World River Map

About World River Map

Explore the world map to see the path of all major rivers flowing all across the Earth.

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List of World's Longest Rivers

Rank	River	Length in km	Length in Miles	Drainage Area in km2	Average Discharge in m3/s	Outflow
1	Nile	6,650	4,130	3,254,555	2,800	Mediterranean
2	Amazon	6,400	3,976	7,000,000	209,000	Atlantic Ocean
3	Yangtze	6,300	3,917	1,800,000	30,166	East China Sea
4	Mississippi	6,275	3,902	2,980,000	16,792	Gulf of Mexico
5	Yenisei	5,539	3,445	2,580,000	18,050	Kara Sea
6	Yellow River	5,464	3,395	745,000	2,571	Bohai Sea
7	Ob-Irtysh	5,410	3,364	2,990,000	12,475	Gulf of Ob
8	Paraná	4,880	3,030	2,582,672	22,000	Río de la Plata
9	Congo	4,700	2,922	3,680,000	41,800	Atlantic Ocean
10	Amur	4,444	2,763	1,855,000	11,400	Sea of Okhotsk
11	Lena	4,400	2,736	2,490,000	15,500	Laptev Sea
12	Mekong	4,350	2,705	810,000	16,000	South China Sea
13	Mackenzie	4,241	2,637	1,790,000	10,300	Beaufort Sea
14	Niger	4,200	2,611	2,090,000	5,589	Gulf of Guinea
15	Brahmaputra	3,969	2,466	712,035	19,800	Ganges
16	Murray	3,672	2,282	1,061,000	767	Southern Ocean
17	Tocantins	3,650	2,270	950,000	13,598	Atlantic Ocean (Marajó Bay), Amazon Delta
18	Volga	3,645	2,266	1,380,000	8,080	Caspian Sea
19	Indus	3,610	2,250	960,000	7,160	Arabian Sea
20	Shatt al-Arab	3,596	2,236	884,000	856	Persian Gulf
21	Madeira	3,380	2,100	1,485,200	31,200	Amazon
22	Purús	3,211	1,995	63,166	8,400	Amazon
23	Yukon	3,185	1,980	850,000	6,210	Bering Sea
24	São Francisco	3,180	1,976	610,000	3,300	Atlantic Ocean
25	Syr Darya	3,078	1,913	219,000	703	Aral Sea
26	Salween	3,060	1,901	324,000	3,153	Andaman Sea
27	Saint Lawrence	3,058	1,900	1,030,000	10,100	Gulf of Saint Lawrence
28	Rio Grande	3,057	1,900	570,000	82	Gulf of Mexico
29	Lower Tunguska	2,989	1,857	473,000	3,600	Yenisei
30	Danube-Breg	2,888	1,795	817,000	7,130	Black Sea
31	Irrawaddy River	2,809	1,745.80	404,200	13,000	Andaman Sea
32	Zambezi	2,740	1,703	1,330,000	4,880	Mozambique Channel
33	Vilyuy	2,720	1,700	454,000	1,480	Lena
34	Ganges	2,704	1,690	1,024,000	12,037	Bay of Bengal
35	Amu	2,620	1,628	534,739	1,400	Aral Sea
36	Japurá	2,615	1,625	242,259	6,000	Amazon
37	Nelson	2,570	1,597	1,093,000	2,575	Hudson Bay
38	Paraguay	2,549	1,584	900,000	4,300	Paraná
39	Kolyma	2,513	1,562	644,000	3,800	East Siberian Sea
40	Pilcomayo	2,500	1,553	270,000		Paraguay
41	Upper Ob-Katun	2,490	1,547			Ob
42	Ishim	2,450	1,522	177,000	56	Irtysh
43	Ural	2,428	1,509	237,000	475	Caspian Sea
44	Juruá	2,410	1,498	200,000	6,000	Amazon
45	Arkansas	2,348	1,459	505,000	1,066	Mississippi
46	Colorado	2,333	1,450	390,000	1,200	Gulf of California
47	Olenyok	2,292	1,424	219,000	1,210	Laptev Sea
48	Dnieper	2,287	1,421	516,300	1,670	Black Sea
49	Aldan	2,273	1,412	729,000	5,060	Lena
50	Ubangi-Uele	2,270	1,410	772,800	4,000	Congo
51	Negro	2,250	1,398	720,114	26,700	Amazon
52	Columbia	2,250	1,398	415,211	7,500	Pacific Ocean
53	Pearl	2,200	1,376	437,000	13,600	South China Sea
54	Red	2,188	1,360	78,592	875	Mississippi
55	Kasai	2,153	1,338	880,200	10,000	Congo
56	Ohio	2,102	1,306	490,603	7,957	Mississippi
57	Orinoco	2,101	1,306	1,380,000	33,000	Atlantic Ocean
58	Tarim	2,100	1,305	557,000		Lop Nur
59	Xingu	2,100	1,305			Amazon
60	Orange	2,092	1,300			Atlantic Ocean
61	Brazos-Double	2,060	1,280			Gulf of Mexico
62	Northern Salado	2,010	1,249			Paraná
63	Vitim	1,978	1,229			Lena
64	Tigris	1,950	1,212			Shatt al-Arab
65	Songhua	1,927	1,197			Amur
66	Tapajós	1,900	1,181			Amazon
67	Don	1,870	1,162	425,600	935	Sea of Azov
68	Stony Tunguska	1,865	1,159	240,000		Yenisey
69	Pechora	1,809	1,124	322,000	4,100	Barents Sea
70	Kama	1,805	1,122	507,000	4,100	Volga
71	Limpopo	1,800	1,118	413,000		Indian Ocean
72	Chulym	1,799	1,118	134,000		Ob
73	Guaporé	1,749	1,087			Mamoré
74	Indigirka	1,726	1,072	360,400	1,810	East Siberian Sea
75	Snake	1,670	1,038	279,719	1,611	Columbia
76	Senegal	1,641	1,020	419,659		Atlantic Ocean
77	Uruguay	1,610	1,000	370,000		Atlantic Ocean
78	Blue Nile	1,600	994	326,400		Nile
78	Churchill	1,600	994			Hudson Bay
78	Khatanga-Kotuy	1,600	994			Laptev Sea
78	Okavango	1,600	994			Okavango Delta
78	Volta	1,600	994			Gulf of Guinea
83	Beni	1,599	994	283,350	8,900	Madeira
84	Platte	1,594	990			Missouri
85	Tobol	1,591	989			Irtysh
86	Alazeya	1,590	988	64,700		East Siberian Sea
87	Jubba-Shebelle	1,580	982			Indian Ocean
88	Içá	1,575	979			Amazon
89	Magdalena	1,550	963	263,858	9,000	Caribbean
90	Han	1,532	952			Yangtze
91	Kura/Mt'k'vari	1,515	941	188,400	575	Caspian Sea
92	Oka	1,500	932	245,000	1,258	Volga
93	Upper Murray	1,500	932			Lower Murray
94	Guaviare	1,497	930			Orinoco
95	Pecos	1,490	926			Rio Grande
96	Murrumbidgee River	1,485	923	84,917	120	Murray River
97	Upper Yenisey	1,480	920			Yenisey
98	Godavari	1,465	910	312,812	3,061	Bay of Bengal
99	Colorado	1,438	894			Gulf of Mexico
100	Upper Tocantins	1,427	887			Tocantins
101	Belaya	1,420	882	142,000	858	Kama
101	Cooper-Barcoo	1,420	880			Lake Eyre
103	Marañón	1,415	879			Amazon
104	Dniester	1,411	877	72,100	310	Black Sea
105	Benue	1,400	870			Niger
105	Ili (Yili)	1,400	870			Lake Balkhash
105	Warburton-Georgina	1,400	870	365,000		Lake Eyre
108	Sutlej	1,372	852			Chenab
109	Yamuna	1,370	851	366,223	2,950	Ganges
109	Vyatka	1,370	851	129,000	890	Kama
111	Fraser	1,368	850	220,000	3,475	Pacific Ocean
112	Grande	1,360	845			Paraná
113	Liao-Xiliao-Laoha	1,345	836			Bohai Sea
114	Lachlan River	1,339	832	84,700	49	Murrumbidgee River
115	Narmada	1,333	815	98,796	1,447	Arabian Sea
116	Yalong	1,323	822			Yangtze
117	Iguaçu	1,320	820			Paraná
117	Olyokma	1,320	820			Lena
119	Northern Dvina-Sukhona	1,302	809	357,052	3,332	White Sea
120	Krishna	1,300	808			Bay of Bengal
120	Iriri	1,300	808			Xingu
122	Lomami	1,280	795			Congo
123	Ottawa	1,271	790	146,300	1,950	Saint Lawrence
124	Rio Grande de Santiago-Lerma	1,270	789	119,543		Pacific Ocean
125	Elbe-Vltava	1,252	778	148,268	711	North Sea
126	Zeya	1,242	772			Amur
127	Juruena	1,240	771			Tapajós
128	Upper Mississippi	1,236	768			Mississippi
129	Rhine	1,233	768	185,000	2,330	North Sea
130	Athabasca	1,231	765	95,300		Mackenzie
131	Canadian	1,223	760			Arkansas
132	North Saskatchewan	1,220	758			Saskatchewan
133	Vistula-Narew-Bug	1,213	754	194,424	1,080	Baltic Sea
134	Vaal	1,210	752			Orange
135	Shire	1,200	746			Zambezi
135	Ogooué (or Ogowe)	1,200	746	223,856	4,706	Atlantic Ocean
137	Nen	1,190	739			Songhua
138	Kızıl River	1,182	734	115,000	400	Black Sea
139	Markha	1,181	734	99,000	405	Vilyuy
140	Green	1,175	730			Colorado (western U.S.)
141	Milk	1,173	729			Missouri
142	Mun - Chi	1,162	722			Mekong River
142	White	1,162	722			Mississippi
144	Chindwin	1,158	720			Ayeyarwady
145	Sankuru	1,150	715			Kasai
145	Wu	1,150	715	80,300	1,108	Yangtze
147	Red (Asia)	1,149	714	143,700	2,640	Gulf of Tonkin
148	James (Dakotas)	1,143	710			Missouri
148	Kapuas	1,143	710			Natuna Sea
150	Desna	1,130	702	88,900	360	Dnieper
150	Helmand	1,130	702			Hamun-i-Helmand
150	Madre de Dios	1,130	702	125,000	4,915	Beni
150	Tietê	1,130	702			Paraná
150	Vychegda	1,130	702	121,000	1160	Northern Dvina
155	Sepik	1,126	700	77,700		Pacific Ocean
156	Cimarron	1,123	698			Arkansas
157	Anadyr	1,120	696			Gulf of Anadyr
157	Paraíba do Sul	1,120	696			Atlantic Ocean
159	Jialing River	1,119	695			Yangtze
160	Liard	1,115	693			Mackenzie
161	Cumberland	1,105	687	46,830	862	Mississippi
162	Huallaga	1,100	684			Marañón
162	Kwango	1,100	684	263,500	2,700	Kasai
162	Draa	1,100	684			Atlantic Ocean
165	Gambia	1,094	680			Atlantic Ocean
166	Tyung	1,092	679	49,800		Vilyuy
167	Chenab	1,086	675			Indus
168	Yellowstone	1,080	671	114,260		Missouri
168	Ghaghara	1,080	671	127,950	2,990	Ganges
170	Huai River	1,078	670	270,000	1,110	Yangtze
171	Aras	1,072	665	102,000	285	Kura
172	Chu	1,067	663	62,500		none
173	Seversky Donets	1,053	654	98,900	159	Don
174	Bermejo	1,050	652			Paraguay
174	Fly	1,050	652			Gulf of Papua
174	Kuskokwim	1,050	652			Bering Sea
177	Tennessee	1,049	652			Ohio
178	Oder-Warta	1,045	649	118,861	550	Baltic Sea
179	Aruwimi	1,030	640			Congo
180	Chambal	1,024	636			Yamuna
181	Daugava	1,020	634	87,900	678	Gulf of Riga
182	Gila	1,015	631			Colorado (western U.S.)
183	Loire	1,012	629	115,271	840	Atlantic Ocean
184	Essequibo	1,010	628			Atlantic Ocean
184	Khopyor	1,010	628	61,100	150	Don
186	Tagus (Tajo/Tejo)	1,006	625	80,100	444	Atlantic Ocean
187	Flinders River	1,004	624	109,000	122	Gulf of Carpentaria

World Rivers

River is one of the most important components of the geographical environment, being an important water resource, a transport artery, and a habitat for a large number of plants and animals. In history, civilizations developed on the banks of the rivers as the source of water, food, and means of transport for their trade activities. From the huge Amazon to the ancient Nile, rivers shape land, climate, and are an important part of the water cycle. There are thousands of rivers in the world, but some of them are famous for their length, volume, economy, and culture.

The Longest Rivers in the World

The Nile River is about 6,650 kilometers (4,130 miles) in length and is considered the longest river in the world. The Nile River has been a life giver to civilizations of ancient world and it flows through 11 African countries including Egypt and Sudan. The Amazon River is the longest river in the world according to some sources and is 6,575 kilometers (4,345 miles) long and has the highest water discharge. The Amazon basin is the largest rain forest in the world and contributes to the climate of the world.

The Yangtze River in China is the longest river in Asia and stretches approximately 6,300 kilometers (3,917 miles) from the mountains to the sea and is an important river in China because it supports agriculture, industry, and hydroelectric power production. Other notable long rivers include the North American Mississippi-Missouri River system (6,275 km), the Yenisei River in Russia (5,539 km), and the Yellow River in China (5,464 km).

Major Rivers and Their Importance

The Ganges River in India and Bangladesh is a holy river and has religious and cultural importance. It is about 2,525 kilometers (1,569 miles) long and more than millions of people use the water from the river for farming and other household uses. The Danube River is one of the longest rivers in Europe and is 2,850 kilometers (1,770 miles) long, and it flows through 10 countries and is an important waterway for trade. The Congo River is the second longest river in Africa and fourth longest in the world at 4,700 kilometers (2,922 miles) and has the second highest water discharge after the Amazon and is an important waterway in the economy and diversity of the area. The Mekong River which flows through six countries of Southeast Asia is used for fishing, rice planting and power generation. The Volga River in Russia is the longest river in Europe and is 3,530 kilometers (2,194 miles) long and is used for transportation, energy generation and irrigation.

Rivers and Their Role in Human Civilization

The earliest known civilisation were born on the lands fed by rivers, the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indus and Chinese. Mesopotamia was cradled by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers on which grew the earliest known cities. The Nile was most resourceful to ancient Egypt because it brought fertility through annual floods. One of the oldest urban cultures of the world emerged on the Indus River and its cities – Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. The Yellow River in China was also a significant river in the growth of Chinese civilization, and it has earned the nickname “China’s Sorrow” due to its tendency to flood frequently. Today, rivers are still very important in the economy, and their functions include supplying water for agricultural purposes, hydro electricity production and navigation.

Environmental Challenges Facing Rivers

However, the majority of rivers around the world are currently facing serious environmental issues. The Ganges, the Yangtze, and the Mississippi have been especially adversely affected by industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals and urban industrial pollution. The problem of deforestation in river basins can be observed in the Amazon and Congo regions; this leads to the alteration of the physical environment and contributes to climate change. Overuse of water from rivers for irrigation and the construction of dams for hydroelectric projects have resulted in reduced flow of rivers like the Colorado River in the United States and the tributaries of the Aral Sea, which has led to ecological disasters. A new global problem has appeared during the last several years: plastic pollution of rivers, mainly in the Asian countries, has become a source of ocean pollution. Climate change has also changed river flow through more frequent droughts and floods, affecting people’s lives across the world.

The Future of Rivers and Conservation Efforts

Reclamation and restoration of rivers have recently become an important global concern. The governments, environmental NGOs and local populations are fighting against pollution, treating wastewater and adopting environmentally friendly water management policies. Some successful projects include the Clean Ganga Mission in India, and the Rhine River renewal in Europe. The sharing of water from Nile Basin countries is also vital in ensuring equity in the use of water as well as avoiding conflict. Other measures that are necessary for the protection of river ecosystems are sustainable hydropower projects, afforestation, and the avoidance of using plastic bottles. As population increases and industries develop, water resources will be more and more competed for in the future, thus conservation and proper management of rivers will be essential in the future.