List of rivers by length
Published on Sunday, December 24th 2006. Edited by Gum Gelapeown, France.
View of the Nile River, 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 actually very hard 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 as to 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 Jefferson River, a tributary of the Missouri River which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi. However, a different (and shorter) tributary is identified as the Mississippi. When the river is measured from mouth to farthest source, it is called the Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson. 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 is hard to determine in cases where the river has a large estuary that gradually widens and opens into the ocean; examples are the River Plate and the Saint Lawrence River. Some rivers do not have a mouth; instead they dwindle to very low water volume and eventually evaporate, or sink into an aquifer, or get diverted for agriculture. The exact point where these rivers end 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, and the path measured is the path a small boat would take down the middle 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 (or comparable ) 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.
Continent colour key
Africa Asia Australia Europe North America South America
River Length (km) Length (miles) Drainage area (km²) Average discharge (m³/s) Outflow Countries in the drainage basin
1.** Nile 6,650 4,135 3,349,000 5,100 Mediterranean Sea Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo
2.** Amazon 6,400
3,980
6,915,000 219,000 Atlantic Ocean Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana
Yangtze (Chang Jiang) 6,300
3,917
1,800,000 31,900 East China Sea P.R. China
Mississippi – Missouri 6,275
3,902
2,980,000 16,200 Gulf of Mexico United States (98.5%), Canada (1.5%)
Yenisei – Angara – Selenga 5,539
3,445
2,580,000 19,600 Kara Sea Russia, Mongolia
Yellow (Huang He) 5,464
3,398
745,000 2,110 Bohai Sea (Balhae) P.R. China
Ob – Irtysh 5,410 3,364 2,990,000 12,800 Gulf of Ob Russia, Kazakhstan, P.R. China, Mongolia
Congo – Chambeshi (Zaire) 4,700
2,922
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
Amur – Argun (Heilong Jiang) 4,444 2,763 1,855,000 11,400 Sea of Okhotsk Russia, P.R. China, Mongolia
Lena 4,400
2,736
2,490,000 17,100 Laptev Sea Russia
Mekong (Lancang Jiang) 4,350 2,705 810,000 16,000 South China Sea Laos, Thailand, P.R. China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar
Mackenzie – Peace – Finlay 4,241
2,637
1,790,000 10,300 Beaufort Sea Canada
Niger 4,200
2,611
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
Paraná (Río de la Plata) 3,998
2,486
3,100,000 25,700 Atlantic Ocean Brazil (46.7%), Argentina (27.7%), Paraguay (13.5%), Bolivia (8.3%), Uruguay (3.8%)
Volga 3,645 2,266 1,380,000 8,080 Caspian Sea Russia (99.8%), Kazakhstan (minor)
Shatt al-Arab – Euphrates 3,596
2,236
884,000 856 Persian Gulf Iraq (40.5%), Turkey (24.8%), Iran (19.7%), Syria (14.7%)
2,094
1,061,000 767 Indian Ocean Australia
Madeira – Mamoré 3,239 2,014 850,000 17,000 Amazon Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
Yukon 3,184 1,980 850,000 6,210 Bering Sea United States (59.8%), Canada (40.2%)
Indus (Sindhu) 3,180 1,976 960,000 7,160 Arabian Sea Pakistan (93%), India, P. R. China, disputed territory (Kashmir), Afghanistan
São Francisco 3,180 (2,900) 1,976 (1,802) 610,000 3,300 Atlantic Ocean Brazil
Syr Darya – Naryn 3,078 1,913 219,000 703 Aral Sea Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
Salween (Nu Jiang) 3,060 1,901 324,000 3,153 Andaman Sea P.R. China (52.4%), Myanmar (43.9%), Thailand (3.7%)
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%), United States (47.9%)
Rio Grande 3,057 (2,896) 1,900 (1,799) 570,000 82 Gulf of Mexico United States (52.1%), Mexico (47.9%)
Lower Tunguska 2,989 1,857 473,000 3,600 Yenisei Russia
Brahmaputra 2,948 1,832 1,730,000 19,200 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%)
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%), Moldova (1.7%).
Tocantins 2,699 1,677 1,400,000 13,598 Atlantic Ocean, Amazon Brazil
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
Vilyuy 2,650 1,647 454,000 1,480 Lena Russia
Araguaia 2,627 1,632 358,125 6,172 Tocantins Brazil
Amu Darya 2,620 1,628 534,739 1,400 Aral Sea Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan
Japurá (Rio Yapurá) 2,615 1,625 242,259 6,000 Amazon Brazil, Colombia
Nelson – Saskatchewan 2,570 1,597 1,093,000 2,575 Hudson Bay Canada, United States
Paraguay (Rio Paraguay) 2,549 1,584 900,000 4,300 Paraná Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina
Kolyma 2,513 1,562 644,000 3,800 East Siberian Sea Russia
Ganges 2,510 1,560 907,000 12,037 Brahmaputra, Bay of Bengal India, Bangladesh
Pilcomayo 2,500 1,553 270,000 Paraguay Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia
Upper Ob 2,490 1,547 Ob Russia
Ishim 2,450 1,522 177,000 56 Irtysh Kazakhstan, Russia
Juruá 2,410 1,498 200,000 6,000 Amazon Peru, Brazil
Ural 2,428 1,509 237,000 475 Caspian Sea Russia, Kazakhstan
Arkansas 2,348 1,459 505,000 (435,122) 1,066 Mississippi United States
Ubangi – Uele 2,300 1,429 4,003 Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic
Olenyok 2,292 1,424 219,000 1,210 Laptev Sea Russia
Dnieper 2,287 1,421 516,300 1,670 Black Sea Russia, Belarus, Ukraine
Aldan 2,273 1,412 729,000 5,060 Lena Russia
Negro 2,250 1,450 720,114 26,700 Amazon Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia
Columbia 2,250 (1,953) 1,450 (1,214) 415,211 7400 Pacific Ocean United States, Canada
Colorado (western U.S.) 2,333 1,450 390,000 1,200 Gulf of California United States, Mexico
Pearl – Xi Jiang 2,200 1,376 437,000 13,600 South China Sea P.R. China (98.5%), Vietnam (1.5%)
Red 2,188 1,360 78,592 875 Mississippi United States
Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) 2,170 1,348 411,000 13,000 Andaman Sea Myanmar
Kasai 2,153 1,338 880,200 10,000 Congo Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Ohio – Allegheny 2,102 1,306 490,603 7,957 Mississippi United States
Orinoco 2,101 1,306 880,000 30,000 Atlantic Ocean Venezuela, Colombia
Tarim 2,100 1,305 557,000 Lop Nur P. R. China
Xingu 2,100 1,305 Amazon Brazil
Orange 2,092 1,300 Atlantic Ocean South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho
Northern Salado 2,010 1,249 Paraná Argentina
Vitim 1,978 1,229 Lena Russia
Songhua 1,927 1,197 Amur P. R. China
Tapajós 1,900 1,181 Amazon Brazil
Don 1,870 1,162 425,600 935 Sea of Azov Russia
Stony Tunguska 1,865 1,159 240,000 Yenisei Russia
Pechora 1,809 1,124 322,000 Barents Sea Russia
Kama 1,805 1,122 507,000 Volga Russia
Limpopo 1,800 1,118 413,000 Indian Ocean Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana
Guaporé (Itenez) 1,749 1,087 Mamoré Brazil, Bolivia
Indigirka 1,726 1,072 360,400 1,810 East Siberian Sea Russia
Snake 1,670 1,038 279,719 1,611 Columbia United States
Senegal 1,641 1,020 419,659 Atlantic Ocean Senegal, Mali, Mauritania
Uruguay 1,610 1,000 370,000 Atlantic Ocean Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil
Churchill 1,600 994 Hudson Bay Canada
Khatanga 1,600 994 Laptev Sea Russia
Volta 1,600 994 Gulf of Guinea Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin
Beni 1,599 994 Madeira Bolivia
Platte 1,594 990 Missouri United States
Tobol 1,591 989 Irtysh Kazakhstan, Russia
Jubba – Shebelle 1,580 982 Indian Ocean Ethiopia, Somalia
Içá (Putumayo) 1,575 979 Amazon Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
Magdalena 1,550 963 Caribbean Sea Colombia
Han 1,532 952 Yangtze P. R. China
Lomami 1,500 932 Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo
Oka 1,500 932 Volga Russia
Pecos 1,490 926 Rio Grande United States
Godavari 1,465 910 Bay of Bengal India
Colorado (Texas) 1,438 894 Gulf of Mexico United States
Río Grande (Guapay) 1,438 894 Ichilo Bolivia
Belaya 1,420 882 Kama Russia
Cooper – Barcoo 1,420 880 Lake Eyre Australia
Marañón 1,415 879 Amazon Peru
Ili (Yili) 1,400 870 Lake Balkhash P. R. China, Kazakhstan
Warburton – Georgina 1,400 870 Lake Eyre Australia
Yamuna 1,376 855 Ganges India
Sutlej 1,370 851 Chenab China, India, Pakistan
Vyatka 1,370 851 Kama Russia
Fraser 1,368 850 7,900 Pacific Ocean Canada
Kura 1,364 848 Caspian Sea Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Iran
Grande 1,360 845 Paraná Brazil
Brazos 1,352 840 Gulf of Mexico United States
Liao 1,345 836 Bo Hai P. R. China
Yalong 1,323 822 Yangtze P. R. China
Iguaçu 1,320 820 Paraná Brazil, Argentina
Olyokma 1,320 820 Lena Russia
Rhine 1,320 820 198,735 2330 North Sea Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Italy
Northern Dvina – Sukhona 1,302 809 357,052 3332 White Sea Russia
Krishna 1,300 808 Bay of Bengal India
Iriri 1,300 808 Xingu Brazil
Narmada 1,289 801 Arabian Sea India
Ottawa 1,271 790 Saint Lawrence Canada
Zeya 1,242 772 Amur Russia
Juruena 1,240 771 Tapajós Brazil
Upper Mississippi 1,236 768 Mississippi United States
Athabasca 1,231 765 Mackenzie Canada
Elbe – Vltava 1,231 765 148,268 711 North Sea Germany, Czech Republic
Canadian 1,223 760 Arkansas United States
North Saskatchewan 1,220 758 Saskatchewan Canada
Vaal 1,210 752 Orange South Africa
Shire 1,200 746 Zambezi Mozambique, Malawi
Nen (Nonni) 1,190 739 Songhua P. R. China
Green 1,175 730 Colorado (western U.S.) United States
Milk 1,173 729 Missouri United States, Canada
Chindwin 1,158 720 Ayeyarwady Myanmar
Sankuru 1,150 715 Kasai Democratic Republic of the Congo
James (Dakotas) 1,143 710 Missouri United States
Kapuas 1,143 710 South China Sea Indonesia
Helmand 1,130 702 Hamun-i-Helmand Afghanistan, Iran
Madre de Dios 1,130 702 Madeira Peru, Bolivia
Tietê 1,130 702 Paraná Brazil
Vychegda 1,130 702 Northern Dvina Russia
Sepik 1,126 700 77,700 Pacific Ocean Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
Cimarron 1,123 698 Arkansas United States
Anadyr 1,120 696 Gulf of Anadyr Russia
Jialing River 1,119 695 Yangtze P. R. China
Liard 1,115 693 Mackenzie Canada
White 1,102 685 Mississippi United States
Huallaga 1,100 684 Marañón Peru
Kwango 1,100 684 263,500 2,700 Kasai Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Gambia 1,094 680 Atlantic Ocean The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea
Chenab 1,086 675 Indus India, Pakistan
Yellowstone 1,080 671 Missouri United States
Donets 1,078 (1,053) 670 (654) Don Ukraine, Russia
Bermejo 1,050 652 Paraguay Argentina, Bolivia
Fly 1,050 652 Gulf of Papua Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
Guaviare 1,050 652 Orinoco Colombia
Kuskokwim 1,050 652 Bering Sea United States
Tennessee 1,049 652 Ohio United States
Gila 1,015 631 Colorado (western U.S.) United States
Vistula 1,014 630 Baltic Sea Poland
Loire 1,012 629 Atlantic Ocean France
Essequibo 1,010 628 Atlantic Ocean Guyana
Khoper 1,010 628 Don Russia
Colorado (Argentina) 1,000 620 Atlantic Ocean Argentina
River systems that may have existed in the past
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 12,000 km (7,500 miles) long.
West Siberian Glacial Lake drainage
This river would have been about 6000 miles = 10000 km long, in the last Ice Age. See West Siberian Glacial Lake. Its longest headwater was the Selenga river of Mongolia: it drained through ice-dammed lakes and the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.
Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_by_length”