30 Longest Rivers in the World

30 Longest Rivers in the World

Rivers are watercourses, they play an important role in a country’s economy, and they are significant since years. As the river is flowing down, it boots more water from other streams, springs and new water resources. River water carry a lot of nutrition into it and it provides food and home to many habitats.


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Here Is The List Of 30 Longest Rivers in the World Everyone Would Love To Know.

30. Nile River

longest river in the world
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You may have come with a question in your mind that what is the longest river in the world ?  Nile is considered to be the largest river in the World. It is divided into 2 tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. It is a main water source of Egypt and Sudan.

The water resources of Nile are shared by 11 countries, named Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa, Sudan, south Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tanzania.

People of Egypt inundate their crops with water of Nile, which resulted into a rich valley. Many species are found around the Nile, I.e. Nile Crocodile, Snakes, fish, lungfish, Mudfish, eel, catfish and Buffalo.

29. Amazon River

longest river
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Amazon is considered to be 2nd largest river and is largest river in context of discharging water around the world. Its water resources shared with Bolivia, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru.

A lot of worlds species found in Amazon rainforest, including crabs, algae, turtles, amazon river dolphin (Boto, Tucuxi), Seacow, Snake, Anaconda, Caiman, Turtles, Fish (Characins, Piranha, Giant otter, Neotropical fishes, Bull shark, Freshwater fish).

The river is center to the endangered pink river dolphin and more than 2000 various species of fish.

28. Yangtze River

what is the longest river in the world
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It is the longest river in Asia. In china it is known as Chang Jiang. It is the longest river in the world to flow within one country. This river plays an important role in the history, culture and economy of China.

Because of the recent issues of pollution in the river some of its part is now protected as nature reserves. It is loaded with huge variety of fish in it.

27. Mississippi River

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  • Watch Mississippi River’s Video on YouTube
  • Get Google Map Directions to Mississippi River
  • Continent: North American
  • Location: North America
  • Length: 6,275km (3,902miles)
  • Dams: Lake Itasca Stepping Stones / Dam, Vekin’s Dam, Ottertail Power Co. Dam, Knutson Dam, Winnibigoshish Lake Dam, Pokegama Dam, Blandin Paper Co. Dam, Potlatch Dam, Little Falls Dam, Blanchard Dam, Sartell Dam, St. Cloud Dam, Coon Rapids Dam,  Saint Anthony Falls Dam,  Saint Anthony Falls Dam, Meeker Island Dam, Melvin Price Dam, Chain of Rocks Dam.

You may have come with a question in you mind that what is the longest river in the United States ? Mississippi is listed as the fourth longest river of the world and one of the 2nd longest river in United States.

Its water resources pass over several states of United States I.e. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Lowa, Lllinois, Kentuchy, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

It is the home of many birds, water species, Mammals, I.e. Bald eagle, Freshwater mussel, Otters and Muskrat, Catfish, Walleyes, Trout, Bass, Northern, Sunfish, Suckers, Carp, Garfish, Black and brown bullheads, short and long nosed Gar, Paddlefish and sturgeon.

26. Yenisei River

widest river in the world
Image via theatlantic.com

It is also listed in the category of longest rivers. It is the largest system streaming through Atlantic Ocean.it is also named as Yenisei-Angara.

The water resources of Yenisei River passed through Magnolia and Russia. In roman script Yenisei written as Yenisey, Enisei, Jenisej. A lot of renowned fish species found in Yenisei, it includes Siberian sturgeon, Tench, Sterlet Sturgeon, Arctic Flounder, Stone Sculpin, Siberian Gudgeon, Stone Sculpin.

25. Yellow River

Yellow River

It is the sixth largest river in the world. It is the second largest river in china and 3rd largest in Asia. It is called yellow river because of the presence of huge amount of sediment in water, which turns it yellow.it is also named as Huang He.

It is covering many states of China including Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Henan and Shandong.

Amphibians, reptiles and other animals are found in yellow river including the Xizang Alpine Toad, High Himalaya Toad, Ching Hai Toadhead Agama, Strauch's Pitviper , Red Panda, Marbled Polecat, Chinese Giant Salamander, Yellow River Frog, Liupan Lazy Toad, Black-spotted frog, Asiatic Toad, Gansu Toad ,Caspian Straight-fingered Gecko , Central Asian Pitviper, Chinese Soft Shell Turtle, Peking Gecko.

24. Ob River

Ob River

It is the words seventh longest river. It is also named Obi. Its water resources shared with some regions of Russia named Altai krai, oblast, Novosibirsk, kanty-mansi automous okrug, tomsak oblast, yamalia. Bears, lynx, reindeer, snow leopards, Siberian stags, wolverines and many more mammals found at the shore of the Ob River.

Even more are ducks, gulls, sea eagles and other species of waterfowl are also living on. At most 50 types of fish are found in the Ob River. Some types include sturgeon, carp and perch. 

23. Parana River

Parana River

It is the eighth longest river in the world. It is the abbreviation of “para rehe onava” which belongs to Tupi Language (language spoken by the people of Brazil) which means “like the sea”.

Its water resources pass through Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Parana is found with some of rare species of fish named surubí and sábalo. The power which is being used by most of the Brazil is come from hydro power through Dam on Parana River.

22. Congo River

Congo River

Also known as Zaire, formerly it was named Zaire during 16 and 17 century but eventually restored with English phrase Congo. It is counted between world’s deepest rivers. It is the second largest river by discharge after amazon.

Its Water resources are shared by many countries including Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo-Kinshasa, Central Africa Republic and Gabon. It is named after kingdom Congo. Congo River is globally significant in way of fish diversity.

It is found that congo river is influenced by some of fish species named Elephant fishes, Cichlids, Characins, Distichodontidae, Catfish Order, Catfishes, Bagrid Catfishes, Minnows/Carps.

21. Amur River

Amur River

The meaning of Amur is ‘Rest’.  The word Amur is derived from Mongolian Language. It is Called heilong jiang or black dragon river in Chinese. The water resources of River Amur are shared by Russia and China.

The fish species found in River Amur is long kaluga, Amur Sturgeon, Green sturgeon , Puan spine loach, Small Scale Carp, Black amur, Black amur bream, Solitov's sheat-fish yellowcheek, Mongolian redfin and bighead carp.

20. Lena River

Lena River

It is included in large rivers of Asia. This river is covering almost 1/5 of the Russian land. It is the 3rd largest River in Asia. It is numbered in the only big river that world flowing on permafrost area.

The river supports a rich bird and fish population; it had 92 planktonic species, 57 benthic species, and 38 species of fish in the river. Burbot, Sturgeon, chum salmon,  Stenodus leucychthis, Coregonus autumnalis and C. albula are the most significant fish.

Swans, geese, ducks, divers, sandpipers, plovers, snipes, phalaropes, terns, skuas, birds of prey, passerines and gulls are few of the birds.

19. Mekong River

Mekong River

It is the seventh largest River in Asia. Water resources are shared by China, Burma, loas, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The name Mekong River is derived from Mae Nam Khong a term of Thai and Lao origin meaning ‘The Mother of Water’.

Almost 240 species of fish found in Mekong River, the Laotian shad is a rare species of fish found in there, and many others named Mekong giant catfish, Mae Khong herring,cave fish , Thicklip barb also found. The River is also loaded with 100 local snail species.

18. Mackenzie River

Mackenzie River

It is the largest river in Canada. Most of its attributes reach into four other Canadian areas. Regions with which water resources are shared Northwest areas. This River is of global importance because it is in few of the world’s large rivers which are remaining.

17. Niger River

Niger River

It is considered to be third longest river of Asia. It is exceeded by River Nile and Congo. The Water resources of River are shared with various countries listing as Guinea, Mate, Niger, Benin and Nigeria. It is said that it has been named by Greeks.

There are found some fish families including Denticle herring, and Hingemouth, and also some rare species of animals i.e Hippopotamus, Pygmy hippo, West African manatee.

16. Murray River

Murray River

It shared its water resources with few states of Australia i.e., Victoria, New South wales, South Australia. It has the world’s largest redgum forest and ibi rookery on its banks.

The Murray River is having many fish species such as Murray Cod, Callop, Catfish, Bream, Macquarie, Perch and Redfin, Gudgeon, Tupong, Freshwater Sunfish, Pigmy Perch, Line-eye Gudgeon, Tcheri or Hairback Herring, Silver Perch, Blackfish, Trout, Carp, Tench and many are still unknown.

15. Tocantins River

Tocantins River

Derived from tupi language (spoken by the Tupi people of brazil who lived near the river).It’s the home of several aquatic mammals and reptiles. It shares its water resources with the states, Gotas, Tocantins, Maranhao and para.

A very rich range of fish species found in the river such as spectacled caimans, black caimans, and two species of river dolphins, American manatees, yellow-spotted sideneck turtles. It is also enrich in bird diversity, it has 527 known bird species including toucans, hawks, marvelous scarlet macaw.

14. Volga River

Volga River

River Volga is categorize among longest River in Europe in terms of length, discharge and watershed.  It is considered as the National River of Russia. 11 out of 20 big cities of Russia, covering its capital Moscow, are occupying in the Volga.

The river is filled with very rich species of fish and birds, fish such as Sturgeon species, Whitefish, Herrings, White-eyed bream and endemic Volga lamprey, birds such as Dalmatian pelican, Great white egret and Penduline tit.

13. Shatt al-Arab River

Shatt al-Arab River

The name of the river is derived from Arabic language meaning ‘stream of the Arabs’.  Also called Arvand Arabs derived from Persian language meaning ‘Swift River’.  The water resources of river are shared with Iran.

Number of species decreases in winter and goes high in summer. Tenualosa ilisha was the most rich species constitute 27.4% of the catch, followed by Carassius Auratus (23.7%) and Liza klunzingeri (10.6%).

12. Madeira River

Madeira River

Major water Resources are shared with Bolivia and Brazil. It is listed in the Amazon’s largest and most significant area. It is seen that River Madeira has 900 fish species in it, which leads it to be in one of the freshwater system in world.

11. Yukon River

Yukon River

It is the third longest in North America and longest River in Yukon and Alaska. It shares its water resources with countries such as Canada, United States and with few states I.e. Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia.

The huge mammals including black and brown bears; caribou, deer, and moose; and mountain goats and sheep found over there. Timber wolves are easily found, game birds such as grouse and ptarmigan are available, and waterfowl include species of geese, swans, and ducks.

In the river there are found species of such fish as burbot, Arctic grayling, salmon, pike, and whitefish.

10. Purus River

Purus River

Water resources of Purus are shared with Brazil and Peru. It had a special species of monkey named Purus red howler, the River is famous because of a kind of catfish named Peckoltia Brevis.

9. Indus River

Indus River

  • Watch Indus River's Video on YouTube
  • Get Google Map Directions to Indus River
  • Continent: Asia
  • Location: Tibetan Plateau, China
  • Length: 3,180 km (1,976 miles)
  • Dams: Dams on the Beas River‎, Dams on the Chenab River‎, Dams on the Indus River, Dams on the Jhelum River‎, Dams on the Kabul River‎, Dams on the Neelum (Kishanganga) River‎, Dams on the Ravi River, Dams on the Sutlej River

It is considered to be the longer river in Asia. Water resources are shared with, Pakistan, India, China. The most notable feature of River Indus is Indus River Dolphin species, this species of dolphin spend their entire lives in freshwater.

Only about 1,100 remained today in the lower parts of the Indus River in Pakistan. They have adapted to life in the muddy river and are functionally blind. They use prawns, catfish and crap as their prey.

8. Sao Francisco River

Sao Francisco River

It shares its water resources shared with: States, Minas, Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe. It is most important river for Brazil, known as river of national integration.

It is the fourth longest in South America. Sao Francisco is not rich in animals, in rodents, skunks and mammals’ marsupials; a small wild cat named the gato de mata; the titi monkey, and armadillo is found. Birds are found like tinamous, red-winged, tinamou, doves, parrots, the yellow finch.

The river fish is abundantly found such as, sardines, pocomó, and sarapó.

7. Syr Darya River

Syr Darya River

The name of the river came from ancient Greeks. The River Syr Darya is famous because of its use in Battle of Jaxartes. Syr Darya sturgeon is a fish species abundantly found in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. But now it is a kind of extinct and lastly it was seen in year 1990.

6. Salween River

Salween River

Water resources are shared with few states named Yunnan Region and Tibet. The River is named after the people living the area.

It runs parallel to the mighty Mekong River. Longest UN-dammed river in mainland Southeast Asia. 2nd largest river in south Asia and one of the last free flowing in transitional rivers in Asia.

5. Saint Lawrence River

Saint Lawrence River

Long River in the middle latitude of North America.  Water resources shared with countries Canada, United States including Providences/states i.e.  Quebeo, Ontario, New York. Plants are present there such as coniferous forest, open taiga, deciduous forest, and mixed forest areas.

Fish species are also found such as sturgeon, smelt, and herring.

4. Rio Grande River

Rio Grande River

  • Watch Rio Grande River's Video on YouTube 
  • Get Google Map Directions to Rio Grande River
  • Continent: North America
  • Location: Colorado
  • Length: 3,051 km (1,896 miles)
  • Dams: Rio Grande Dam, Platoro Dam, Heron Dam, El Vado Dam, Abiquiu Dam, Cochiti Dam, Galisteo Dam, Jemez Canyon Dam, Isleta Diversion Dam, San Acacia Diversion Dam, Angostura Diversion Dam, Elephant Butte Dam, Caballo Dam, Percha Diversion Dam, Leasburg Diversion Dam, Angostura Diversion Dam, American Diversion Dam, Mesilla Diversion Dam, Riverside Diversion Dam, International Diversion Dam, Amistad Dam, Falcon Dam. 

It is considered to be fifth longest River of North America. The Rio Grande basin is a globally significant for freshwater biodiversity. The Rio Grande having 121 fish species, 69 of which are commonly available on the planet.

There are 3 areas supporting local bird species and a very high level of mollusk diversity.

3. Lower Tunguska River

Lower Tunguska River

Previously it was written as Tungonska. River Tunguska is basically devided into tree parts The Upper Tunguska, Middle Tunguska and Lower Tunguska.

2. Brahmaputra River

Brahmaputra River

The river also named Tsangpo-Brahmaputra. The River shares its water resources with countries named China, India, Bangladesh, and with few states such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh. The endangered Ganges River dolphin hinder the waters of the Brahmaputra.

1. Zambezi River

Zambezi River

It is also spelled as Zambeze and Zambesi. It is considered to be the fourth-longest river in Africa, it shares its water resources with Zambia, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Moazambique. The most significant and Famous feature of River Zambezi is Victoria Falls.

It is a big home of many animals  .i.e. lion, leopard, cheetah, spotted hyena and side-striped. It also found with birds such as pintails, Garganey, African openbill, saddle-billed stork, wattled crane, and great white pelican, with a species of reptiles including Nile crocodile, Nile monitor lizard, the endemic Pungwe worm snake, and some large animals such as buffalo, zebras, giraffes, elephants.

River also found with hundreds species of fish include Cichlids, catfish, Tigerfish, Yellowfish and bull shark.

We anticipate that you had a nice journey while reading about the longest rivers of the world, and you got a vast change in your knowledge. Our aim was to highlight, the amazing features of world’s longest rivers, although they are high in number but we to put some of them over there.

We will appreciate if you have any other river in your observation which is rich with its significance, and you want us to add into this list, please share your knowledge.

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