My Science School

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.

Picture Credit : Google