Top 10 Longest Rivers in the World
Rivers form an integral part of our ecosystem and help to maintain the natural environmental balance of earth. About three-fourth of the world comprises of water. Deep down the rivers, there is a whole new world to explore and one comes to know about the umpteen different creations o f the nature. River is also the source of hydro-electric power and is also used for transport from one point to another. Few of you might be familiar with the term “International Scale of River Difficulty”. This is actually a grading system in which particular grades are assigned to a section of river which speaks of the challenges of navigation for that specific section. The grades range from Class I (the easiest) to Class VI (the hardest).
After a short introduction of the topic, let us move on with the topic. Please note that all the figures regarding the lengths of the rivers are a mere approximation and there can be a little bit discrepancies when viewed from some other source.
10. Zaire
This African river is approximately 2716 miles long and is also known as Congo River. It is also the world’s deepest river with a depth of around 220 meters. Two countries are situated along the bank of this river and hence, derive their respective names from this river — The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo —
9. Irtysh
Ob river is the main tributary of this Siberian river and the Ob-Irtysh basin nearly covers most of the western Siberia and the Altay mountains. The name of the river means ‘White River’ and it originates in the Mongolia Altay mountains in Xinjiang, China. The length of this river is around 2758 miles.
8. Parana
The length of this river is 2795 miles and is located in Central South America which also runs through Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. The name of the river is taken from the Tupi language which means ‘like the sea’.
7. Yenesei
It starts in Mongolia and then it drains a large part of the Central Siberia when it flows to Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea. This river is also a source of hydro-electric power for the Russian industry as there are numerous dams built in the middle section of it. Yenisei River has an average depth of 14 meters and at some places the maximum depth is around 24 meters. The average length of the river is 2800 miles.
6. Huang He
The average length of the river is almost 2900 miles and it is the second longest river in China, the longest being Yangtze River. The length of the river encompasses almost nine provinces of China and ultimately ends into the Bohai Sea. The origin of the river is in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qingha Province.
5. Ob
The average length of the river is around 3459 miles and is one of the main rivers in Western Siberia. The longest estuary of the world is the Gulf of Ob. The main uses of this river are drinking water, irrigation and fishing. You will be amazed to know that this river has almost 50 different species of fish.
4. Yangtze
The other name of this river is Chang Jiang and is the longest river in Asia. It starts its journey from the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai and empties into the East China Sea at Shanghai. On its way, it passes through southwest, central and eastern China. The average length of this river is almost 3602 miles.
3. Mississippi
It is the part of the largest river system in North America which starts in the Minnesota and then progresses towards the Gulf of Mexico. Hernando de Soto, a Spanish explorer on May 8, 1541, was the first European to reach the Mississippi river. The average length of the river is almost 3710 miles.
2. Amazon
The average length of the river is around 3912 miles. Although it ranks second in terms of length but it is ranked number one when it comes to the average discharge. The discharge of Amazon is greater than the next seven largest rivers combined. The average width of the river is between 1.6 to 10 kilometers and maximum is around 48 kilometers in the wet season. Nevado Mismi, a snow-capped peak present in the Peruvian Andes, is thought to be the origin of the Amazon River and this specific point is marked with a wooden cross.
1. Nile
The average length of the river Nile is around 4180 miles. Being the world’s longest river, it is little wonder that it flows through almost ten countries namely; Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt. Among the two tributaries of Nile, White Nile is the longer one and the other one being the Blue Nile. Rwanda or Burundi is considered to be the distant source of the White Nile but the actual source is still undetermined so far.
