and will be the world's largest flood control and hydropower station when completed.

Here are some facts about the dam, which scientists have warned is experiencing damaging environmental problems and straining the surrounding land.

LOCATION:

-- The more than a mile-long dam lies on what is regarded as one of the most scenic stretches of the Yangtze River, near Sandouping, in the central province of Hubei.

-- The dam is a third of the way along the river, which winds 6,300 kilometers (3,910 miles) from glacial Tibetan marshlands to the Yellow Sea near Shanghai.

CONSTRUCTION:

-- In 1919, Sun Yat-sen, considered the "father" of modern China, proposed a dam near the Three Gorges. In the 1950s and '60s, the Communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong encouraged planning for a dam but then abandoned the idea.

-- Construction of the dam began in December 1994, and officials say it will cost $25 billion.

-- Two cities, 11 counties, 116 towns, and hundreds of cultural sites in Hubei province and neighboring Chongqing municipality have been flooded to create its reservoir. About 1.4 million people have been displaced.