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List of rivers by length

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: General Geography

   View of the Nile River, the longest in the world, from a cruiseboat,
   between Luxor and Aswan in Egypt.
   Enlarge
   View of the Nile River, the longest in the world, from a cruiseboat,
   between Luxor and Aswan in Egypt.

   This is a list of the longest rivers on Earth. It includes river
   systems over 1,000 kilometers.

Definition of length

   The length of a river is not always easy to calculate. It depends on
   the identification of the source, the identification of the mouth, and
   the precise measurement of the river length between source and mouth.
   As a result, the length measurements of many rivers are only
   approximations. In particular, there has for long been disagreement
   whether the Amazon or the Nile is the world's longest river.

   The source of a river may be hard to determine because a river
   typically has many tributaries. Among the many sources, the one that is
   farthest away from the mouth is considered as the source of the river,
   thus giving a maximal river length. In practice, the tributary with the
   farthest source is not always the one given the name of the river. For
   example, the farthest source of the Mississippi River system is the
   source of the Missouri River; but a different tributary is identified
   as the Mississippi. When the river is measured from mouth to farthest
   source, it is called the Mississippi-Missouri. Also, it is hard to
   state exactly where a river begins as very often rivers are formed by
   seasonal streams, swamps, or changing lakes. In this article, length
   means the length of the river system, including all tributaries.

   The mouth of a river may be hard to determine in cases where the river
   has a large estuary that gradually widens and opens into the ocean;
   examples are the Amazon River and the Saint Lawrence River. Some rivers
   do not have a mouth, instead they evaporate, and the exact point where
   the river ends will vary seasonally.

   The length of a river between source and mouth may be hard to determine
   because of a lack of precise maps. In these cases, the measured length
   of a river will depend on the scale of the map on which the measurement
   is based; in general, due to the fractal quality of a river, the larger
   the scale, the longer the resulting length measurement. This issue was
   discovered by Lewis Fry Richardson and also applies when measuring
   borders between countries and coastlines. Ideally, length measurements
   should be based on maps that are of a large enough scale to show the
   width of the river.

   Even when precise maps are available, the length measurement is not
   always clear. A river may have multiple arms. It may depend on whether
   the centre or the edge of the river is taken as reference point. It may
   not be clear how to measure the length through a lake: this may also
   vary by season. These points make it difficult, if not impossible, to
   get a precise measurement of the length of a river or stream.

List of rivers longer than 1000 km

   One should take the aforementioned discussion into account when using
   the data in the following table. For most rivers, different sources
   provide conflicting information on the length of a river system. The
   information in different sources is between parentheses.
                                      Nile River in Egypt.
   Enlarge
   Nile River in Egypt.

                    Continent colour key
   Africa Asia Europe North America Australia South America
   River Length (km) Length (miles) Drainage area (km²) Average discharge
   (m³/s) Outflow Countries in the drainage basin
   1. Nile 6,690 4,157 2,870,000 5,100 Mediterranean Sea Sudan, Ethiopia,
   Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Democratic
   Republic of the Congo
   2. Amazon 6,387
   (6,762) 3,969
   (4,202) 6,915,000 219,000 Atlantic Ocean Brazil, Peru, Bolivia,
   Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela
   3. Yangtze
   (Chang Jiang) 6,380
   (5,797) 3,964
   (3,602) 1,800,000 31,900 East China Sea P.R. China
   4. Mississippi - Missouri 6,270
   (6,420) 3,896
   (3,989) 2,980,000 16,200 Gulf of Mexico United States (98.5%), Canada
   (1.5%)
   5. Yenisei - Angara - Selenga 5,550
   (4,506) 3,449
   (2,800) 2,580,000 19,600 Kara Sea Russia, Mongolia
   6. Ob' - Irtysh 5,410* 3,449* 2,990,000 12,800 Gulf of Ob Russia,
   Kazakhstan, P.R. China
   7. Huang He
   (Yellow) 4,667
   (4,350) 2,900
   (2,703) 745,000 2,110 Bohai Sea
   (Balhae) P.R. China
   8. Amur
   (Heilong) 4,368* 2,714* 1,855,000 11,400 Sea of Okhotsk Russia, PR
   China, Mongolia
   9. Congo
   (Zaire) 4,371
   (4,670) 2,716
   (2,902) 3,680,000 41,800 Atlantic Ocean Democratic Republic of the
   Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Republic of the Congo,
   Tanzania, Cameroon, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda
   10. Lena 4,260
   (4,400) 2,647
   (2,734) 2,490,000 17,100 Laptev Sea Russia
   11. Mackenzie - Peace - Finlay 4,241
   (5,427) 2,635
   (3,372) 1,790,000 10,300 Beaufort Sea Canada
   12. Niger 4,167
   (4,138*) 2,589
   (2,571*) 2,090,000 9,570 Gulf of Guinea Nigeria (26.6%), Mali (25.6%),
   Niger (23.6%), Algeria (7.6%), Guinea (4.5%), Cameroon (4.2%), Burkina
   Faso (3.9%), Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Chad
   13. Mekong 4,023 2,500 810,000 16,000 South China Sea Laos, Thailand,
   P.R. China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar
   14. Paraná
   ( Río de la Plata) 3,998
   (4,700) 2,484
   (2,920) 3,100,000 25,700 Atlantic Ocean Brazil (46.7%), Argentina
   (27.7%), Paraguay (13.5%), Bolivia (8.3%), Uruguay (3.8%)
   15. Murray - Darling 3,750
   (3,520) 2,330
   (2,187) 3,490,000 767 Southern Ocean Australia
   16. Volga 3,645* 2,265 1,380,000 8,080 Caspian Sea Russia (99.8%),
   Kazakhstan (minor), Belarus (minor)
   17. Shatt al-Arab / Arvandrud - Euphrates 3,596
   (2,992) 2,234
   (1,859) 884,000 856 Persian Gulf Iraq (40.5%), Turkey (24.8%), Iran
   (19.7%), Syria (14.7%)
   18. Purus 3,379 (2,948) (3,210) 2,100 (1,832) (1,995) Amazon Brazil,
   Peru
   19. Madeira - Mamoré 3,239 2,013 Amazon Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
   20. Yukon 3,184 1,978 850,000 6,210 Bering Sea USA (59.8%), Canada
   (40.2%)
   21. Indus
   (Sindhu) 3,180 1,976 960,000 7,160 Arabian Sea Pakistan, India, PR
   China, disputed territory (Kashmir), Afghanistan (6.3%)
   22. São Francisco 3,180*
   (2,900) 1,976*
   (1,802) 610,000 3,300 Atlantic Ocean Brazil
   23. Syr Darya 3,078 1,913 100,000   Aral Sea Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
   Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
   24. Salween
   (Salwin) (Nù Jiāng) 3,060 1,901 324,000   Andaman Sea P.R. China
   (52.4%), Myanmar (43.9%), Thailand (3.7%)
   25. Saint Lawrence - Niagara- Detroit- Saint Clair- Saint Marys- Saint
   Louis 3,058 1,900 1,030,000 10,100 Gulf of Saint Lawrence Canada
   (52.1%), USA (47.9%)
   26. Rio Grande 3,057
   (2,896) 1,900
   (1,799) 570,000 82 Gulf of Mexico USA (52.1%), Mexico (47.9%)
   27. Lower Tunguska 2,989 1,857 3,600 Yenisei Russia
   28. Brahmaputra 2,948* 1,832* 1,730,000 43,900 Bay of Bengal India
   (58.0%), P.R. China (19.7%), Nepal (9.0%), Bangladesh (6.6%), Disputed
   India/P.R. China (4.2%), Bhutan (2.4%)
   29. Danube 2,850* 1,771* 817,000 7,130 Black Sea Romania (28.9%),
   Hungary (11.7%), Austria (10.3%), Serbia (10.3%), Germany (7.5%),
   Slovakia (5.8%), Bulgaria (5.2%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (4.8%),
   Croatia (4.5%), Ukraine (3.8%), Czech Republic (2.6%), Slovenia (2.2%),
   Moldova (1.7%), Switzerland (0.32%), Italy (0.15%), Poland (0.09%),
   Albania (0.03%)
   30. Tocantins 2,699 1,677 1,400,000   Atlantic Ocean, Amazon Brazil
   31. Zambezi
   (Zambesi) 2,693* 1,673* 1,330,000 4,880 Mozambique Channel Zambia
   (41.6%), Angola (18.4%), Zimbabwe (15.6%), Mozambique (11.8%), Malawi
   (8.0%), Tanzania (2.0%), Namibia, Botswana
   32. Vilyuy 2,650 1,647 Lena Russia
   33. Araguaia 2,627 1,632     Tocantins Brazil
   34. Amu Darya 2,620 1,628 Aral Sea Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
   Tajikistan, Afghanistan
   35. Japurá
   (Rio Yapurá) 2,615* 1,625*     Amazon Brazil, Colombia
   36. Nelson - Saskatchewan 2,570 1,597 1,093,000 2,575 Hudson Bay
   Canada, USA
   37. Paraguay
   (Rio Paraguay) 2,549 1,584   4,300 Paraná Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia,
   Argentina
   38. Kolyma 2,513 1,562 East Siberian Sea Russia
   39. Ganges 2,510 1,560 14,270 Brahmaputra, Bay of Bengal India,
   Bangladesh, Nepal
   40. Pilcomayo 2,500 1,553 Paraguay Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia
   41. Upper Ob 2,490 1,547 Ob Russia
   42. Ishim 2,450 1,522 Irtysh Kazakhstan, Russia
   42. Juruá 2,410 1,498 Amazon Peru, Brazil
   43. Ural 2,428 1,509 237,000 475 Caspian Sea Russia, Kazakhstan
   44. Arkansas 2,348 1,459 505,000
   (435,122)   Mississippi United States
   45. Ubangi - Uele 2,300 1,429 Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo,
   Central African Republic
   46. Olenyok 2,292 1,424 Laptev Sea Russia
   47. Dnieper 2,287 1,421 516,300 1,670 Black Sea Russia, Belarus,
   Ukraine
   48. Aldan 2,273 1,412 Lena Russia
   49. Negro 2,250 1,450 Amazon Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia
   50. Columbia 2,250 (1,953) 1,450 (1,214) Pacific Ocean United States,
   Canada
   51. Colorado 2,333 1,450 390,000 1,200 Gulf of California United
   States, Mexico
   52. Pearl - Xi Jiang
   (West) (Si Kang) 2,200 1,376 437,000 13,600 South China Sea P.R. China
   (98.5%), Vietnam (1.5%)
   53. Red 2,188 1,360 Mississippi United States
   54. Ayeyarwady River 2,170 1,348 411,000 13,000 Andaman Sea Myanmar
   55. Kasai 2,153 1,338 Congo Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
   56. Ohio - Allegheny 2,102 1,306 490,603   Mississippi United States
   57. Orinoco 2,101 1,306 41,000 30,000 Atlantic Ocean Venezuela,
   Colombia
   58. Tarim 2,100 1,305 Lop Nur People's Republic of China
   59. Xingu 2,100 1,305 Amazon Brazil
   60. Orange 2,092 1,300     Atlantic Ocean South Africa, Namibia,
   Botswana, Lesotho
   61. Northern Salado 2,010 1,249 Paraná Argentina
   62. Vitim 1,978 1,229 Lena Russia
   63. Tigris 1,950 1,212 Shatt al-Arab Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran
   64. Songhua 1,927 1,197 Amur People's Republic of China
   65. Tapajós 1,900 1,181 Amazon Brazil
   66. Don 1,870 1,162 Sea of Azov Russia
   67. Stony Tunguska 1,865 1,159 Yenisei Russia
   68. Pechora 1,809 1,124 Barents Sea Russia
   69. Kama 1,805 1,122 507,000 Volga Russia
   70. Limpopo 1,800 1,118 Indian Ocean Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South
   Africa, Botswana
   71. Guaporé 1,749 1,087 Mamoré Brazil, Bolivia
   72. Indigirka 1,726 1,072 East Siberian Sea Russia
   73. Snake 1,670 1,038 Columbia United States
   74. Senegal 1,641 1,020 Atlantic Ocean Senegal, Mali, Mauritania
   75. Uruguay 1,610 1,000 Atlantic Ocean Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil
   76. Blue Nile 1,600 994 Nile Ethiopia, Sudan
   76. Churchill 1,600 994 Hudson Bay Canada
   76. Khatanga 1,600 994 Laptev Sea Russia
   76. Okavango 1,600 994 Okavango Delta Namibia, Angola, Botswana
   76. Volta 1,600 994 Gulf of Guinea Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte
   d'Ivoire, Benin
   81. Beni 1,599 994 Madeira Bolivia
   82. Platte 1,594 990 Missouri United States
   83. Tobol 1,591 989 Irtysh Kazakhstan, Russia
   84. Jubba - Shebelle 1,580* 982* Indian Ocean Ethiopia, Somalia
   85. Içá
   (Putumayo) 1,575 979 Amazon Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
   85. Magdalena 1,550 963 Caribbean Sea Colombia
   87. Han 1,532 952 Yangtze People's Republic of China
   88. Lomami 1,500 932 Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo
   88. Oka 1,500 932 Volga Russia
   90. Pecos 1,490 926 Rio Grande United States
   91. Upper Yenisei 1,480 920 Yenisei Russia, Mongolia
   92. Godavari 1,465 910 Bay of Bengal India
   93. Colorado 1,438 894 Gulf of Mexico United States
   94. Río Grande (Guapay) 1,438 894 Ichilo Bolivia
   95. Belaya 1,420 882 Kama Russia
   96. Cooper - Barcoo 1,420 880 Lake Eyre Australia
   97. Marañón 1,415 879 Amazon Peru
   98. Dniester 1,411 (1,352) 877 (840) Black Sea Ukraine, Moldova
   99. Benue 1,400 870 Niger Cameroon, Nigeria
   99. Ili 1,400 870 Lake Balkhash People's Republic of China, Kazakhstan
   99. Warburton - Georgina 1,400 870 Lake Eyre Australia
   102. Yamuna 1,376 855 Ganges India
   103. Sutlej 1,370 851 Chenab India, Pakistan
   103. Vyatka 1,370 851 Kama Russia
   105. Fraser 1,368 850 Pacific Ocean Canada
   106. Kura 1,364 848 Caspian Sea Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey,
   Iran
   107. Grande 1,360 845 Paraná Brazil
   108. Brazos 1,352 840 Gulf of Mexico United States
   109. Liao 1,345 836 Bohai Sea People's Republic of China
   110. Yalong 1,323 822 Yangtze People's Republic of China
   111. Iguaçu 1,320 820 Paraná Brazil, Argentina
   111. Olyokma 1,320 820 Lena Russia
   111. Rhine 1,320 820 North Sea Germany, France, Switzerland,
   Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Italy
   114. Krishna 1,300 808 Bay of Bengal India
   114. Iriri 1,300 808 Xingu Brazil
   116. Narmada 1,289 801 Arabian Sea India
   117. Ottawa 1,271 790 Saint Lawrence Canada
   118. Zeya 1,242 772 Amur Russia
   119. Juruena 1,240 771 Tapajós Brazil
   120. Upper Mississippi 1,236 768 Mississippi United States
   121. Athabasca 1,231 765 Mackenzie Canada
   122. Canadian 1,223 760 Arkansas United States
   123. North Saskatchewan 1,220 758 Saskatchewan Canada
   124. Vaal 1,210 752 Orange South Africa
   125. Shire 1,200 746 Zambezi Mozambique, Malawi
   126. Nen
   (Nonni) 1,190 739 Songhua People's Republic of China
   127. Green 1,175 730 Colorado United States
   128. Milk 1,173 729 Missouri United States, Canada
   129. Elbe 1,162* 722* North Sea Germany, Czech Republic
   130. Chindwin 1,158 720 Ayeyarwady Myanmar
   131. James 1,143 710 Missouri United States
   131. Kapuas 1,143 710 South China Sea Indonesia, Malaysia
   133. Helmand 1,130 702 Hamun-i-Helmand Afghanistan, Iran
   133. Madre de Dios 1,130 702 Madeira Peru, Bolivia
   133. Tietê 1,130 702 Paraná Brazil
   133. Vychegda 1,130 702 Northern Dvina Russia
   137. Sepik 1,126 700 Pacific Ocean Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
   138. Cimarron 1,123 698 Arkansas United States
   139. Anadyr 1,120 696 Gulf of Anadyr Russia
   140. Liard 1,115 693 Mackenzie Canada
   141. White 1,102 685 Mississippi United States
   142. Huallaga 1,100 684 Marañón Peru
   143. Gambia 1,094 680 Atlantic Ocean The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea
   144. Chenab 1,086 675 Indus India, Pakistan
   145. Yellowstone 1,080 671 Missouri United States
   146. Donets 1,078 (1,053) 670 (654) Don Ukraine, Russia
   147. Bermejo 1,050 652 Paraguay Argentina, Bolivia
   147. Fly 1,050 652 Gulf of Papua Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
   147. Guaviare 1,050 652 Orinoco Colombia
   147. Kuskokwim 1,050 652 Bering Sea United States
   151. Tennessee 1,049 652 Ohio United States
   152. Daugava 1,020 634 Gulf of Riga Latvia, Belarus, Russia
   153. Gila 1,015 631 Colorado United States
   154. Vistula 1,014 630 Baltic Sea Poland
   155. Loire 1,012 629 Atlantic Ocean France
   156. Essequibo 1,010 628 Atlantic Ocean Guyana
   156. Khoper 1,010 628 Don Russia
   158. Tagus 1,006 625 Atlantic Ocean Spain, Portugal
   159. Colorado 1,000 620 Atlantic Ocean Argentina

Longest rivers that have probably existed in the past

Nile

   The Virunga Volcanoes started to form in the Miocene period, blocking
   the African Rift Valley. Before that, the water which now accumulates
   in Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Albert Nile, which would
   make the Nile somewhere around 1500 km = 900 miles longer, with its
   longest headwater in Zambia.

   If this blockage did not happen until after the Messinian salinity
   crisis started, add a hundred miles or more for the added northern
   extension of the Nile flowing across the dry bed of the Mediterranean
   Sea during the Messinian salinity crisis.

Amazon-Congo

   The Amazon basin formerly drained westwards into the Pacific Ocean,
   until the Andes rose and reversed the drainage.

   The Congo basin is completely surrounded by high land, except for its
   long narrow exit valley past Kinshasa, including waterfalls around
   Manyanga. That gives the impression that most of the Congo basin was
   formerly on a much higher land level and that it was rejuvenated by
   much of its lower course being removed.

   In Permian and early Triassic times Africa and South America were close
   against each other with no sea between (see continental drift and plate
   tectonics), and the Congo probably drained into the Amazon basin and
   eventually into the Pacific. Including part of its course that was
   completely lost when the South Atlantic opened, its total course may
   have been anything up to approximately 12000 km = 7200 miles long.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_length"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
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