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List of river systems by length

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TheNileas seen from a cruise boat betweenLuxorandAswaninEgypt

This is alist of the longest rivers on Earth.It includesriver systemsover 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) in length.

Definition of length

There are many factors, such as the identification of the source,[1]the identification or the definition of the mouth, and the scale of measurement[2]of the river length between source and mouth, that determine the precise meaning of "river length". As a result, the length measurements of many rivers are only approximations (see alsocoastline paradox). In particular, there seems to exist disagreement as to whether theNile[3]or theAmazon[4]is the world's longest river. The Nile has traditionally been considered longer, but in 2007 and 2008 some scientists claimed that the Amazon is longer[5][6][7]by measuring the river plus the adjacentParáestuary and the longest connecting tidal canal.[8]Apeer-reviewedarticle published 2009 in theInternational Journal of Digital Earthconcludes that the Nile is longer.[9]

Even when detailed maps are available, the length measurement is not always clear. A river may have multiple channels, oranabranches.The length may depend on whether the center or the edge of the river is measured. It may not be clear how to measure the length through a lake or reservoir. Seasonal and annual changes may alter both rivers and lakes. Other factors that can change the length of a river include cycles of erosion and flooding, dams, levees, andchannelization.In addition, the length ofmeanderscan change significantly over time due to natural or artificialcutoffs,when a new channel cuts across a narrow strip of land, bypassing a large river bend. For example, due to 18 cutoffs created between 1766 and 1885, the length of theMississippi RiverfromCairo, Illinois,toNew Orleans, Louisiana,was reduced by 351 kilometres (218 miles).[10]

These points make it difficult, if not impossible, to get an accurate measurement of the length of a river. The varying accuracy and precision also makes it difficult to make length comparisons between different rivers without a degree of uncertainty.

List of river systems longer than 1,000 km

For most rivers, different sources provide conflicting information on the length of a river system. The information in different sources is between parentheses.

Legend of colors used in main table, by continent
Continentcolor key
Africa Asia Australia Europe North America South America

Notes

  • When the length of a river is followed by an asterisk, it is an average of multiple information sources. If the difference in lengths between given information sources is significant, all lengths are listed. But if the lengths from secondary information sources are similar, they are averaged and that figure has an asterisk.
  • Scientists debate whether the Amazon or the Nile is the longest river in the world. Traditionally, the Nile is considered longer, but recent information suggests that the Amazon may be longer. Differences in the recorded length of the Amazon mainly depend on whether the course south of theIlha de Marajóat the Amazon's mouth is to be treated as part of the Amazon, or as part of the separateTocantins River.New evidence,(dated 16 June 2007) obtained from a high-altitude scientific venture in theAndes,claims that "the Amazon is longer than the Nile by 100 km, with its longestheadwaterbeing the Carhuasanta stream originating in the south of Peru on theNevado Mismimountain's northern slopes and flowing into theRío Apurímac".[33]However, the origin of the river at Nevado Mismi had already been known more than one decade earlier (seeJacek Palkiewicz), and satellite based measuring from this origin to the Amazon mouth has resulted in not more than 6,400 km.
  • Generally, the most commonly used/anglicised name of the river is used. The name in a native language or alternate spelling may be shown.
The Mississippi River just north ofSt. Louis
Saint Lawrence River along the New York-Quebec border

River systems that may have existed in the past

Amazon–Congo

TheAmazon basinformerly drained westwards into the Pacific Ocean, until theAndesrose and reversed the drainage.[34]

TheCongobasin is completely surrounded by high land, except for its long narrow exit valley pastKinshasa,includingwaterfallsaroundManyanga.That gives the impression that most of the Congo basin was formerly on a much higher land level and that the Congo River wasrejuvenatedby much of its lower course being removed, likeliest when Africa split from South America whenGondwanalandbroke up due tocontinental drift,and before that, the Congo would likely have flowed into the Amazon,[34]producing a river around 6000 miles or 10,000 km long.

West Siberian Glacial Lake drainage

This river would have been about 10,000 km (6,200 mi) long, in thelast ice age.Its longest headwater was theSelengariver ofMongolia:it drained through ice-dammed lakes and theAral Seaand theCaspian Seato theBlack Sea.

Lobourg

During the lastglacial maximum,much of what is now the southern part of theNorth Seawas land, known to archaeologists asDoggerland.At this time, theThames,theMeuse,theScheldt,and theRhineprobably joined before flowing into the sea, in a system known bypalaeogeographersas theLoubourg or Lobourg River System.[35]There is some debate as to whether this river would have flowed southwest into what is now theEnglish Channel,or flowed north, emerging into the North Sea close to modernYorkshire.If the latter hypothesis is true, the Rhine would have attained a length of close to 1,650 kilometres (1,030 mi). The former hypothesis would have produced a shorter river, some 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) in length. Current scientific research favours the former opinion, with the Thames and Rhine meeting in a large lake, the outflow of which was close to the present-dayStraits of Dover.[36]

See also

Notes and references

Notes
  1. ^abThe Nile is usually said to be the longest river in the world, with a length of about 6,650 km,[3]and the Amazon the second longest, with a length of at least 6,400 km.[4]In 2007 and 2008, some scientists claimed that the Amazon has a length of 6,992 km and was longer than the Nile, whose length was calculated as 6,853 km.[6][11][7]They achieved this result by adding the waterway from the Amazon's southern outlet through tidal canals and the Pará estuary of the Tocantins.[citation needed]The dispute is: "Is the channel south of Isla de Marajó to be treated as part of the Amazon, or as part of the Rio Tocantins?"[citation needed] Apeer-reviewedarticle, published in 2009, states a length of 7,088 km for the Nile and 6,575 km for the Amazon, measured by using a combination of satellite image analysis and field investigations to the source regions.[9] According to theEncyclopædia Britannica,as of 2020, the length of the Amazon remains open to interpretation and continued debate.[4][8] Note that disputed values have been put in parentheses.
References
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  2. ^for more on this, seecoastline paradox
  3. ^abcd"Nile River".Encyclopædia Britannica.2020.Archivedfrom the original on 10 October 2017.Retrieved8 December2020.
  4. ^abcdef"Amazon River".Encyclopædia Britannica.2020.Archivedfrom the original on 8 November 2020.Retrieved8 December2020.
  5. ^Amazon Longer Than Nile River, Scientists SayArchived15 August 2012 at theWayback Machine
  6. ^ab"Amazon river 'longer than Nile'".BBC News. 16 June 2007.Archivedfrom the original on 26 September 2010.Retrieved3 August2010.
  7. ^ab"Studies from INPE indicate that the Amazon River is 140km longer than the Nile".Brazilian National Institute for Space Research. Archived fromthe originalon 11 April 2011.Retrieved3 August2010.
  8. ^ab"How Long Is the Amazon River?".Encyclopedia Britannica.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-12-24.Retrieved2018-12-24.
  9. ^abcdefLiu, Shao giường; Lu, P; Liu, D; Jin, P; Wang, W (2009-03-01)."Pinpointing the sources and measuring the lengths of the principal rivers of the world".Int. J. Digital Earth.2(1): 80–87.Bibcode:2009IJDE....2...80L.doi:10.1080/17538940902746082.S2CID27548511.Archivedfrom the original on 2018-12-23.Retrieved2018-12-24.
  10. ^abcdJ.C. Kammerer (1 September 2005)."Largest Rivers in the United States".US Geological Survey.Archivedfrom the original on 13 May 2020.Retrieved25 January2015.
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  21. ^ab"The Columbia River and Its Tributaries".USGS Volcanoes.Retrieved2024-02-17.
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  31. ^If the Meuse is considered a tributary, the Rhine basin is 218,300 km2.
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  33. ^Daily Telegraph,Monday 18 June 2007, page 18
  34. ^ab"Amazon river flowed into the Pacific millions of years ago".mongabay. 24 October 2006.Archivedfrom the original on 2017-12-12.Retrieved2017-12-11.
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