Which is the longest river in Australia?



The calculations confirmed that Australia's longest single river is the River Murray at 2508 kilometres. However, if the longest tributaries of the Darling River, the Culgoa, Balonne and Condamine, are taken into account its total length increases to 2740 kilometres, making it Australia's longest waterway.



The National Topographic Database is a nationally consistent dataset containing a range of topographic features, such as relief and drainage, which has been captured and maintained at a scale of 1:250 000 for the whole of Australia. Use of the database to digitally calculate the longest rivers has resulted in more precise estimates than those available previously.



The Murray River was first discovered by European explorers Hamilton H. Hume and William H. Hovell in 1824. It wasn't until five years later, however, that Charles Sturt navigated down the Murrumbidgee to encounter the Murray and named it after Sir George Murray, (Soldier and Tory Party Politician 1772-1846) when his exploration party encountered the Darling connection. Sturt had previously explored the Darling River to the north and was able to determine that they were indeed the same river system.



The Murray River is the world's 16th-longest river at 2,520 kilometres from its source in the Kosciusko National Park. It is fed by several rivers on it's journey from the Australian Alps. The main feeding rivers are the Darling and Murrumbidgee Rivers. The Darling River (2,740 kilometres) begins in the far inland of Australia (Queensland) and joins the Murray at Wentworth (NSW) then flows to the Southern Ocean through South Australia.



 



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Which is the longest river in Europe?



The Volga is the longest river in Europe; its source is in the Valdai Hills, in a town known as Volgo-Verjovie, between the cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, at about 228 metres above sea level. With approximately 200 tributaries, the main ones are the Kama, Samara, Oka, Vetluga and Sura rivers.



The Volga has many tributaries, most importantly the Kama, the Oka, the Vetluga, and the Sura rivers. The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which drains an area of about 1.35 million square kilometres in the most heavily populated part of Russia. The Volga Delta has a length of about 160 kilometres and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans, flamingoes, and lotuses may be found. The Volga freezes for most of its length during three months of each year.



The Volga drains most of Western Russia. Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal, the Volga-Don Canal, and the Mariinsk Canal systems form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. High levels of chemical pollution currently give cause for environmental concern.



The fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat, and also has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centres on the Volga valley. Other minerals include natural gas, salt, and potash. The Volga Delta and the nearby Caspian Sea offer superb fishing grounds. Astrakhan, at the delta, is the centre of the caviar industry.



 



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Which is the longest river in Antarctica?



The Onyx River is the longest river in Antarctica, flowing for 19 miles from the coastal Wright Lower Glacier and ending in Lake Vanda. 



The Onyx River, in Wright Valley, is a seasonal stream of meltwater which flows for some 40 km from coastal piedmont glaciers inland into Lake Vanda. The stream bed is mainly braided in fine alluvial gravels, with some stretches of coarser moraine materials. A number of tributary feeders flow from the alpine glaciers of the ranges bordering the valley. Seasonal flows have been regularly monitored from two portions of the river. The Lower Wright site, close to the headwaters of the river, is about 2 km downstream from the shallow Lake Brownworth at the terminus of the Lower Wright Glacier. It is upstream from the confluence with the tributary streams and hence records only the flow contribution from the Lower Wright Glacier. The Vanda Weir is about 500 m upstream from the mouth of the river at Lake Vanda and also contains water from the Clark, Meserve and Bartley glacier streams.



There are no fish in the Onyx River, but it supports microscopic life, and the algal blooms can be quite extensive. The environment consists mainly of cyanobacteria and other algae. A few small animals (nematodes, tardigrades, and rotifers) live in the river. Skuas are also occasionally present in the area.



 



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Which is the longest river in North America?



The Missouri is the longest river in the US – North America. The Missouri flows entirely though the United States, where it crosses seven states: Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri.



The headwaters of the Missouri are located where the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers meet, in the Rocky Mountains, in Montana, 1,200 metres above sea level. It flows into the Mississippi river as its main tributary, 16 kilometres from the city of St. Louis.



The Missouri is 3,943 kilometres long. If we consider the Mississippi-Missouri river system, the total length would increase to 7,725 kilometres, forming the world’s fourth longest river, after the Amazon, Nile and Yangtze rivers.



The drainage basin spans 1,371,100 square kilometres, making it the sixth largest one in the world, comprising 16,840 square kilometres in southern Canada.



For thousands of years, the Missouri has been home to Native Americans. The first Europeans to discover the river were explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673. After that, explorers Lewis and Clark (1804-1805) were the first to navigate from its headwaters to its mouth.



During the 19th century, steam boat traffic increased until 1858, when it started to decline. In 1944, the US Congress approved a programme for irrigation development, flood control, and hydropower generation.



 



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Which is the longest river in Africa?



The Nile is the longest river in Africa and the second longest river in the world, with 6,695 kilometres. Its basin spans 3,349,000 square kilometres, approximately 10% of the surface area of Africa.



The Nile river flows through a significant portion of the African continent and has generated numerous ecological relationships among the different populations, with broad ethnic diversity.  In addition, the Nile river is used as a waterway for transport, and in some areas such as South Sudan, travelling is only possible through the Nile between the months of May and November, because of flooding.



It is also responsible for carrying water from the Nile’s furthest source. The section known as Kagera starts in Burundi and it flows out of Lake Rweru through the Burundi-Rwanda and the Tanzania-Rwanda borders to convergence with river Ruvubu. From the confluence, it flows over the Rusumo falls, through the Akagera National Park before turning east and flowing into Lake Victoria. Akagera River is fed by Ruvubu from Burundi and Nyabarongo from Rwanda.



 



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Which is the longest river in South America?



South America boasts no shortage of great rivers. The Madeira River stretches some 3,250 kilometres and the Parana dwarfs it at 4,880 kilometres. Most impressive of all is the longest river in South America is the Amazon River.



The most distant source of the Amazon is the Mantaro River in Peru. The Mantaro joins with other tributaries to form river Ucayali which meets with river Maranon to create the primary stem of the Amazon. The River Ene forms at the confluence of the River Apurimac and the River Mantaro, and it is part of the Amazon river’s headwaters which originates from Mismi. After about 450 miles, the Apurimac meets with river Mantaro and becomes Ene which joins River Perene and becomes river Tambo which drains to Ucayali. Ucayali-Tambo-Ene and Apurimac join the Amazon to form the longest river in the world. The Amazon has an average discharge of 209 million liters per second. The river's discharge represents about 20% of the world flow into the ocean. The Amazon River passes through multiple countries including Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil.



Naturally, the longest river in South America is a source of food and water for the great Amazon rainforest. It’s thought that around a third of all known species live in the rainforest, including jaguars, ocelots and sloths. It’s not all about the rainforest, though. The river itself has plenty of weird and wonderful creatures of its own. Spend a little time on the Amazon river and you might be fortunate enough to encounter the Amazon river dolphin, the Amazonian manatee and the giant otter. If you’re unfortunate, you may stumble upon an anaconda, among the largest snakes in the world and known to hunt in the river’s shallow waters.


Which is the longest river in Asia?



The Yangtze River in China is the longest river in Asia, the third longest river in the world and the longest river to flow entirely in one country. The river begins its journey in the glacial meltwaters of the Tanggula Mountains in Tibet and flows approximately 3,915 miles (6,300 kilometers) until it empties in the East China Sea near the city of Shanghai. The river flows through or borders 10 provinces. 



The river flows through a variety of terrains, including high plateaus and lowland plains, but most of its journey — approximately three-fourths of it — is spent passing through mountainous regions, including some extremely scenic areas with deep valleys, canyons and gorges. The river is fed by approximately 700 tributaries, including eight principal rivers: Yalung, Min, Jialing, Han, Wu, Yuan, Xiang and Gan rivers.



The Yangtze River basin is considered the great granary of China. The economy of the basin focuses largely on agriculture, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. The grains produced here -- 70 percent of which is rice -- is enough to feed half of the country's population, according to Travel China Guide. Other crops grown here include barley, cotton, wheat, corn and beans.



 



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