Top 10 Longest Rivers in the World

What river is the longest river in the world? Rivers aren't easy to measure in length, what with all their twists and turns, but with the help of modern technology, we can get a pretty accurate measuring, so we can see which river is truly the longest. 

Now whenever I've heard people discuss this, the debate about whether the Nile or the Amazon is the longest river in the world, normally breaks-out. In this post that question has been answered, and it is the Nile which is the longest river, the Amazon does have other strengths that outclass the Nile however. 
Hope you enjoy. :)

1. Nile

Credit: MODIS/MODLAND/Discloitres, NASA

Miles: 4,132  

Kilometres: 6,650

The Nile is the longest river in the world, being found in Africa it runs through ten different countries. These countries are: Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.

The Nile consists of two major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile is the longer of the two.

The river plays an extremely important role in the lives of all those who live near-by, being the only source of water for a lot of the destinations it passes through.

The Northern section of the river, from Sudan to Egypt, flows almost entirely through desert.

2. Amazon

 Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Miles: 3,976  

Kilometres: 6,400

The Amazon is the second longest river in the world, but is by far the largest by water-flow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined (not taking into consideration the tributaries of the Amazon, Madeira and Rio Negro). 

The Amazon also has the largest drainage basin in the world and it accounts for 1/5 of the worlds river-flow.

I've always seen the Amazon and the Nile as rivals. :)

During the wet season the Amazon rivers width can become a staggering 30 miles or more! The Amazon floods its banks every year.

In some parts of the Amazon, the depth is as much as 100m (330ft).

3. Yangtze

Credit: NASA

Miles: 3,917

Kilometres: 6,300

The Yangtze is the longest river in Asia. It travels across the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai.

The Yangtze drains one-fifth of the land area of the People's Republic of China.

The Yangtze river (along with the yellow river) has been the most important river in Chinese history.

Beginning in the 1950s dams and thousands of kilometres of dyke's were built for flood control, land reclamation, irrigation and for the control of diseases vectors.

4. Mississipi

Credit: NASA

Miles: 3,902

Kilometres: 6,275

The Mississippi river is the main river of the largest river system in North America. For the entirety of its run, the Mississippi runs just through the United States, but does have its drainage basin reach into Canada. 

The Mississippi has over 260 species of fish, which equates up to 25% of all fish species in North America, and 60% of all North American birds (326 species) use the Mississippi River Basin as their migratory fly-way.

Formed from thick layers of this river's silt deposits, the Mississippi River Valley is one of the most fertile agricultural regions of the country.

The Mississippi River's depth ranges from less than 3 feet at the headwaters in Minnesota, to the deepest section between Governor Nicholls Wharf and Algiers Point in New Orleans where it is around 200ft deep.

5. Yenisei

Miles: 3,445

Kilometres: 5,539

The Yenisei river is the largest river system flowing to the Arctic ocean. Out of the three main Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic ocean (the other two being the Ob River (number #7 on this list) and the Lena River), the Yenisei is the central and largest one.

The average depth of the river is 14 metres (45ft) and the maximum depth is 24 metres (80ft).

The source of the river is Hangayn Mountains, Central Mongolia, and the mouth of the river is Kara Sea, Arctic Ocean. The Yenisei flows through Mongolia and Russia.

6. Yellow River

Credit: NASA

Miles: 3,395

Kilometres: 5,464

In at number #6 on the list, is the Yellow river, originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and finally empties into the Bohai Sea. It is the second longest river in China after Yangtze.

It has been given the name 'China's sorrow' because of its tendency to overflow its banks and change its course. It has, up to present, overflowed its bank over 1,600 times, having changed its course 26 times.

Deforestation, wasteful use of water and drought conditions, are all factors to the dying of the river, experts have even considered the possibility of diverting water from the Yangtse to the Yellow river.

7. Ob

Credit: Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA

Miles: 3,364

Kilometres: 5,410

The river Ob is a major river in western Siberia, Russia. It is the westernmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean (the other two being the Yenisei River (number #5 on this list) and the Lena River).

The river is used for drinking, irrigation, fishing and hydroelectric energy by the people around the river.

There are more than 50 different kinds of fish in the Ob and most of them are very valuable for the fishermen.Some of these include: taimen, graylyng, pike, perch, pike-perch, dare, roach, common bream and orfe.

8. Paraná

Credit: NASA

Miles: 3,030

Kilometres: 4,880

The Paraná River is a river in south Central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It is the second largest river in South America, the first being the Amazon.

Flooding is common on the southern Paraná, with also many waterfalls and a large dam built in the 1980s.

There are two sources of the Paraná river, the first being the junction of Paranaiba, and the second being Rio Grande Rivers. The mouth of the river is at Rio de la Plata.

9. Congo

Miles: 2,922

Kilometres: 4,700

The Congo river is the deepest river in the world, being measured at depths in excess of 220m (720 ft). In terms of volume of water discharge, it is the third largest river, but in length is 9th. The river lies in Africa.

The Congo River is the main transportation source in Central Africa. Along with all the streams that lead into the Congo, over nine thousand miles of navigable shipping routes in Central Africa are provided. A huge amount of goods are transported on the river every day.

On average one million four hundred thousand cubic feet of water flows into the Atlantic Ocean every second from the river.

10. Amur

 

Miles: 2,763

Kilometres: 4,444

The Amur river is found in Asia, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China. The Amur is the largest undammed river in the world.

The area in and around the Amur River is home to 95 percent of the world's Oriental white stork, along with a vast amount of other storks and cranes. 

The mouth of the river is Tartar Strait (Pacific Ocean).

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