Longest River in the World: Nile or Amazon? And by Continent

It’s a classic school and quiz question: what is the longest river in the world? The usual answer is the Nile. But did you know some scientists argue that the Amazon is longer? Here’s the full story, with a table of the world’s longest rivers and the longest river on each continent.

The longest river in the world: the Nile

Most geographical references list the Nile as the longest river in the world, at about 6,650 km. It flows north from the heart of Africa and empties into the Mediterranean Sea through Egypt’s delta.

The Nile has two main branches:

• The White Nile rises in the Lake Victoria region of central Africa.
• The Blue Nile rises at Lake Tana in the Ethiopian highlands.

The two meet at Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, to form the Nile proper. The Nile basin covers 11 countries, and most of the water that reaches Egypt comes from the Ethiopian highlands.

Nile vs Amazon: which is longer?

The Amazon in South America is about 6,400 km long by traditional estimates. Some studies, however, have measured it as longer than the Nile, because the result depends on two choices:

• Where does the river start? Big rivers are fed by many tributaries, and picking the most distant source changes the length.
• Where does it end? The mouths of great rivers are wide and branching, so the end point is hard to fix precisely.

So the Nile remains the longest in most references, but the scientific debate is real.

What nobody disputes is that the Amazon is the largest river by volume. It carries about one-fifth of all the river water that flows into the world’s oceans.

Table: the world’s longest rivers

River	Continent	Approximate length
Nile	Africa	About 6,650 km
Amazon	South America	About 6,400 km (some estimates longer)
Yangtze	Asia	About 6,300 km
Mississippi–Missouri	North America	About 6,000 km
Yenisei	Asia	About 5,500 km
Yellow River	Asia	About 5,460 km

Figures vary a little between sources, for the same reasons that make rivers hard to measure.

Did you know? The Danube is the longest river in the European Union, and it flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world.

The longest river on each continent

• Africa: the Nile (about 6,650 km)
• South America: the Amazon (about 6,400 km)
• Asia: the Yangtze in China (about 6,300 km), also the world’s third-longest river
• North America: the Mississippi–Missouri system. The Missouri on its own is slightly longer than the Mississippi.
• Europe: the Volga in Russia (about 3,500 km)
• Australia: the Murray (about 2,500 km)

For another geographical wonder in the Arab world, read: The Dead Sea: why can’t you sink in it?

Frequently asked questions

What is the longest river in the world?

The Nile, at about 6,650 km in most references, though some scientists argue the Amazon may be longer.

What is the longest river in Africa?

The Nile, which is also the longest river in the Arab world.

What is the longest river in Asia?

The Yangtze in China, at about 6,300 km.

Which is the longest river in the Arab world after the Nile?

The Euphrates, about 2,800 km long. It rises in Turkey and flows through Syria and Iraq.

Key takeaway

The Nile is the world’s longest river at about 6,650 km in most references. The Amazon comes next, and some scientists think it’s longer. It’s certainly the largest by volume. Asia’s longest river is the Yangtze, Europe’s is the Volga, and the EU’s is the Danube.