About This Quiz
There aren't many places in the world that a river doesn't run through. Take our quiz to see how much you know about the water that flows around the globe.Until 2007 the Nile was considered the longest at 4,258 miles (6,853 kilometers). Then the Amazon, in a study funded conveniently by its home country Brazil, edged the Nile out at 4,345 miles. Close enough for government work.
These two U.S. rivers — the D, measured at both 440 feet (134 meters) and 120 feet long in Oregon, and the Roe in Montana, at 201 feet — have been vying for "bragging" rights since 1987.
At 1,780 miles (2,865 kilometers), the Danube edges out other rivers as it flows through Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.
Advertisement
Located in Venezuela on the Carrao River, Angel Falls cascades appropriately enough into Devil's Canyon, 3,212 feet (979 meters) below its starting point.
This river, about 629 miles (1,012 kilometers) long, nourishes the valley that's responsible for much of that French food and wine we all enjoy. Bon appetit.
Unfortunately there are many very nasty rivers, but this river in Indonesia is generally considered the worst. In fact, it has been termed biologically dead.
Advertisement
The Congo, in central Africa, reaches depths of 750 feet (230 meters).
The Hudson to the west, the East River to the east and the Harlem to the north.
While the Grand Canyon is in Arizona, it was formed by the Colorado River.
Advertisement
Those Brits love a walk, so it's no surprise that the Thames Path national trail runs 184 miles (294 kilometers) along the entire length of the river.
The film, about a weekend canoe trip that turns into a nightmare, showed North Georgia with the loveliest scenery and scariest mountain men.
The Murray flows across New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
Advertisement
The Volga starts in the Valdai Hills in northwestern Russia and flows southeast to empty into the Caspian Sea.
It starts in the appropriately named Rhone Glacier in the Swiss Alps, meanders to Lake Geneva, then flows through France to the sea.
Where the Amazon meets the Atlantic Ocean, the river is 202 miles (325 kilometers) wide. It drains the northern half of South America, including all that rain that makes the Amazon a rainforest.
Advertisement
Running west to east for 3,964 miles (6,379 kilometers) and essentially dividing China into North and South, the Yangtze is the third-longest river in the world.
At 2,540 miles (4,088 kilometers), the Missouri beats the Mississippi by about 200 miles. Sorry Huck Finn.
Twists and turns, irregular flow, near constant rapids and falls and silt keep the Orange River from being navigable through most of its course.
Advertisement
To figure out whether you're on the left bank or right bank of the Seine — important directional terms in Paris — face downriver. The left bank is on your left, the right bank is on your right.
Fairly short (1,560 miles/2,510 kilometers) for a major river, the Ganges in India flows through one of the most fertile and densely populated parts of the world.
The 1,900 mile (3,060 kilometer) river forms the border between Texas and Mexico.
Advertisement
The father of the father of the U.S. built his house on a rise overlooking the Potomac
Originating in Canada and emptying into the Bering Sea, the Yukon River is 1,980 miles (3,190 kilometers) long, and many of those miles flow through Alaska.
The Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan to honor the memory of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal.
Advertisement
Considered the spiritual home of the Chinese people, the Yellow River, the second-longest in China, stretches 3,395 miles (5,464 kilometers).
The Mekong supports the largest inland fishery in the world with 80 percent of the more than 60 million people who live along it relying on the river for food and livelihood.
The Tigris forms one boundary of Mesopotamia (which means "land between rivers" in Greek), one of the cradles of civilization in ancient times.
Advertisement
It's the longest river in Southwest Asia, at 1,740 miles (2,800 kilometers). It joins the Tigris in Central Iraq and flows into the Persian Gulf.
Also known as the Zaire River, the Congo is 2,900 miles (4,700 kilometers) long.
The Parana snakes through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina over some 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers).
Advertisement