List of rivers by length

This is a list of the longest rivers on Earth. It includes river systems over 1,000 kilometers.

Definition of length

The length of a river is actually very hard to calculate. It depends on the identification of the source, the identification of the mouth, and the precise measurement of the river length between source and mouth. As a result, the length measurements of many rivers are only approximations. In particular, there has for long been disagreement as to whether the Amazon or the Nile is the world's longest river.

The source of a river may be hard to determine because a river typically has many tributaries. Among the many sources, the one that is farthest away from the mouth is considered as the source of the river, thus giving a maximal river length. In practice, the tributary with the farthest source is not always the one given the name of the river. For example, the farthest source of the Mississippi River system is the source of the Jefferson River, a tributary of the Missouri River which in turn is a tributary of the Mississippi. However, a different (and shorter) tributary is identified as the Mississippi. When the river is measured from mouth to farthest source, it is called the Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson. Also, it is hard to state exactly where a river begins as very often rivers are formed by seasonal streams, swamps, or changing lakes. In this article, length means the length of the river system, including all tributaries.

The mouth of a river is hard to determine in cases where the river has a large estuary that gradually widens and opens into the ocean; examples are the River Plate and the Saint Lawrence River. Some rivers do not have a mouth; instead they dwindle to very low water volume and eventually evaporate, or sink into an aquifer, or get diverted for agriculture. The exact point where these rivers end will vary seasonally.

The length of a river between source and mouth may be hard to determine because of a lack of precise maps. In these cases, the measured length of a river will depend on the scale of the map on which the measurement is based; in general, due to the fractal quality of a river, the larger the scale, the longer the resulting length measurement. This issue was discovered by Lewis Fry Richardson and also applies when measuring borders between countries and coastlines. Ideally, length measurements should be based on maps that are of a large enough scale to show the width of the river, and the path measured is the path a small boat would take down the middle of the river.

Even when precise maps are available, the length measurement is not always clear. A river may have multiple arms. It may depend on whether the centre or the edge of the river is taken as reference point. It may not be clear how to measure the length through a lake: this may also vary by season. These points make it difficult, if not impossible, to get a precise (or comparable ) measurement of the length of a river or stream.

List of rivers longer than 1000 km

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.

Continent colour 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	6,650	4,135	3,349,000	5,100	Mediterranean Sea	Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of the Congo
2.**	Amazon	6,400	3,980	6,915,000	219,000	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana
3.	Yangtze (Chang Jiang)	6,300	3,917	1,800,000	31,900	East China Sea	P.R. China
4.	Mississippi - Missouri	6,275	3,902	2,980,000	16,200	Gulf of Mexico	United States (98.5%), Canada (1.5%)
5.	Yenisei - Angara - Selenga	5,539	3,445	2,580,000	19,600	Kara Sea	Russia, Mongolia
6.	Yellow (Huang He)	5,464	3,398	745,000	2,110	Bohai Sea ( Balhae)	P.R. China
7.	Ob - Irtysh	5,410	3,364	2,990,000	12,800	Gulf of Ob	Russia, Kazakhstan, P.R. China, Mongolia
8.	Congo - Chambeshi (Zaire)	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
9.	Amur - Argun (Heilong Jiang)	4,444	2,763	1,855,000	11,400	Sea of Okhotsk	Russia, P.R. China, Mongolia
10.	Lena	4,400	2,736	2,490,000	17,100	Laptev Sea	Russia
11.	Mekong (Lancang Jiang)	4,350	2,705	810,000	16,000	South China Sea	Laos, Thailand, P.R. China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar
12.	Mackenzie - Peace - Finlay	4,241	2,637	1,790,000	10,300	Beaufort Sea	Canada
13.	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
14.	Paraná ( Río de la Plata)	3,998	2,486	3,100,000	25,700	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil (46.7%), Argentina (27.7%), Paraguay (13.5%), Bolivia (8.3%), Uruguay (3.8%)
15.	Volga	3,645	2,266	1,380,000	8,080	Caspian Sea	Russia (99.8%), Kazakhstan (minor)
16.	Shatt al-Arab - Euphrates	3,596	2,236	884,000	856	Persian Gulf	Iraq (40.5%), Turkey (24.8%), Iran (19.7%), Syria (14.7%)
17.	Purus	3,379	2,101	63,166	8,400	Amazon	Brazil, Peru
18.	Murray - Darling	3,370	2,094	1,061,000	767	Indian Ocean	Australia
19.	Madeira - Mamoré	3,239	2,014	850,000	17,000	Amazon	Brazil, Bolivia, Peru
20.	Yukon	3,184	1,980	850,000	6,210	Bering Sea	United States (59.8%), Canada (40.2%)
21.	Indus (Sindhu)	3,180	1,976	960,000	7,160	Arabian Sea	Pakistan (93%), India, P. R. China, disputed territory (Kashmir), Afghanistan
22.	São Francisco	3,180* (2,900)	1,976* (1,802)	610,000	3,300	Atlantic Ocean	Brazil
23.	Syr Darya - Naryn	3,078	1,913	219,000	703	Aral Sea	Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
24.	Salween (Nu Jiang)	3,060	1,901	324,000	3,153	Andaman Sea	P.R. China (52.4%), Myanmar (43.9%), Thailand (3.7%)
25.	Saint Lawrence - Niagara- Detroit- Saint Clair- Saint Marys- Saint Louis	3,058	1,900	1,030,000	10,100	Gulf of Saint Lawrence	Canada (52.1%), United States (47.9%)
26.	Rio Grande	3,057 (2,896)	1,900 (1,799)	570,000	82	Gulf of Mexico	United States (52.1%), Mexico (47.9%)
27.	Lower Tunguska	2,989	1,857	473,000	3,600	Yenisei	Russia
28.	Brahmaputra	2,948*	1,832*	1,730,000	19,200	Bay of Bengal	India (58.0%), P.R. China (19.7%), Nepal (9.0%), Bangladesh (6.6%), Disputed India/P.R. China (4.2%), Bhutan (2.4%)
29.	Danube	2,850*	1,771*	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%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (4.8%), Croatia (4.5%), Ukraine (3.8%), Moldova (1.7%).
30.	Tocantins	2,699	1,677	1,400,000	13,598	Atlantic Ocean, Amazon	Brazil
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	6,172	Tocantins	Brazil
34.	Amu Darya	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
39.	Ganges	2,510	1,560	907,000	12,037	Brahmaputra, Bay of Bengal	India, Bangladesh
40.	Pilcomayo	2,500	1,553	270,000		Paraguay	Paraguay, Argentina, Bolivia
41.	Upper Ob	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.	Ubangi - Uele	2,300	1,429		4,003	Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic
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.	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	7400	Pacific Ocean	United States, Canada
52.	Colorado (western U.S.)	2,333	1,450	390,000	1,200	Gulf of California	United States, Mexico
53.	Pearl - Xi Jiang	2,200	1,376	437,000	13,600	South China Sea	P.R. China (98.5%), Vietnam (1.5%)
54.	Red	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	880,000	30,000	Atlantic Ocean	Venezuela, Colombia
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, Iran
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
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	Senegal, Mali, Mauritania
76.	Uruguay	1,610	1,000	370,000		Atlantic Ocean	Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil
77.	Blue Nile	1,600	994			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			Madeira	Bolivia
83.	Platte	1,594	990			Missouri	United States
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			Caribbean Sea	Colombia
88.	Han	1,532	952			Yangtze	P. R. China
89.	Lomami	1,500	932			Congo	Democratic Republic of the Congo
89.	Oka	1,500	932			Volga	Russia
90.	Pecos	1,490	926			Rio Grande	United States
91.	Upper Yenisei	1,480	920			Yenisei	Russia, Mongolia
92.	Godavari	1,465	910			Bay of Bengal	India
93.	Colorado (Texas)	1,438	894			Gulf of Mexico	United States
94.	Río Grande (Guapay)	1,438	894			Ichilo	Bolivia
95.	Belaya	1,420	882			Kama	Russia
96.	Cooper - Barcoo	1,420	880			Lake Eyre	Australia
97.	Marañón	1,415	879			Amazon	Peru
98.	Dniester	1,411 (1,352)	877 (840)			Black Sea	Ukraine, Moldova
99.	Benue	1,400	870			Niger	Cameroon, Nigeria
99.	Ili (Yili)	1,400	870			Lake Balkhash	P. R. China, Kazakhstan
99.	Warburton - Georgina	1,400	870			Lake Eyre	Australia
102.	Yamuna	1,376	855			Ganges	India
103.	Sutlej	1,370	851			Chenab	China, India, Pakistan
103.	Vyatka	1,370	851			Kama	Russia
105.	Fraser	1,368	850		7,900	Pacific Ocean	Canada
106.	Kura	1,364	848			Caspian Sea	Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkey, Iran
107.	Grande	1,360	845			Paraná	Brazil
108.	Brazos	1,352	840			Gulf of Mexico	United States
109.	Liao	1,345	836			Bo Hai	P. R. China
110.	Yalong	1,323	822			Yangtze	P. R. China
111.	Iguaçu	1,320	820			Paraná	Brazil, Argentina
111.	Olyokma	1,320	820			Lena	Russia
111.	Rhine	1,320	820	198,735	2330	North Sea	Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Italy
114.	Northern Dvina - Sukhona	1,302	809	357,052	3332	White Sea	Russia
115.	Krishna	1,300	808			Bay of Bengal	India
115.	Iriri	1,300	808			Xingu	Brazil
117.	Narmada	1,289	801			Arabian Sea	India
118.	Ottawa	1,271	790			Saint Lawrence	Canada
119.	Zeya	1,242	772			Amur	Russia
120.	Juruena	1,240	771			Tapajós	Brazil
121.	Upper Mississippi	1,236	768			Mississippi	United States
122.	Athabasca	1,231	765			Mackenzie	Canada
122.	Elbe - Vltava	1,231	765	148,268	711	North Sea	Germany, Czech Republic
124.	Canadian	1,223	760			Arkansas	United States
125.	North Saskatchewan	1,220	758			Saskatchewan	Canada
126.	Vaal	1,210	752			Orange	South Africa
127.	Shire	1,200	746			Zambezi	Mozambique, Malawi
128.	Nen (Nonni)	1,190	739			Songhua	P. R. China
129.	Green	1,175	730			Colorado (western U.S.)	United States
130.	Milk	1,173	729			Missouri	United States, Canada
131.	Chindwin	1,158	720			Ayeyarwady	Myanmar
132.	Sankuru	1,150	715			Kasai	Democratic Republic of the Congo
133.	James (Dakotas)	1,143	710			Missouri	United States
133.	Kapuas	1,143	710			South China Sea	Indonesia
135.	Helmand	1,130	702			Hamun-i-Helmand	Afghanistan, Iran
135.	Madre de Dios	1,130	702			Madeira	Peru, Bolivia
135.	Tietê	1,130	702			Paraná	Brazil
135.	Vychegda	1,130	702			Northern Dvina	Russia
139.	Sepik	1,126	700	77,700		Pacific Ocean	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
140.	Cimarron	1,123	698			Arkansas	United States
141.	Anadyr	1,120	696			Gulf of Anadyr	Russia
142.	Jialing River	1,119	695			Yangtze	P. R. China
143.	Liard	1,115	693			Mackenzie	Canada
144.	White	1,102	685			Mississippi	United States
145.	Huallaga	1,100	684			Marañón	Peru
145.	Kwango	1,100	684	263,500	2,700	Kasai	Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
147.	Gambia	1,094	680			Atlantic Ocean	The Gambia, Senegal, Guinea
148.	Chenab	1,086	675			Indus	India, Pakistan
149.	Yellowstone	1,080	671			Missouri	United States
150.	Donets	1,078 (1,053)	670 (654)			Don	Ukraine, Russia
151.	Bermejo	1,050	652			Paraguay	Argentina, Bolivia
151.	Fly	1,050	652			Gulf of Papua	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
151.	Guaviare	1,050	652			Orinoco	Colombia
151.	Kuskokwim	1,050	652			Bering Sea	United States
155.	Tennessee	1,049	652			Ohio	United States
156.	Daugava	1,020	634			Gulf of Riga	Latvia, Belarus, Russia
157.	Gila	1,015	631			Colorado (western U.S.)	United States
158.	Vistula	1,014	630			Baltic Sea	Poland
159.	Loire	1,012	629			Atlantic Ocean	France
160.	Essequibo	1,010	628			Atlantic Ocean	Guyana
160.	Khoper	1,010	628			Don	Russia
162.	Tagus (Tajo/Tejo)	1,006	625			Atlantic Ocean	Spain, Portugal
163.	Colorado (Argentina)	1,000	620			Atlantic Ocean	Argentina

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.

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.

In Permian and early Triassic times Africa and South America were close against each other with no sea between (see continental drift and plate tectonics), and the Congo probably drained into the Amazon basin and eventually into the Pacific. Including part of its course that was completely lost when the South Atlantic opened, its total course may have been anything up to approximately 12,000 km (7,500 miles) long.

West Siberian Glacial Lake drainage

This river would have been about 6000 miles = 10000 km long, in the last Ice Age. See West Siberian Glacial Lake. 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.