knowledge-List of river systems longer than 1000 km

 

View of the River Nile, from a cruiseboat, between Luxor and Aswan in Egypt

       List of river systems longer than 1000 km

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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 adding missing items. (July 2011)

Legend of colors used in main table, by continent

Continent color key
Africa	Asia	Australia	Europe	North America	South America

Rank	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–White Nile–Kagera–Nyabarongo–Mwogo–Rukarara[n 1]	6,650 (7,088)	4,130 (4,404)	3,254,555	2,800	Mediterranean	Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan
2.	Amazon–Ucayali–Tambo–Ene–Mantaro[n 1]	6,400[4] (6,992)	3,976 (4,345)	7,000,000[4]	209,000	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana
3.	Yangtze–Jinsha–Tongtian–Dangqu (Chang Jiang)	6,300 (6,418)	3,917 (3,988)	1,800,000	30,166	East China Sea	China
4.	Mississippi–Missouri–Jefferson–Beaverhead–Red Rock–Hell Roaring	6,275	3,902	2,980,000	16,792	Gulf of Mexico	United States (98.5%), Canada (1.5%)
5.	Yenisei–Angara–Selenge–Ider	5,539	3,445	2,580,000	18,050	Kara Sea	Russia (97%), Mongolia (2.9%)
6.	Yellow River (Huang He)	5,464	3,395	745,000	2,571	Bohai Sea	China
7.	Ob–Irtysh	5,410	3,364	2,990,000	12,475	Gulf of Ob	Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia
8.	Río de la Plata–Paraná–Rio Grande[12]	4,880	3,030	2,582,672	22,000	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–Kherlen (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	15,500	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	5,589	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.	Brahmaputra–Yarlung Tsangpo	3,969	2,466	712,035	19,800[13][14]	Ganges	India (58.0%), China (19.7%), Nepal (9.0%), Bangladesh (6.6%), Disputed India/China (4.2%), Bhutan (2.4%)
16.	Murray–Darling–Culgoa–Balonne–Condamine	3,672[15]	2,282	1,061,000	767	Southern Ocean	Australia
17.	Tocantins–Araguaia	3,650	2,270	950,000	13,598	Atlantic Ocean, Amazon	Brazil
18.	Volga	3,645	2,266	1,380,000	8,080	Caspian Sea	Russia
19.	Indus–Sênggê Zangbo	3,610	2,250	960,000	7,160	Arabian Sea	Pakistan (93%), India and China
20.	Shatt al-Arab–Euphrates–Murat	3,596	2,236	884,000	856	Persian Gulf	Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran
21.	Madeira–Mamoré–Grande–Caine–Rocha	3,380	2,100	1,485,200	31,200	Amazon	Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
22.	Purús	3,211	1,995	63,166	8,400	Amazon	Brazil, Peru
23.	Yukon	3,185	1,980[10]	850,000	6,210	Bering Sea	United States (59.8%), Canada (40.2%)
24.	São Francisco	3,180* (2,900)	1,976* (1,802)	610,000	3,300	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil
25.	Syr Darya–Naryn	3,078	1,913	219,000	703	Aral Sea	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
26.	Salween (Nu Jiang)	3,060	1,901	324,000	3,153[16]	Andaman Sea	China (52.4%), Myanmar (43.9%), Thailand (3.7%)
27.	Saint Lawrence–Niagara–Detroit–Saint Clair–Saint Marys–Saint Louis–North (Great Lakes)	3,058	1,900[10]	1,030,000	10,100	Gulf of Saint Lawrence	Canada (52.1%), United States (47.9%)
28.	Rio Grande	3,057	1,900[10]	570,000	82	Gulf of Mexico	United States (52.1%), Mexico (47.9%)
29.	Lower Tunguska	2,989	1,857	473,000	3,600	Yenisei	Russia
30.	Danube–Breg (Donau, Dunăre, Duna, Dunav, Dunaj)	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%), Ukraine (3.8%)
31.	Irrawaddy River–N'Mai River–Dulong River–Kelaoluo–Gada Qu	2,809*	1,745.8*	404,200*	13,000*	Andaman Sea	China, Myanmar
32.	Zambezi (Zambesi)	2,740*	1,703*	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
33.	Vilyuy	2,720	1,700	454,000	1,480	Lena	Russia
34.	Ganges–Hooghly–Padma (Ganga)	2,704[17]	1,690	1,024,000	12,037[18]	Bay of Bengal	India, Bangladesh, Nepal
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.	Ural	2,428	1,509	237,000	475	Caspian Sea	Russia, Kazakhstan
44.	Juruá	2,410	1,498	200,000	6,000	Amazon	Peru, Brazil
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	Ukraine, Belarus, Russia
49.	Aldan	2,273	1,412	729,000	5,060	Lena	Russia
50.	Ubangi–Uele[19]	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–Xi-Xun-Qian-Hongshui-Nanpan	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.	Kasai	2,153	1,338	880,200	10,000	Congo	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
56.	Ohio–Allegheny	2,102	1,306	490,603	7,957	Mississippi	United States
57.	Orinoco	2,101	1,306	1,380,000	33,000	Atlantic Ocean	Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana
58.	Tarim	2,100	1,305	557,000		Lop Nur	China
59.	Xingu	2,100	1,305			Amazon	Brazil
60.	Orange	2,092	1,300			Atlantic Ocean	South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho
61.	Brazos-Double Mountain Fork-North Fork-Blackwater Draw	2,060	1,280[20]			Gulf of Mexico	United States
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, Iran
65.	Songhua	1,927	1,197			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	4,100	Barents Sea	Russia
70.	Kama	1,805	1,122	507,000	4,100	Volga	Russia
71.	Limpopo	1,800	1,118	413,000		Indian Ocean	Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana
72.	Chulym	1,799	1,118	134,000		Ob	Russia
73.	Guaporé (Itenez)	1,749	1,087			Mamoré	Brazil, Bolivia
74.	Indigirka	1,726	1,072	360,400	1,810	East Siberian Sea	Russia
75.	Snake	1,670	1,038	279,719	1,611	Columbia	United States
76.	Senegal	1,641	1,020	419,659		Atlantic Ocean	Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Mauritania
77.	Uruguay	1,610	1,000	370,000		Atlantic Ocean	Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil
78.	Blue Nile	1,600	994	326,400		Nile	Ethiopia, Sudan
78.	Churchill	1,600	994			Hudson Bay	Canada
78.	Khatanga–Kotuy	1,600	994			Laptev Sea	Russia
78.	Okavango	1,600	994			Okavango Delta	Namibia, Angola, Botswana
78.	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.	Alazeya	1,590	988	64,700		East Siberian Sea	Russia
87.	Jubba–Shebelle	1,580*	982*			Indian Ocean	Ethiopia, Somalia
88.	Içá (Putumayo)	1,575	979			Amazon	Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador
89.	Magdalena	1,550	963	263,858	9,000	Caribbean	Colombia
90.	Han	1,532	952			Yangtze	China
91.	Kura/Mt'k'vari	1,515	941	188,400	575	Caspian Sea	Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan
92.	Oka	1,500	932	245,000	1,258	Volga	Russia
93.	Upper Murray	1,500[21]	932			Lower Murray	Australia
94.	Guaviare	1,497	930			Orinoco	Colombia
95.	Pecos	1,490	926			Rio Grande	United States
96.	Murrumbidgee River	1,485 [15]	923	84,917	120	Murray River	Australia
97.	Upper Yenisei–Little Yenisei (Kaa-Hem)	1,480	920			Yenisei	Russia, Mongolia
98.	Godavari	1,465	910	312,812	3,061	Bay of Bengal	India
99.	Colorado (Texas)	1,438	894			Gulf of Mexico	United States
100.	Upper Tocantins	1,427	887			Tocantins	Brazil
101.	Belaya	1,420	882	142,000	858	Kama	Russia
101.	Cooper–Barcoo	1,420	880			Lake Eyre	Australia
103.	Marañón	1,415	879			Amazon	Peru
104.	Dniester	1,411 (1,352)	877 (840)	72,100	310	Black Sea	Ukraine, Moldova
105.	Benue	1,400	870			Niger	Cameroon, Nigeria
105.	Ili (Yili)	1,400	870			Lake Balkhash	China, Kazakhstan
105.	Warburton–Georgina	1,400	870	365,000		Lake Eyre	Australia
108.	Sutlej	1,372	852			Chenab	China, India, Pakistan
109.	Yamuna	1,370	851	366,223	2,950	Ganges	India
109.	Vyatka	1,370	851	129,000	890	Kama	Russia
111.	Fraser	1,368	850	220,000	3,475	Pacific Ocean	Canada, United States[22]
112.	Grande	1,360	845			Paraná	Brazil
113.	Liao-Xiliao-Laoha	1,345	836			Bohai Sea	China
114.	Lachlan River	1,339 [15]	832	84,700	49	Murrumbidgee River	Australia
115.	Yalong	1,323	822			Yangtze	China
116.	Iguaçu	1,320	820			Paraná	Brazil, Argentina
116.	Olyokma	1,320	820			Lena	Russia
118.	Northern Dvina–Sukhona	1,302	809	357,052	3,332	White Sea	Russia
119.	Krishna	1,300	808			Bay of Bengal	India
119.	Iriri	1,300	808			Xingu	Brazil
121.	Narmada	1,289	801			Arabian Sea	India
122.	Lomami[23]	1,280	795			Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo
123.	Ottawa	1,271	790	146,300	1,950	Saint Lawrence	Canada
124.	Rio Grande de Santiago-Lerma	1,270	789	119,543		Pacific Ocean	Mexico
125.	Elbe–Vltava	1,252	778	148,268	711	North Sea	Germany, Czech Republic
126.	Zeya	1,242	772			Amur	Russia
127.	Juruena	1,240	771			Tapajós	Brazil
128.	Upper Mississippi	1,236	768			Mississippi	United States
129.	Rhine	1,233	768	185,000 [24]	2,330	North Sea	Germany (57.3%), Switzerland (15.1%), Netherlands (12.3%), France (12.2%), Luxembourg (1.4%), Austria (1.3%), Belgium (0.4%), Liechtenstein (0.1%), Italy (0.03%)
130.	Athabasca	1,231	765	95,300		Mackenzie	Canada
131.	Canadian	1,223	760			Arkansas	United States
132.	North Saskatchewan	1,220	758			Saskatchewan	Canada
133.	Vistula–Narew-Bug	1,213	754	194,424	1,080	Baltic Sea	Poland, Belarus, Ukraine
134.	Vaal	1,210	752			Orange	South Africa
135.	Shire	1,200	746			Zambezi	Mozambique, Malawi
135.	Ogooué (or Ogowe)	1,200	746	223,856	4,706	Atlantic Ocean	Gabon, Republic of the Congo
137.	Nen (Nonni)	1,190	739			Songhua	China
138.	Kızıl River	1,182	734	115,000	400	Black Sea	Turkey
139.	Markha River	1,181	734	99,000	405	Vilyuy River	Russia
140.	Green	1,175	730			Colorado (western U.S.)	United States
141.	Milk	1,173	729			Missouri	United States, Canada
142.	Mun - Chi	1,162	722			Mekong River	Thailand
142.	White	1,162	722[25]			Mississippi	United States
144.	Chindwin	1,158	720			Ayeyarwady	Myanmar
145.	Sankuru	1,150	715			Kasai	Democratic Republic of the Congo
145.	Wu	1,150	715	80,300	1,108	Yangtze	China
147.	Red (Asia)	1,149	714	143,700	2,640	Gulf of Tonkin	China, Vietnam
148.	James (Dakotas)	1,143	710			Missouri	United States
148.	Kapuas	1,143	710			South China Sea	Indonesia
150.	Desna	1,130	702	88,900	360	Dnieper	Russia, Belarus, Ukraine
150.	Helmand	1,130	702			Hamun-i-Helmand	Afghanistan, Iran
150.	Madre de Dios	1,130	702	125,000	4,915	Beni	Peru, Bolivia
150.	Tietê	1,130	702			Paraná	Brazil
150.	Vychegda	1,130	702	121,000	1160	Northern Dvina	Russia
155.	Sepik	1,126	700	77,700		Pacific Ocean	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
156.	Cimarron	1,123	698			Arkansas	United States
157.	Anadyr	1,120	696			Gulf of Anadyr	Russia
157.	Paraíba do Sul	1,120	696			Atlantic Ocean	Brazil
159.	Jialing River	1,119	695			Yangtze	China
160.	Liard	1,115	693			Mackenzie	Canada
161.	Cumberland	1,105	687	46,830	862	Mississippi	United States
162.	Huallaga	1,100	684			Marañón	Peru
162.	Kwango	1,100	684	263,500	2,700	Kasai	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
162.	Draa	1,100	684			Atlantic Ocean	Morocco
165.	Gambia	1,094	680			Atlantic Ocean	The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea
166.	Tyung	1,092	679	49,800		Vilyuy River	Russia
167.	Chenab	1,086	675			Indus	India, Pakistan
168.	Yellowstone	1,080	671	114,260		Missouri	United States
168.	Ghaghara	1,080	671	127,950	2,990	Ganges	India, Nepal, China
170.	Huai River	1,078	670	270,000	1,110	Yangtze	China
171.	Aras	1,072	665	102,000	285	Kura	Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran
172.	Chu River	1,067	663	62,500		none	Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan
173.	Seversky Donets	1,053 (1,078)	654 (670)	98,900	159	Don	Russia, Ukraine
174.	Bermejo	1,050	652			Paraguay	Argentina, Bolivia
174.	Fly	1,050	652			Gulf of Papua	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
174.	Kuskokwim	1,050	652			Bering Sea	United States
177.	Tennessee	1,049	652			Ohio	United States
178.	Oder–Warta	1,045	649	118,861	550	Baltic Sea	Poland, Germany, Czech Republic
179.	Aruwimi[23]	1,030	640			Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo
180.	Chambal	1,024	636			Yamuna	India
181.	Daugava	1,020	634	87,900	678	Gulf of Riga	Latvia, Belarus, Russia
182.	Gila	1,015	631			Colorado (western U.S.)	United States
183.	Loire	1,012	629	115,271	840	Atlantic Ocean	France
184.	Essequibo	1,010	628			Atlantic Ocean	Guyana
184.	Khoper	1,010	628	61,100	150	Don	Russia
186.	Tagus (Tajo/Tejo)	1,006	625	80,100	444	Atlantic Ocean	Spain, Portugal
187.	Flinders River	1,004 [15]	624	109,000	122	Gulf of Carpentaria	Australia

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 the course south of the Ilha de Marajó at the Amazon's mouth is to be treated as part of the Amazon, or as part of the separate Tocantins River. 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 100 km, 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".^[26] 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.^[27]

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 the Congo River was rejuvenated by much of its lower course being removed, likeliest when Africa split from South America when Gondwanaland broke up due to continental drift, and before that, the Congo would likely have flowed into the Amazon,^[27] producing a river around 6000 miles or 10,000 km long.

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.

Lobourg

During the last glacial maximum, much of what is now the southern part of the North Sea was land, known to archaeologists as Doggerland. At this time, the Thames, the Meuse, the Scheldt, and the Rhine probably joined before flowing into the sea, in a system known by palaeogeographers as the Loubourg or Lobourg River System.^[28] There is some debate as to whether this river would have flowed southwest into what is now the English Channel, or flowed north, emerging into the North Sea close to modern Yorkshire. If the latter hypothesis is true, the Rhine would have attained a length of close to 1,650 kilometres (1,030 mi). The former hypothesis would have produced a shorter river, some 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) in length. Current scientific research favours the former opinion, with the Thames and Rhine meeting in a large lake, the outflow of which was close to the present-day Straits of Dover.^[29]