Major rivers of the world (collection)

Rivers (main)

Published: March 6, 2012, 12:00 am

Updated: April 25, 2013, 3:10 pm

Topics:

Rivers (main) Limnology (main) Oceans and seas (main) Geography (main)

Zambezi River looking downriver with mists of Victoria Falls in background. @ C.Michael Hogan

Continent color key Africa Asia Australia Europe North America South America

	River	Length (km)	Length (miles)	Drainage area (km²)	Average discharge (m³/s)	Outflow	Countries in the drainage basin
1.	Nile – Kagera	6,650 (6,853)	4,132 (4,258)	3,349,000	5,100	Mediterranean Sea	Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan
2.	Amazon – Ucayali – Apurímac	6,400 (6,992)	3,976 (4,345)	6,915,000	219,000	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana
3.	Yangtze (Chang Jiang)	6,310	3,920	1,800,000	31,900	East China Sea	China
4.	Mississippi (Mississippi River) – Missouri – Jefferson	6,275	3,902	2,980,000	16,800	Gulf of Mexico	United States, Canada
5.	Yenisei – Angara – Selenge	5,539	3,445	2,580,000	19,600	Kara Sea	Russia, Mongolia
6.	Yellow River (Huang He)	5,465	3,395	745,000	2,110	Bohai Sea	China
7.	Ob – Irtysh	5,410	3,364	2,990,000	12,800	Gulf of Ob	Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia
8.	Paraná - Río de la Plata	4,880	3,030	2,582,672	18,000	Río de la Plata	Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay
9.	Congo – Chambeshi (Zaïre)	4,700	2,922	3,680,000	41,800	Atlantic Ocean	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Cameroon, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda
10.	Amur – Argun (Heilong Jiang)	4,444	2,825	1,855,000	11,400	Sea of Okhotsk	Russia, China, Mongolia
11.	Lena	4,400	2,736	2,490,000	17,100	Laptev Sea	Russia
12.	Mekong (Lancang Jiang)	4,350	2,705	810,000	16,000	South China Sea	Laos, Thailand, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar
13.	Mackenzie – Peace – Finlay	4,241	2,637	1,790,000	10,300	Beaufort Sea	Canada
14.	Niger (Niger River)	4,200	2,611	2,090,000	9,570	Gulf of Guinea	Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Algeria, Guinea, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Chad
15.	Murray – Darling	3,672	2,282	1,061,000	767	Indian Ocean	Australia
16.	Tocantins – Araguaia	3,650	2,270	950,000	13,598	Atlantic Ocean, Amazon	Brazil
17.	Volga	3,645	2,266	1,380,000	8,080	Caspian Sea	Russia
18.	Shatt al-Arab – Euphrates	3,596	2,236	884,000	856	Persian Gulf	Iraq, Turkey, Syria
19.	Madeira – Mamoré – Grande – Caine – Rocha	3,380	2,100	1,485,200	31,200	Amazon	Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
20.	Purus	3,211	1,995	63,166	8,400	Amazon	Brazil, Peru
21.	Yukon	3,185	1,980	850,000	6,210	Bering Sea	United States, Canada
22.	Indus	3,180	1,976	960,000	7,160	Arabian Sea	Pakistan, India, China
23.	São Francisco	3,180* (2,900)	1,976* (1,802)	610,000	3,300	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil
24.	Syr Darya – Naryn	3,078	1,913	219,000	703	Aral Sea	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
25.	Salween (Nu Jiang)	3,060	1,901	324,000	3,153	Andaman Sea	China, Myanmar, Thailand
26.	Saint Lawrence – Niagara – Detroit – Saint Clair – Saint Marys – Saint Louis	3,058	1,900	1,030,000	10,100	Gulf of Saint Lawrence	Canada, United States
27.	Rio Grande	3,057 (2,896)	1,900 (1,799)	570,000	82	Gulf of Mexico	United States, Mexico
28.	Lower Tunguska	2,989	1,857	473,000	3,600	Yenisei	Russia
29.	Brahmaputra – Tsangpo	2,948*	1,832*	1,730,000	19,200	Bay of Bengal	India, China, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan
30.	Danube – Breg	2,888*	1,795*	817,000	7,130	Black Sea	Romania, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Germany, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Croatia
31.	Zambezi (Zambesi)	2,693*	1,673*	1,330,000	4,880	Mozambique Channel	Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia, Botswana
32.	Vilyuy	2,650	1,647	454,000	1,480	Lena	Russia
33.	Araguaia	2,627	1,632	358,125	5,510	Tocantins	Brazil
34.	Ganges – Hooghly - Padma (Ganga)	2,620	1,630	907,000	12,037	Bay of Bengal	India, Bangladesh
34.	Amu Darya -- Panj	2,620	1,628	534,739	1,400	Aral Sea	Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan
35.	Japurá (Rio Yapurá)	2,615*	1,625*	242,259	6,000	Amazon	Brazil, Colombia
36.	Nelson – Saskatchewan	2,570	1,597	1,093,000	2,575	Hudson Bay	Canada, United States
37.	Paraguay (Rio Paraguay)	2,549	1,584	900,000	4,300	Paraná	Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina
38.	Kolyma	2,513	1,562	644,000	3,800	East Siberian Sea	Russia
40.	Pilcomayo	2,500	1,553	270,000		Paraguay	Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia
41.	Upper Ob -- Katun	2,490	1,547			Ob	Russia
42.	Ishim	2,450	1,522	177,000	56	Irtysh	Kazakhstan, Russia
43.	Juruá	2,410	1,498	200,000	6,000	Amazon	Peru, Brazil
44.	Ural	2,428	1,509	237,000	475	Caspian Sea	Russia, Kazakhstan
45.	Arkansas	2,348	1,459	505,000 (435,122)	1,118	Mississippi (Mississippi River)	United States
47.	Olenyok	2,292	1,424	219,000	1,210	Laptev Sea	Russia
48.	Dnieper	2,287	1,421	516,300	1,670	Black Sea	Russia, Belarus, Ukraine
49.	Aldan	2,273	1,412	729,000	5,060	Lena	Russia
46.	Ubangi – Uele	2,270	1,410	772,800	4,000	Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo
50.	Negro	2,250	1,450	720,114	26,700	Amazon	Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia
51.	Columbia	2,250 (1,953)	1,450 (1,214)	415,211	7,500	Pacific Ocean	United States, Canada
52.	Colorado (USA)	2,333	1,450	390,000	1,200	Gulf of California	United States, Mexico
53.	Pearl – Zhu Jiang	2,200	1,376	437,000	13,600	South China Sea	China, Vietnam
54.	Red (Texas)	2,188	1,360	169,910	875	Mississippi (Mississippi River)	United States
55.	Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy)	2,170	1,348	411,000	13,000	Andaman Sea	Myanmar
56.	Kasai	2,153	1,338	880,200	10,000	Congo	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
57.	Ohio – Allegheny	2,102	1,306	490,603	7,957	Mississippi (Mississippi River)	United States
58.	Orinoco	2,101	1,306	1,380,000	33,000	Atlantic Ocean	Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana
59.	Tarim	2,100	1,305	557,000		Lop Nur	China
60.	Xingu	2,100	1,305			Amazon	Brazil
61.	Orange	2,100	1,305			Atlantic Ocean	South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho
62.	Northern Salado	2,010	1,249			Paraná	Argentina
63.	Vitim	1,978	1,229			Lena	Russia
64.	Tigris	1,950	1,212			Shatt al-Arab	Turkey, Iraq, Syria
65.	Songhua	1,927	1,197	1,444,000	2465	Amur	China
66.	Tapajós	1,900	1,181			Amazon	Brazil
67.	Don	1,870	1,162	425,600	935	Sea of Azov	Russia, Ukraine
68.	Stony Tunguska	1,865	1,159	240,000		Yenisei	Russia
69.	Pechora	1,809	1,124	322,000		Barents Sea (Columbia River)	Russia
70.	Kama	1,805	1,122	507,000		Volga	Russia
71.	Limpopo	1,800	1,118	413,000		Indian Ocean	Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana
72.	Senegal (Senegal River)	1,790	1,020	419,659		Atlantic Ocean	Senegal, Mali, Mauritania
73.	Guaporé (Itenez)	1,749	1,087	266,460		Mamore	Brazil, Bolivia
74.	Indigirka	1,726	1,072	360,400	1,810	East Siberian Sea (Columbia River)	Russia
75.	Snake	1,670	1,038	279,719	1,611	Columbia	USA
76.	Uruguay	1,610	1,000	370,000		Atlantic Ocean	Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil
77.	Murrumbidgee River	1,600	994			Murray River	Australia
77.	Blue Nile	1,600	994	326,400		Nile	Ethiopia, Sudan
77.	Churchill	1,600	994			Hudson Bay	Canada
77.	Khatanga	1,600	994			Laptev Sea	Russia
77.	Okavango	1,600	994			Okavango Delta	Namibia, Angola, Botswana
77.	Volta	1,600	994			Gulf of Guinea	Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin
82.	Beni	1,599	994	283,350	8,900	Madeira	Bolivia
83.	Platte	1,594	990			Missouri	USA
84.	Tobol	1,591	989			Irtysh	Kazakhstan, Russia
85.	Jubba – Shebelle	1,580*	982*			Indian Ocean	Ethiopia, Somalia
86.	Içá (Putumayo)	1,575	979			Amazon	Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
87.	Magdalena	1,550	963	263,858	9,000	Caribbean Sea	Colombia
88.	Han	1,532	952			Yangtze	China
89.	Oka	1,500	932			Volga	Russia
91.	Pecos	1,490	926			Rio Grande	USA
92.	Upper Yenisei -- Little Yenisei (Kaa-Hem)	1,480	920			Yenisei	Russia, Mongolia
93.	Godavari	1,465	910			Bay of Bengal	India
94.	Colorado (Texas)	1,438	894			Gulf of Mexico	USA
95.	Río Grande (Guapay)	1,438	894	102,600	264	Ichilo	Bolivia
96.	Belaya	1,420	882			Kama	Russia
97.	Cooper – Barcoo	1,420	880			Lake Eyre	Australia
98.	Marañón	1,415	879			Amazon	Peru
99.	Dniester	1,411 (1,352)	877 (840)			Black Sea	Ukraine, Moldova
100.	Benue	1,402	870		2,450	Niger (Niger River)	Cameroon, Nigeria
100.	Ili (Yili)	1,400	870			Lake Balkhash	China, Kazakhstan
100.	Warburton – Georgina	1,400	870			Lake Eyre	Australia
103.	Sutlej	1,372	852			Chenab	China, India, Pakistan
104.	Yamuna	1,370	851			Ganges	India
105.	Vyatka	1,370	851			Kama	Russia
106.	Fraser	1,368	850	220,000	3,475	Pacific Ocean	Canada
107.	Mtkvari (Kura)	1,364	848			Caspian Sea	Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Iran
108.	Grande	1,360	845			Paraná	Brazil
109.	Brazos	1,352	840			Gulf of Mexico	United States
110.	Cauca	1,350	839			Magdalena	Colombia
111.	Liao	1,345	836			Bo Hai	China
112.	Yalong	1,323	822			Yangtze	China
113.	Iguaçu	1,320	820			Paraná	Brazil, Argentina
113.	Olyokma	1,320	820			Lena	Russia
115.	Northern Dvina – Sukhona	1,302	809	357,052	3,332	White Sea	Russia
116.	Krishna	1,300	808			Bay of Bengal	India
116.	Iriri	1,300	808			Xingu	Brazil
117.	Narmada	1,289	801			Arabian Sea	India
118.	Lomami	1,280	795			Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo
119.	Ottawa	1,271	790			Saint Lawrence	Canada
120.	Zeya	1,242	772			Amur	Russia
121.	Juruena	1,240	771			Tapajós	Brazil
122.	Upper Mississippi	1,236	768			Mississippi (Mississippi River)	United States
123.	Rhine	1,233	768	198,735	2,330	North Sea	Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy (minimal), Belgium, Luxembourg
124.	Athabasca	1,231	765	95,300		Mackenzie	Canada
124.	Elbe – Vltava	1,252	778	148,268	711	North Sea	Germany, Czech Republic
126.	Canadian	1,223	760			Arkansas	United States
127.	North Saskatchewan	1,220	758			Saskatchewan	Canada
128.	Draa	1,218	994			Atlantic Ocean	Morocco
129.	Vaal	1,205	752			Orange	South Africa
130.	Shire	1,200	746			Zambezi	Mozambique, Malawi
131.	Nenjiang (Nen)	1,190	739			Songhua	China
132.	Kızıl River	1,182	734	115,000	400	Black Sea	Turkey
133.	Green (Green River (Utah))	1,175	730		173	Colorado (western U.S.)	United States
134.	Milk	1,173	729			Missouri	United States, Canada
135.	Chindwin	1,158	720			Ayeyarwady	Myanmar
136.	Sankuru	1,150	715			Kasai	Democratic Republic of the Congo
137.	Red (Asia)	1,149	714	143,700	2,640	Gulf of Tonkin	China, Vietnam
138.	James (Dakotas)	1,143	710			Missouri	United States
139.	Kapuas	1,143	710			South China Sea	Indonesia
140.	Desna	1,130	702	88,900	360	Dnieper	Russia, Belarus, Ukraine
140.	Helmand	1,130	702			Hamun-i-Helmand	Afghanistan, Iran
140.	Madre de Dios	1,130	702	125,000	4,915	Beni	Peru, Bolivia
140.	Tietê	1,130	702			Paraná	Brazil
140.	Vychegda	1,130	702			Northern Dvina	Russia
145.	Sepik	1,126	700	77,700		Pacific Ocean	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
146.	Cimarron	1,123	698			Arkansas	United States
147.	Anadyr	1,120	696			Gulf of Anadyr	Russia
147.	Paraíba do Sul	1,120	696			Atlantic Ocean	Brazil
149.	Jialing River	1,119	695			Yangtze	China
150.	Liard	1,115	693			Mackenzie	Canada
151.	Cumberland	1,105	687	46,830	862	Mississippi (Mississippi River)	United States
152.	White	1,102	685			Mississippi (Mississippi River)	United States
153.	Huallaga	1,100	684			Marañón	Peru
153.	Kwango	1,100	684	263,500	2,700	Kasai	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
155.	Gambia	1,094	680			Atlantic Ocean	The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea
156.	Chenab	1,086	675			Indus	India, Pakistan
157.	Yellowstone (Yellowstone River)	1,080	671	114,260		Missouri	United States
158.	Aras	1,072	665	102,000	285	Kura	Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran
159.	Chu River	1,067	663	62,500		none	Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
160.	Seversky Donets	1,078 (1,053)	670 (654)			Don	Russia, Ukraine
161.	Bermejo	1,050	652			Paraguay	Argentina, Bolivia
161.	Fly	1,050	652			Gulf of Papua	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
161.	Guaviare	1,050	652			Orinoco	Colombia
162.	Kuskokwim	1,050	652			Bering Sea	United States
163.	Kunene	1,050	652	106,560	174	Atlantic Ocean	Angola, Namibia
164.	Tennessee	1,049	652			Ohio	United States
165.	Vistula	1,047	630	194,424	1,080	Baltic Sea	Poland
166.	Aruwimi	1,030	640			Congo River	Democratic Republic of the Congo
167.	Daugava	1,020	634	87,900	678	Gulf of Riga	Latvia, Belarus, Russia
168.	Gila	1,015	631			Colorado (western U.S.)	United States
169.	Loire	1,012	629	115,271	840	Atlantic Ocean	France
170.	Essequibo	1,010	628			Atlantic Ocean	Guyana
171.	Khoper	1,010	628			Don	Russia
172.	Tagus (Tajo/Tejo)	1,006	625	80,100		Atlantic Ocean	Spain, Portugal

Citation

Saundry, P. (2013). Major rivers of the world (collection). Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Major_rivers_of_the_world_(collection)