The Five Longest River Systems
by shelpeare on 07/03/11 at 11:56 am
What are the five longest river systems in the world? Find out here.
In many countries rivers are very small streams so many cannot conceive of rivers being as big as what you would expect a sea to be. What are the five longest river systems? Please note that some parts of these rivers have different names at certain points of their course.
(1) The Nile
Image via Wikipedia
The very word “Nile” means “great river.” This African river is approximately 6,650 km in length and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. Moses under God turned it to blood as the first plague on Egypt for not letting the Jewish slaves go. (See Ex. 4:9; 7:17,20,21). The Nile runs through such countries as Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi
(2) The Amazon-Ucayali-Apurimac River system
Image via Wikipedia
This South American river system, coming from the Andes mountains, is approximately 6,400 km long, almost as long as the Nile. The great site Amazon.com, known for its wide range of books and other items was named after it, no doubt to show the vastness of their stock – a great stream of books and other commodities. This river system flows through Brazil, Peru and Colombia. It empties in the South Atlantic Ocean.
(3) The Yangtze River
Image via Wikipedia
This is the longest Asian river. It is said to be approximately 6,300 km long. It originates in the Tanggula Mountains in Qinghai, a Chinese State, emptying in the East China Sea.
(4) The Mississippi-Missouri-Jefferson River System
Image via Wikipedia
“Mississippi” means “great river” or “big river” just like the Nile. This river system empties in the Gulf of Mexico and is 5,971 km in length. It originates in Lake Itasca in Canada. It is the largest North American river system. For those who find spelling “Mississippi” a nightmare, this river system is so famous that it has a song named after it to help people to remember its spelling.
(5) Yenisey-Baikal-Selenga
Image via Wikipedia
This river system, 5,539 km in length, originates in Mongolia in Asia. It empties in the Kara Sea which is part of the Arctic Ocean.
So four of the continents are represented by these five river systems. Asia has two representatives in the Yantze and the Yenisey-Baikal-Selenga river systems.
You may be interested in the following articles:
The Five Tallest Mountains in The World
Top Ten Things The Bible Says About Egypt
Top Ten Things About Iraq in The Bible
Liked it
CHIPMUNK
Mar 7th, 2011
Wow!! Great share
Ukrainian
Mar 7th, 2011
Interesting and pictures are wonderful.
observer1
Mar 7th, 2011
Yes, very interesting piece
No Share
Mar 7th, 2011
well researched
Percy Omenazu
Mar 7th, 2011
I like the pictures. I was thinking about why you stayed away for a while. Cheers…
buenavida
Mar 7th, 2011
So interesting. Thanks for telling about these amazing water systems. Makes me want to go and see them one day..
lapasan
Mar 7th, 2011
The Nile and the Yangtze rivers were home of early civilizations. thanks for the nice article.
shelpeare
Mar 7th, 2011
Thanks everyone. It is unfortunate though that ads are put under our articles which do not represent what we may stand for.
papaleng
Mar 7th, 2011
interesting share. Though there are certain claims that amazon is longer than Nile.
shelpeare
Mar 7th, 2011
I guess it depends on how they measure length since the rivers will not be running in a straight line and will be wider at some points than others. Also, there is a distinction between rivers and river systems. Part of one river may be considered part of another river but all in all it may be one river system. Finally, the longest river system is not necessarily the biggest or deepest or widest river system.
odocha ogechi
Mar 8th, 2011
nice work shelpeare, really educating.
shelpeare
Mar 8th, 2011
Thanks Odocha.