Top 10 Longest Rivers on Earth

This following is a list of the ten longest rivers in the world, according to the Wikipedia List of rivers by length.

Nile

Length (km) - 6,650
Drainage area (km) - 6,678,000
Outflow - Mediterranean Sea

Countries in the drainage basin - Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world.The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

Amazon River

Length (km) - 6,400
Drainage area (km) - 6,915,000
Outflow - Atlantic Ocean

Countries in the drainage basin - Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana

The Amazon River of South America is the largest river in the world with a total river flow greater than the next ten largest rivers combined. The Amazon, which has the largest drainage basin in the world, accounts for approximately one-fifth of the world's total river flow.

Yangtze (Chang Jiang)

Length (km) - 6,300
Drainage area (km) - 1,800,000
Outflow - East China Sea

Countries in the drainage basin - China

The Yangtze River, or Chang Jiang is the longest river in China and Asia, and the third-longest in the world. The river is about 6,300 kilometres (3,915 mi) and flows from its source in Qinghai Province, eastwards into the East China Sea at Shanghai.One of the dams on the river, the Three Gorges Dam, is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world.

Mississippi River

Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River

Length (km) - 6,275
Drainage area (km) - 2,980,000
Outflow - Gulf of Mexico

Countries in the drainage basin - United States (98.5%), Canada (1.5%)

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America.About 2,320 miles (3,730 km) long, the river originates at Lake Itasca, Minnesota and flows slowly southwards in sweeping meanders, terminating 95 river miles below New Orleans, Louisiana.The current form of the Mississippi River basin was largely shaped by the Cordilleran Ice Sheet of the most recent Ice Age. The southernmost extent of this enormous glaciation extended well into the present-day United States and Mississippi basin.

Yenisei River

Length (km) - 5,539
Drainage area (km) - 2,580,000
Outflow - Kara Sea

Countries in the drainage basin - Russia, Mongolia

Yenisei is the greatest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course to the Yenisei Gulf in the Kara Sea, draining a large part of central Siberia, the longest stream following the Yenisei-Angara-Selenga-Ider.

Yellow River

Length (km) - 5,464
Drainage area (km) - 745,000
Outflow - Bohai Sea

Countries in the drainage basin - China

The Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho is the second-longest river in China (after the Yangtze River) and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 kilometers (3,395 mi) Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into the Bohai Sea.

Ob River

Length (km) - 5,410
Drainage area (km) - 2,990,000
Outflow - Gulf of Ob

Countries in the drainage basin - Russia, Kazakhstan, P.R. China, Mongolia

The Ob River also Obi, is a major river in western Siberia, Russia. It is the country's fourth longest. The Ob River also has the longest estuary in the world.The Ob is formed 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Biysk in Altai Krai by the confluence of the Biya and Katun rivers.

Congo River

Length (km) - 4,700
Drainage area (km) - 3,680,000
Outflow - Atlantic Ocean

Countries in the drainage basin - Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Cameroon, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda

The Congo River also known as the Zaire River is the largest river in Western Central Africa. Its overall length of 4,700 km (2,920 mi) makes it the second longest in Africa after the Nile.The river and its tributaries flow through the Congo rainforest, the second largest rain forest area in the world.The river also has the second-largest flow in the world, the second-largest drainage basin of any river and and is the deepest river in the world, at depths greater than 230 m (750 ft)

Amur River

Length (km) - 4,444
Drainage area (km) - 1,855,000
Outflow - Sea of Okhotsk

Countries in the drainage basin - Russia, P.R. China, Mongolia

The Amur River is the world's ninth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China.It rises in the hills of western Manchuria at the confluence of its two major affluents, the Shilka River and the Argun River, at an elevation of 303 metres (994 ft)

Lena River

Length (km) - 4,400
Drainage area (km) - 2,490,000
Outflow - Laptev Sea

Countries in the drainage basin - Russia

The Lena is the easternmost of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean.It is the 10th longest river in the world and has the 9th largest watershed. It is the greatest Russian river with its watershed entirely within national ranges.Rising at the height of 1,640 metres (5,381 ft) at its source in the Baikal Mountains south of the Central Siberian Plateau, 7 kilometres (4 mi) west of Lake Baikal.

Source - Wikipedia