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The 9 Longest Rivers in the World
From the Nile to the Congo (Howstuffworks): Rivers are great collectors. As freshwater molecules flow along the landscape, gravity forces them to seek the lowest possible ground, where they gather with other water molecules.
The collected water soon becomes a trickle. Trickles join together to form small creeks, which then join to form larger streams and, ultimately, rivers.
A watershed is an area of land that drains all the water in a particular area to a single point: the place where a river meets the ocean. The size of a watershed can be big or small, depending on the landscape, and some watersheds can be massive.
Massive watersheds often make for humongous rivers. Where a few creeks and streams running together end and a river begins is difficult to determine, but in order to rank rivers by their length, they’ve got to start somewhere and a bit of arbitrary fudging has to happen in order to measure them.
However, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, “the length [of a river] may be considered to be the distance from the mouth to the most distant headwater source (irrespective of stream name) or from the mouth to the headwaters of the stream commonly identified as the source stream.”
So, here they are, from the Nile to the Congo — the nine longest rivers in the world:
1. The Nile River The longest river in the world is different, depending on who you ask.
Is it the Nile in Africa or the Amazon in South America? They’re comparable in length, but in 2009, a study in the International Journal of Digital Earth determined the Nile to be a bit longer at 4,132 miles (6,650 kilometers).
The Nile also is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world’s longest river.
The Nile has two major tributaries — the White Nile and the Blue Nile, which meet up in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.
The Nile drains an area of 1,293,056 square miles (3,349,000 square kilometers) of Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea and Democratic Republic of the Congo, before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.
2. The Amazon River The Amazon River flows through Peru, Colombia and Brazil. Although the Nile is officially the longest river in the world, many disagree with that assessment and insist the Amazon is longer.
Certainly, it’s the world’s largest river based on the enormous volume of water it deposits into the Atlantic Ocean every day; it has a greater output of fresh water than the next seven largest rivers combined.
It also has the largest drainage area — 2,400,000 square miles (6,300,000 square kilometers) — which occupies almost 40 percent of the entire continent of South America.
Be that as it may, most researchers agree that it is only 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers) long compared with the Nile’s 4,132 miles (6,650 kilometers).
3. The Yangtze RiverMost of the world’s longest rivers are in Asia, and the Yangtze is the longest of them all.
It’s actually pretty comparable in length to the Nile and Amazon rivers, measuring 3,900 miles (6,300 kilometers) long.
It is also the longest river that flows entirely within the borders of a single country, and it drains a fifth of the land area of China, a country which makes up 6.3 percent of the world’s landmass.
The mighty Yangtze River has over 700 tributary rivers and streams and its 698,265-square-mile (1,808,500-square-kilometer) watershed is home to a third of the population of China.
4. The Missouri River The longest river in North America and the fourth-longest river in the world starts as the Missouri River, which drains 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 square kilometers) of the Rocky Mountains of the U.S., as well as two Canadian Provinces.
The 2,341-mile-long (3,767-kilometer-long) Missouri meets the Mississippi River — America’s second-longest, which is only slightly shorter than the Missouri — near St. Louis, Missouri, and together their waters flow to the Gulf of Mexico.
The river system drains 32 U.S. states.
5. The Yenisey River The Yenisey River in Siberia, at 2,167 miles (3,487 kilometers) long, empties into the Arctic Ocean, and is fed by Lake Baikal, the deepest, oldest lake in the world — as well as one of the clearest.
The 616-mile (992-kilometer) Selenga River begins in northern Mongolia, empties into Lake Baikal, and then the lake spits out the Angara River, which becomes the Yenisey.
Put together, the Yenisey-Angara-Selenga river system, the fifth longest river in the world, is 3,442 miles (5,539 kilometers) long.
6. The Yellow River China’s Yellow River, also called the Huang He, is 3,395 miles (5,464 kilometers) long. Its headwaters are in the Bayan Har Mountains of central China and it flows east across nine provinces and into the Bohai Sea.
Its total drainage area is 307,000 square miles (795,000 square kilometers), and archaeological evidence points to the Yellow River watershed being the cradle of ancient Chinese civilization.
7. The Ob-Irtysh River The seventh-longest river in the world is the Ob-Irtysh river system. The Ob River originates in western Siberia in the Altai Mountains and is met by the Irtysh River that begins in Mongolia and flows through China and Kazakhstan before entering Russia.
Together the two rivers drain 1,154,445 square miles (2,990,000 square kilometers) of land and are 3,360 miles (5,410 kilometers) long.
8. The Rio de la Plata-Paraná-Rio Grande Rivers The Rio Grande, which feeds the Paraná River, which empties into the Rio de La Plata, which ultimately arrives at the Atlantic Ocean at the border or Uruguay and Argentina, is the eighth-longest river in the world and the second-longest river system in South America.
The river system is 3,032 miles (4,880 kilometers) long and drains an area of 997,175 square miles (2,582,672 square kilometers) of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Uruguay.
9. The Congo River The Congo River of west-central Africa is the ninth longest in the world and the second longest in Africa.
On a map, it looks a bit like a many-limbed tree, but the headwater stream farthest from its mouth into the Atlantic Ocean is the Chambeshi River high in the mountains of Zambia, giving it a length of 2,920 miles (4,700 kilometers).
The Congo river system drains 1,550,000 square miles (4,014,500 square kilometers) and is the second-largest discharge of any river in the world.
Former Vice President of Nigeria and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has expressed deep concern over the alarmingly low voter turnout in Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections, describing the figures as a clear indictment of the state of Nigeria’s democracy under the present administration.
Official results showed an average turnout of below 20 per cent across the six area councils, with the Abuja Municipal Area Council recording a particularly dismal 7.8 per cent.
Atiku described this as “a damning verdict” on the health of the nation’s democratic process, especially in the symbolic capital city that represents the heartbeat of the federation.
He attributed the widespread disengagement not to voter apathy, but to a deliberate and sustained assault on democratic norms by the Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
According to the former Vice President, the low participation is the predictable result of a political atmosphere marked by intolerance, intimidation, harassment of dissenters, coercion of political defectors, and the systematic stifling of opposition voices.
“When citizens lose faith that their votes matter, democracy begins to die,” Atiku declared. “What we are witnessing is not mere voter apathy. It is a direct consequence of an administration that governs with a chokehold on pluralism. Democracy in Nigeria is being suffocated—slowly, steadily, and dangerously.”
He cautioned that the ongoing erosion of participatory governance, if allowed to continue unchecked, risks inflicting irreversible damage on the democratic institutions and freedoms built over decades through sacrifice and struggle.
“A democracy without vibrant opposition, without free political competition, and without public confidence is democracy in name only,” he warned. “If this chokehold is not released, history will record this era as the period when our hard-won freedoms were traded for fear and conformity.”
Atiku called on all opposition parties, civil society organisations, and democratic forces nationwide to urgently set aside differences and form a united front to defend the Republic.
“This is no longer about party lines; it is about preserving the Republic,” he emphasised. “The time to stand together to rescue and rebuild Nigeria is now.”
In a significant win for the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria has prevailed in an international arbitration dispute with European Dynamics UK Ltd, a European technology contractor, saving the country from a potential liability of over $6.2 million (approximately ₦9.3 billion).
The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) successfully defended against claims related to a stalled national electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) system project, funded in part by the World Bank. The project involved the design, development, customization, supply, installation, and maintenance of the e-Procurement platform aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, and efficiency in federal public procurement.
The Sole Arbitrator, Mrs. ‘Funmi Roberts, issued a final and non-appealable ruling dismissing all claims by European Dynamics UK Ltd in their entirety. The contractor had sought approximately $2.4 million for alleged milestone payments, $3 million in general damages, and an additional $800,000 in settlement claims.
The dispute centered on the User Acceptance Test (UAT), where BPP identified significant functional deficiencies, omissions, and errors in the system. Nigeria’s position—that delivery in software customization projects is only complete upon satisfactory UAT confirming compliance with technical, statutory, and operational requirements—was upheld.
The tribunal ruled that the vendor bore responsibility to remedy deficiencies at no extra cost and found no evidence supporting the contractor’s claims of approved mergers of project phases or contractual consent for such changes.Nigeria’s legal team, led by Johnson & Wilner LLP with Founding Partner Basil Udotai Esq. at the forefront, was praised for its expertise in technology contracting.
BPP Director-General Dr. Adebowale Adedokun, who inherited the stalled project and ongoing arbitration upon taking office, described the outcome as a landmark signal in public sector technology dealings.
“This vendor has taken various African countries to court and won every single case. Nigeria is the first to defeat them,” he said during a presentation of the award to Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN). He emphasized that Nigeria “can no longer be taken for granted” and thanked the AGF for supporting the decision to proceed with arbitration rather than settle.
AGF Fagbemi hailed the victory as evidence that “it is no longer business as usual.” He commended Dr. Adedokun’s courage, the legal team’s brilliance, and President Tinubu’s backing for institutional strengthening. “This win sends a clear message to the international community: Nigeria has resonated…
By standing up to European Dynamics, we have instilled courage in other African nations to protect their own resources,” he stated.
The ruling highlights the critical role of rigorous testing, clear milestones, and performance-based standards in government tech contracts, with lessons to be applied to ongoing e-procurement reforms to minimize future disputes.Kamarudeen Ogundele Special Assistant to the President (Communication and Publicity) Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice
ighlights 14 Million Children Registered in Two Years.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has commended Nigeria for achieving a significant milestone in child rights, with 14 million children’s births officially registered over the past two years.
This surge represents impressive advancement in ensuring every child is counted and recognized through legal identity.
The announcement came during a courtesy visit by UNICEF Country Representative to Nigeria, Ms. Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, to Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the First Lady of Nigeria, at the State House in Abuja.
Ms. Abdelatef praised the First Lady’s exemplary leadership in championing children’s issues and family welfare nationwide. She described the progress in birth registration as unprecedented in her experience across various countries.
“Birth registration is the first right of every child—to be counted and recognized,” she stated. “It is really impressive. I have served in many places, but I have not seen such progress in two years as we have witnessed here in Nigeria.
“She highlighted key enablers of this success, including the digitalization of the registration system at health facilities and community levels, as well as ongoing legislative efforts with a relevant bill before the National Assembly.
“Things don’t just happen like that; we scale with leadership,” she added, expressing gratitude for the First Lady’s role in driving this initiative and allowing UNICEF to celebrate this “fantastic leadership.
“The UNICEF representative also acknowledged the First Lady’s broader contributions, referencing her involvement in initiatives such as the national library and food bank launches, as well as commendations from African women leaders at the African Union for her continental impact.
She linked these efforts to Nigeria’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which she said is instilling hope for children and citizens alike.In response, Senator Oluremi Tinubu welcomed UNICEF’s recognition and reaffirmed her commitment to ensuring universal birth registration. “Every child counts,” she emphasized, noting that registration immediately after birth grants children nationality, legal identity, and access to essential services like health and education.
The First Lady described the news as a source of joy and a foundation for national development. “This is how nations develop,” she said. While celebrating the gains, she stressed the need for sustained efforts: “We are not there yet. We have to keep at it and make sure every child is counted.
“She pointed out that birth registration is just the starting point, extending to the issuance of birth certificates. Highlighting Nigeria’s lack of a recent census, she noted that starting with children would provide critical data on the child population to guide government planning and resource allocation.
Senator Tinubu also addressed persistent challenges, expressing concern over persistently high rates of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and maternal and child mortality in Nigeria’s large population.
“These numbers are still high, and it is worrisome,” she said, while assuring that the administration is actively working to position the country for a better future.
She expressed appreciation for UNICEF’s longstanding support and reliable data, pledging continued collaboration in any area of mutual interest. “In any area you want us to collaborate, we are here,” she affirmed. “We want to thank UNICEF for the interest and the work you have done.
“This development underscores Nigeria’s ongoing push toward universal civil registration, aligning with global goals to provide legal identity for all children and support broader child rights and development objectives.
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