World’s Top Ten Longest Rivers
We are here again with the post about top ten longest rivers in the world. All the rivers and main tributaries of over 1000 km in length. Watercourses are listed here in the usual hydrographic criteria, that is, determining the length of a river by the length of its most remote source, regardless of the river all the way keep the same name. Following are some of the longest rivers in the world:
1. Amazon River: The Amazon is the largest and longest river in the world , having the length of more than 6,800 km. Its watershed is the largest in the world . Born in the foothills of the Snowy Mount Misti in Arequipa, Peru at about 5170 meters altitude. However its basin covers nine countries, which includes Brazil, Bolivia , Peru , Ecuador , Colombia , Venezuela , Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname. Its drainage basin is 7,050,000 km2 , which represents almost 40% of South America. The Amazon river system has over a thousand major tributaries, of which exceed twenty-five thousand miles long. The river network is more than 100,000 km of rivers that make up the Amazon basin of which depends the existence of the forest. 50% of rainfall in this region occur because of this forest system .
2. Nile River: The Nile River is the largest river in Africa and has been considered until recently the longest river in the world , but recent studies of 2007 and 2008 have redefined the headwaters of the Amazon River in southern Peru rather than in the north, making it the longest river in the world. The most distant source of Lake Victoria is the Kagera River , located in northwestern Tanzania: if it is considered as the source of the Nile, his birth would be the longer course of the flowing into the Mediterranean water, being the Nilo- Kagera the second longest river in the world , with a length of 6,756 kilometers. It is located northeast of the continent. Born in Burundi and has two major tributaries , the White Nile and Blue Nile . The northern part of the river flows almost entirely through desert , from Sudan and Egypt, an area whose civilization has depended on the river for millennia. Most of the population of Egypt and all its cities – except for the Nile Delta and oases , are found along the Nile valley north of Aswan, and most places of cultural interest are historical and along the riverbanks . The mouth of the river forms the Delta of the Nile, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea .
3. Yangtze River: Also called Cang Jiang, Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa and the Amazon in South America. The river is approximately 6.300 kilometers long, flows from its source in Qinghai Province , eastwards to the East China Sea at Shanghai. It has traditionally been considered a dividing line between the nore and South China, although geographers consider the Qinling – Huai River geographic official line is divison .
4. Yellow River: Also called as Huang He, is a river in East Asia runs entirely in China, with 5,464 km, and considered as the fourth longest river of the world. The flows through seven provinces which includes Qinghai , Gansu , Shanxi, Shaanxi , Henan and Shandong , and two autonomous regions , Ningxia and Inner Mongolia , and empties into the Bohai Sea. Historically, it is the most important river in China and its basin have been discovered many archaeological sites that demonstrate the continuous human presence from prehistory.
5. Parana River: The Paraná River is one of the most important rivers of South America through the southern half of the continent and is part of the extensive Plata basin, which collects water from the Paraná, Paraguay, Uruguay, its tributaries and various wetlands such as the Pantanal, the Ibera Marshes and Plated Star. It is the second largest watershed of South America, second only to the Amazon River and also considered as the fifth longest rivers in the world.
6. Congo River: Also known as Zaire, is the largest river in Central Africa and sixth longest rivers in the world. Born in Lake Bangweulu and has a length of 4,380 km, making it the second longest river in Africa. Its watershed drains an area of 3,700,000 km ², which is more than a tenth of Africa’s surface and including the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo , as well as a large part of the Central African Republic and part the territory of Zambia , Angola , Tanzania , Cameroon and Gabon. The river and its tributaries run through the Congo rainforest , considered the second largest rainforest in the world , after the Amazonia.
7. Lena River: It is a river in Siberia which is supposed to be the 7th longest river in the world. From the 1,640 m altitude originated in the Baikal Mountains south of the Central Siberian Plateau, 20 km west of Lake Baikal, the Lena flows northwest, and he’s Kirenga Vitim river and river meet. It flows into the Laptev Sea, southwest of the New Siberian Islands, forming a delta of 10,800 km2, crossed by seven main branches, the most important Bylov, the easternmost. Although rainfall is scarce in the catchment area of the water, the average flow of the Lena is 16.4 million liters per second at its mouth.
8. Mekong River: The Mekong River is one of the world’s great rivers which is considered as the 5th longest rivers in Asia and 8th longest in the world. It has an estimated length of 4,880 km, draining a basin of 810,000 km ². Originated in China, the Tibetan Plateau and flows through Yunnan province and then along Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the only Asian rivers that runs through six countries and the countries except China and Burma belong to the Mekong River Commission.
9. Irtysh River: It is a long river of Central Asia, and 9th longest rivers in the world. It’s name means White River and It’s estimated length is around 4,248 km length. It drains a vast watershed 1,673,470 km ², the 16th largest in the world , greater in extent than countries such as Peru , Mongolia and Iran. The river originates in China and flows from Kazakhstan crosses and ends up leading Russia. Several cities are located on its banks, which includes the Kazakh Öskemen , Semey and Pavlodar , and Omsk Russian , Tara , Tobolsk and Khanty-Mansiysk .
10. Niger River: It is a long African rivers, the principal of West Africa, and considered as the 10th longest rivers in the world. Born in Guinea Conakry, then through Mali , Niger , Benin and Nigeria, where it flows forming the great Niger delta in the Gulf of Guinea. It has a length of 4,184 km and drains a large basin of 2,262,000 km². It is a navigable river to Bamako , which makes it the main means of communication , transportation and trade between the countries of the area. Its main tributary is the Benue River.
