world rivers on length

Definition of length

There are many factors, such as the source, the identification or the definition of the mouth, and the scale of measurement^[1] 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 also coastline paradox). In particular, there has long been disagreement as to whether the Nile or the Amazon is the world's longest river. The Nile has traditionally been considered longer, but in recent years some Brazilian and Peruvian studies have suggested that the Amazon is longer by measuring the river plus the adjacent Pará estuary and the longest connecting tidal canal.^[2][3][4][5]

For the purpose of determining maximum length a river's "true source" is considered to be the source of whichever tributary is farthest from the mouth. This tributary may or may not have the same name as the main stem river.

Furthermore, it is sometimes hard to state exactly where a river begins, especially rivers that are formed by ephemeral streams, swamps, or changing lakes. In this article, lengthmeans the length of the longest continuous river channel in a given river system, regardless of name.

The source of some rivers starting in farming areas can be difficult to determine, if the river is formed by the confluence of several farm field drainage ditches which only contain water after rain. Similarly, in rivers starting in a chalk area, such as the Chilterns in south England, the length of the upper course which is dry varies with how high the water tableis, which varies with the weather.^{[citation needed]}

Even when detailed maps are available, the length measurement is not always clear. A river may have multiple channels, or anabranches. 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. 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, and channelization. In addition, the length of meanders can change significantly over time due to natural or artificial cutoffs, 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 the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois, to New Orleans, Louisiana, was reduced by 218 miles (351 km).^[6]

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 rivers longer than 1000 km

This article or section possibly contains previously unpublished synthesis of published material that conveys ideas not attributable to the original sources. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (June 2009)

One should take the aforementioned discussion into account when using the data in the following table. For most rivers, different sources provide conflicting information on the length of a river system. The information in different sources is between parentheses.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Continent color key Africa Asia Australia Europe North America South America

	River	Length (km)	Length (miles)	Drainage area(km²)[citation needed]	Average discharge(m³/s)[citation needed]	Outflow	Countries in the drainage basin[citation needed]
1.	Nile – Kagera[n 1]	6,650 (6,853)	4,132 (4,258)	3,254,555	5,100	Mediterranean	Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania,Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan
2.	Amazon – Ucayali – Apurímac[n 1]	6,400 (6,992)	3,976 (4,345)	7,050,000	219,000	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,Venezuela, Guyana
3.	Yangtze (Chang Jiang)	6,300 (6,418)	3,917 (3,988)	1,800,000	31,900	East China Sea	China
4.	Mississippi–Missouri–Jefferson	6,275	3,902	2,980,000	16,200	Gulf of Mexico	United States (98.5%), Canada (1.5%)
5.	Yenisei–Angara–Selenge	5,539	3,445	2,580,000	19,600	Kara Sea	Russia (97%), Mongolia (2.9%)
6.	Yellow River (Huang He)	5,464	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 [8]	4,880	3,030	2,582,672	18,000	Río de la Plata	Brazil (46.7%), Argentina (27.7%), Paraguay(13.5%), Bolivia (8.3%), Uruguay (3.8%)
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	2,763	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	China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia,Vietnam
13.	Mackenzie–Slave–Peace–Finlay	4,241	2,637	1,790,000	10,300	Beaufort Sea	Canada
14.	Niger	4,200	2,611	2,090,000	9,570	Gulf of Guinea	Nigeria (26.6%), Mali (25.6%), Niger (23.6%),Algeria (7.6%), Guinea (4.5%), Cameroon(4.2%), Burkina Faso (3.9%), Côte d'Ivoire,Benin, Chad
15.	Murray–Darling	3,672[9]	2,282	1,061,000	767	Southern 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 (60.5%), Turkey (24.8%), Syria (14.7%)
19.	Madeira–Mamoré–Grande–Caine–Rocha	3,380	2,100	1,485,200	31,200	Amazon	Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
20.	Purús	3,211	1,995	63,166	8,400	Amazon	Brazil, Peru
21.	Yukon	3,185	1,980[6]	850,000	6,210	Bering Sea	United States (59.8%), Canada (40.2%)
22.	Indus	3,180	1,976	960,000	7,160	Arabian Sea	Pakistan (93%), 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[10]	Andaman Sea	China (52.4%), Myanmar (43.9%), Thailand (3.7%)
26.	Saint Lawrence – Great Lakes	3,058	1,900[6]	1,030,000	10,100	Gulf of Saint Lawrence	Canada (52.1%), United States (47.9%)
27.	Rio Grande	3,057	1,900[6]	570,000	82	Gulf of Mexico	United States (52.1%), Mexico (47.9%)
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[11]	Ganges	India (58.0%), China (19.7%), Nepal (9.0%),Bangladesh (6.6%), Disputed India/China (4.2%), Bhutan (2.4%)
30.	Danube–Breg (Duna)	2,888*	1,795*	817,000	7,130	Black Sea	Romania (28.9%), Hungary (11.7%), Austria (10.3%), Serbia (10.3%), Germany (7.5%),Slovakia (5.8%), Bulgaria (5.2%), Croatia(4.5%),
31.	Zambezi (Zambesi)	2,693*	1,673*	1,330,000	4,880	Mozambique Channel	Zambia (41.6%), Angola (18.4%), Zimbabwe(15.6%), Mozambique (11.8%), Malawi(8.0%), Tanzania (2.0%), 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[12]	1,628	907,000	12,037[13]	Bay of Bengal	India, Bangladesh, Nepal, China
35.	Amu Darya -- Panj	2,620	1,628	534,739	1,400	Aral Sea	Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan,Afghanistan
36.	Japurá (Rio Yapurá)	2,615*	1,625*	242,259	6,000	Amazon	Brazil, Colombia
37.	Nelson–Saskatchewan	2,570	1,597	1,093,000	2,575	Hudson Bay	Canada, United States
38.	Paraguay (Rio Paraguay)	2,549	1,584	900,000	4,300	Paraná	Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina
39.	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)	1,066	Mississippi	United States
46.	Colorado (western U.S.)	2,333	1,450	390,000	1,200	Gulf of California	United States, Mexico
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
50.	Ubangi–Uele[14]	2,270	1,410	772,800	4,000	Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo
51.	Negro	2,250	1,398	720,114	26,700	Amazon	Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia
52.	Columbia	2,250 (1,953)	1,398 (1,214)	415,211	7,500	Pacific Ocean	United States, Canada
53.	Pearl – Zhu Jiang	2,200	1,376	437,000	13,600	South China Sea	China (98.5%), Vietnam (1.5%)
54.	Red (USA)	2,188	1,360	78,592	875	Mississippi	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	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	P. R. China
60.	Xingu	2,100	1,305			Amazon	Brazil
61.	Orange	2,092	1,300			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			Amur	P. R. 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	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.	Guaporé (Itenez)	1,749	1,087			Mamoré	Brazil, Bolivia
73.	Indigirka	1,726	1,072	360,400	1,810	East Siberian Sea	Russia
74.	Snake	1,670	1,038	279,719	1,611	Columbia	United States
75.	Senegal	1,641	1,020	419,659		Atlantic Ocean	Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania
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
83.	Beni	1,599	994	283,350	8,900	Madeira	Bolivia
84.	Platte	1,594	990			Missouri	United States
85.	Tobol	1,591	989			Irtysh	Kazakhstan, Russia
86.	Jubba–Shebelle	1,580*	982*			Indian Ocean	Ethiopia, Somalia
87.	Içá (Putumayo)	1,575	979			Amazon	Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
88.	Magdalena	1,550	963	263,858	9,000	Caribbean	Colombia
89.	Han	1,532	952			Yangtze	P. R. China
90.	Oka	1,500	932			Volga	Russia
91.	Pecos	1,490	926			Rio Grande	United States
92.	Upper Yenisei -- Little Yenisei (Kaa-Hem)	1,480	920			Yenisei	Russia, Mongolia
93.	Godavari	1,465	910	312,812	3,061	Bay of Bengal	India
94.	Colorado (Texas)	1,438	894			Gulf of Mexico	United States
94.	Río Grande (Guapay)	1,438	894	102,600	264	Ichilo	Bolivia
95.	Oder-Warta	1,425				Baltic Sea	Poland, Germany
96.	Belaya	1,420	882			Kama	Russia
96.	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	1,400	870			Niger	Cameroon, Nigeria
100.	Ili (Yili)	1,400	870			Lake Balkhash	P. R. 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	366,223	2,950	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			Bohai Sea	P. R. China
112.	Yalong	1,323	822			Yangtze	P. R. 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[15]	1,280	795			Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo
119.	Ottawa	1,271	790	146,300	1,950	Saint Lawrence	Canada
120.	Lerma - Rio Grande de Santiago	1,270	789	119,543		Pacific	Mexico
121.	Elbe–Vltava	1,252	778	148,268	711	North Sea	Germany, Czech Republic
122.	Zeya	1,242	772			Amur	Russia
123.	Juruena	1,240	771			Tapajós	Brazil
124.	Upper Mississippi	1,236	768			Mississippi	United States
125.	Rhine	1,233	768	198,735	2,330	North Sea	Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy (minimal), Belgium, Luxembourg
126.	Athabasca	1,231	765	95,300		Mackenzie	Canada
127.	Canadian	1,223	760			Arkansas	United States
128.	North Saskatchewan	1,220	758			Saskatchewan	Canada
129.	Vaal	1,210	752			Orange	South Africa
130.	Shire	1,200	746			Zambezi	Mozambique, Malawi
131.	Nen (Nonni)	1,190	739			Songhua	P. R. China
132.	Kızıl River	1,182	734	115,000	400	Black Sea	Turkey
133.	Green	1,175	730			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
136.	Wu	1,150	715	80,300	1,108	Yangtze River	China
137.	Red (Asia)	1,149	714	143,700	2,640	Gulf of Tonkin	China, Vietnam
138.	James (Dakotas)	1,143	710			Missouri	United States
138.	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	P. R. China
150.	Liard	1,115	693			Mackenzie	Canada
151.	Cumberland	1,105	687	46,830	862	Mississippi	United States
152.	White	1,102	685			Mississippi	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
153.	Draa	1,100	684			Atlantic	Morocco
156.	Gambia	1,094	680			Atlantic	The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea
157.	Chenab	1,086	675			Indus	India, Pakistan
158.	Yellowstone	1,080	671	114,260		Missouri	United States
158.	Ghaghara	1,080	671	127,950	2,990	Ganges	India, Nepal, China
160.	Huai River	1,078	670	270,000	1,110	Yangtze River	China
161.	Aras	1,072	665	102,000	285	Kura	Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran
162.	Chu River	1,067	663	62,500		none	Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
163.	Seversky Donets	1,078 (1,053)	670 (654)			Don	Russia, Ukraine
164.	Bermejo	1,050	652			Paraguay	Argentina, Bolivia
164.	Fly	1,050	652			Gulf of Papua	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
164.	Guaviare	1,050	652			Orinoco	Colombia
164.	Kuskokwim	1,050	652			Bering Sea	United States
168.	Tennessee	1,049	652			Ohio	United States
169.	Vistula	1,047	630	194,424	1,080	Baltic Sea	Poland
170.	Aruwimi[15]	1,030	640			Congo River	Democratic Republic of the Congo
171.	Daugava	1,020	634	87,900	678	Gulf of Riga	Latvia, Belarus, Russia
172.	Gila	1,015	631			Colorado(western U.S.)	United States
173.	Loire	1,012	629	115,271	840	Atlantic Ocean	France
174.	Essequibo	1,010	628			Atlantic Ocean	Guyana
174.	Khoper	1,010	628			Don	Russia
176.	Tagus (Tajo/Tejo)	1,006	625	80,100		Atlantic Ocean	Spain, Portugal

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 or not it is valid to take a course south of the Ilha de Marajó at the Amazon's mouth. New evidence, (dated 16 June 2007) obtained from a high-altitude scientific venture in the Andes, claims that "the Amazon is longer than the Nile by 100km, with its longest headwater being the Carhuasanta stream originating in the south of Peru on the Nevado Mismi mountain's northern slopes and flowing into the Río Apurímac".^[16]However, the origin of the river at Nevado Mismi had already been known more than one decade earlier (see Jacek 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 of St. Louis.

Saint Lawrence River along the New York-Quebec border.

River systems that may have existed in the past

Amazon-Congo

The Amazon basin formerly drained westwards into the Pacific Ocean, until the Andes rose and reversed the drainage.^[17]

The Congo basin is completely surrounded by high land, except for its long narrow exit valley past Kinshasa, including waterfalls around Manyanga. That gives the impression that most of the Congo basin was formerly on a much higher land level and that it was rejuvenated by much of its lower course being removed. Before Gondwanaland broke up due tocontinental drift, the Congo would likely have flowed into the Amazon.^{[citation needed]}

West Siberian Glacial Lake drainage

Main article: West Siberian Glacial Lake

This river would have been about 10,000 km (6,200 mi) long, in the last Ice Age. Its longest headwater was the Selenga river of Mongolia: it drained through ice-dammed lakes and the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea.