The ten longest rivers in the World. Just click on each river for more pictures and information about that river.

Nile River

The Nile River is located on the continent of Africa and is generally considered the longest river in the world at 4,135 miles. The main source of the Nile River is considered to be Lake Victoria though the lake has its own feeder rivers and streams which could also be considered the source. The Nile River ends as it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile was the heart of the Ancient Egyptian Civilization and the main reason that civilization thrived for thousands of years.

The Nile River Crocodile was a major component of Ancient Egyptian culture and way of life. While the Ancient Egyptian culture has disappeared the Nile Crocodile still lives on along the Nile River today.

Image via Wikipedia

Amazon River

The Amazon River is located on the continent of South America and is considered the 2nd longest river in the world behind the Nile River at 3,980 miles though some dispute this and claim the Amazon is actually longer than the Nile. What cannot be disputed is that the Amazon is the largest river in the world by sheer volume. In fact the Amazon’s total water flow is larger than the next top 10 rivers flowing into the oceans combined and makes up 20% of the world’s total river flow.  During the wet season the Amazon can stretch up to 130 miles wide. Despite it’s great length and largely due to its great width the Amazon has no bridges which cross it.

Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana named the river in 1542 when he and his men encountered a tribe of fierce women along the river who reminded them of the Ancient Greek story about warrior women named Amazons.

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Yangtze River

The Yangtze River is the 3rd longest river in the world and the longest river in China and Asia. It is 3,917 miles long and trails only the Nile and Amazon Rivers in length. The river originates at a glacier on the Tibetan plateau and ends as it flows into the East China Sea and is China’s major inland waterway where tons of shipping flows annually. It is estimated that 350 million people live around the Yangtze River.

Located along the Yangtze is the Three Gorges Dam which was finished in 2003. The dam is the largest irrigation project in the world, protects the people living in the area from flooding and provides electricity for millions but at the expense of those whose homes were flooded by the dam and causing massive changes in local ecology.

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Mississippi River (Length includes the Missouri River)

The Mississippi River is the longest river in North America and the 4th longest in the World behind the Nile, Amazon and Yangtze rivers and measures 3,870 miles.  The source of the Mississippi is Lake Itasca in Minnesota and the river ends as it flows into the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. It’s estimated that it takes 90 days for water to flow the entire length of the Mississippi River.

More than 50 cities rely upon the Mississippi for their daily water supply. From its source at Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico the Mississppi River drops 1,475 feet but more than half the drop takes place in Minnesota the home of Lake Itasca. Ironic because Minnesota is not known for elevation.

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Yenisei River (Length includes the Angara and Selenga Rivers)

The Yenisei River is the 5th longest river in the world and is located on the Asian Continent mainly flowing through and splitting Siberia in Russia. It is 3,445 feet long and originates in Mongolia and ends flowing into the Kara Sea and Arctic Ocean. One of its main feeder rivers is the Angara which originates at Lake Baikal, a lake so deep that it contains more water than all 5 Great Lakes combined.

The Yenisei river freezes over in the winter and when spring comes the upper Yenisei River releases large ice chunks which clog the lower Yenisei and cause massive flooding.

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Yellow River (Also known as the Huang He River)

The Yellow River is the 6th longest river in the world and the 2nd longest river in China. Only the Nile, Amazon, Yangtze, Mississippi and Yenisei rivers are longer with the Yangtze also being in China. The total length of the Yellow River is 3,398 miles. It is called the Yellow River because of the yellow silt known as Loess that continuously flows in the river and colors it.

The Yellow River is known for flooding and for changeing its course at least 26 times over the last 3,000 years. Many of the floods have been devastating to the Chinese people living in the area.

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Ob-Irtysh River

The Ob-Irtysh River is the 7th longest river in the world at 3,364 miles. It originates at the junction of the Biya and Katun rivers, in the Altai Mountains in Western Siberia, Russia and ends in the Gulf of Ob which is a long bay of the Kara Sea which adjoins the Arctic Ocean.  The main river basin of the Ob-Irtysh consists mostly of steppe, taiga, swamps, tundra, and semi-desert topography. The floodplains of the Ob are characterized by many tributaries and lakes. The river freezes over for 4 to 5 months every year but the area can get hot in the Summer and is popular for sightseers and does have tourist hotels along its sandy beach stretches.

The Ob River Basin has over 9,200 miles of navigable water and once the sole source of transportation in the area until construction of the Trans-Siberia Railway was completed in 1913.

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Congo River

The Congo River is located on the continent of Africa and is the 2nd longest river in Africa after the Nile. At 2,922 miles the Congo is also the 8th longest river in the world. Fueled by the 2nd largest rain forest in the world the Congo River has the 2nd largest drainage basin in the world trailing only the Amazon River (which is fueled by the world’s largest rain forest, the Amazon Rainforest). The source of the Congo is the Lualaba River, which draws its waters from the highlands and mountains of the East African Rift and from Lake Tanganyika and Lake Mweru. The Congo River ends when it enters the Atlantic Ocean near the small town of Muanda .

Eskom, South Africa’s state owned power company, announced a proposal in 2005 to construct a new hydroelecrtic dam  along the Congo Basin which would have double the GW capacity of China’s Three Gorges Dam.

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Amur River

The Amur River is located on the continent of Asia forming the border between Far East Russia and Northeastern China. The Amur is the 9th longest river in the world at 2,744 miles. It begins where the its two main tributaries, the Shika and Argun Rives merge. The Shika originates on the eastern slopes of the Khentii Mountains in Mongolia while the Argun originates on the western slopes of the Great Khingan Range in northeast China. The Amur ends at the Strait of Tartary where it empties into the Pacific Ocean at the northern end of the island of Sakhalin. The Amur River is home to the very endangered Amur Leopard.

Due to its geographic location with Russia on the north bank and China on the south bank for more than 1,000 miles, the Amur River has been the site of occasional clashes between these two nations.

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Lena River

The Lena River at 2,734 miles is the 10th longest river in the world and 3rd longest river in Siberia, Russia after the Yenisei and Ob Rivers. The Lena originates in the Baikal Mountains south of the Central Siberian Plateau and west of Lake Baikal and flows northeast until it empties in the Laptev Sea and Arctic Ocean south-west of the New Siberian Islands by the Lena Delta.

Cruise ships take tourists up the Lena River every year once the winter ice disappears. The water is so clean it is potable along the Lena.

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Just click on any river name for more pictures and information on each river.