A river is a flowing body of water in which water moves within the existing channel, heading from the source to the mouth. Each river system has its own basin, which is located within its watershed, and receives food from this territory - both from surface runoff and from underground. They can be permanent or seasonally dry, can change their course over time. Rivers are small and large, large are those that have a length of more than 1000 km.

The Russians are accustomed to the sight of water bodies, you will hardly surprise anyone with a river - this is a special reverence and awe in the hot, desert countries. But still there are some interesting facts that are likely to be interesting to everyone.

Rivers - champions

Rivers are examined and compared for a large number of different parameters, the first of which is length. The longest river in the world is the Amazon. Previously, it was believed that Neil was the leader in this parameter, but later the results were revised, the Amazon got the palm, and Neil was in second place. However, the difference in the distances over which these great rivers carry their waters is not great at all - the first is 6992 km long, the second - 6852 km. At the same time, only one bridge is thrown across the Amazon. We can talk a lot about it - for example, recently, scientists discovered another river directly underground, 4 km deeper than the Amazon riverbed itself. The underground sister of the river has the same long, but wider than the ground sister hundreds of times.

The Amazon is also a leader in full-flow, bringing more water into the oceans than any other. And in bad weather waves go up to 4 meters in height. Another river flowing in the same region has an interesting quality. The mouth of the Catatumbo River, which flows through Venezuela, is a real magnet for lightning. For some reason, a lot of electric discharges fall into it every year.

Riverbed Features

Large rivers usually have straight channels. Also, a direct focus is characteristic of the most ancient rivers, regardless of their size, full flow. This is due to a natural fact: when the water moves, the channel gradually straightens, bends, turns are blurred. The ancient Nile River flows directly, and the Piana River in the Nizhny Novgorod region is considered the most winding in the world. If you measure directly, its length will be only 30 km, but by measuring the actual distance that water has to run to, you can get an indicator of 400 km.

Interesting fact: speaking of the rivers of Russia, it is also worth noting that the Irtysh is recognized as the cleanest river in the world from the largest. The cleanest river in Moscow is the Elk, but its purity is still relative.

The widest channel is near the La Plata river, the width of the reservoir reaches 220 km in some places. A huge number of rivers in hot desert areas dry up every year, their channels are empty until the next rainy season. Such rivers are called screams, Uzboys - they are in Africa, Australia, in Asia. Saudi Arabia and 15 other states do not have a single permanent river on their territory.In Finland, 650 rivers flow. The Indian river Kosi is also interesting in terms of channel features - it tends to change it, choosing a new path for itself every spring. There are no analogues in the world, although some rivers are still able to change the course over time, mainly straightening it.

Rivers - record holders for the most important indicators

Among the rivers there are also amazing world record holders. They can beat a variety of records, becoming both a positive and a negative example. The following facts can be cited as an example:

• The Amazon contains the most water, other rivers lag significantly behind it in terms of high water availability;
• Voncha is the cleanest river in the world from the list of small ones; it flows through the Republic of Mari El, being cleaner than Lake Baikal. The Titarum River in Indonesia is recognized as the most dirty; the Royal River of Australia “competes” with it;
• The most colorful river is Cristalez Canyon in Colombia, the water flow here is painted in 5 shades;
• The deepest river is the Congo, in places its depth exceeds 200 meters;
• In addition, the Congo is the only river crossing the equator twice. There is a river crossing the Arctic Circle three times, and this is the Yenisei;
• The Ural River divided Europe and Asia, which are located on its different banks;
• The most popular river name is Don, there are 6 rivers with that name in the world;
• The most legendary existing river is considered to be the Nile, which nurtured Egyptian civilization, which literally deified him. Of the invented rivers, the Styx is the most popular and legendary, through which, as it were, the souls of the deceased are transported. At least, the ancient Greeks thought so.

Are there rivers everywhere?

Ponds are not evenly distributed throughout the planet.There are places where there are no rivers at all, where there are only streams that dry up in the summer season. Of course, we are talking about desert hot territories - there is not a single river in all of Saudi Arabia. It is also worth noting a few more facts:
- Even in Arabia there are rivers and lakes constantly filled with water, they are simply located under the surface of the desert. Local residents are able to secure access to them;
- The greatest number of rivers feeds the Atlantic Ocean;
- At least 20 rivers that are hidden today from human eyes pass under the London Bridge;
- The Lena River in Siberia is so large and full of water that 12 reservoirs are built on it.

Man-made, anthropogenic impact on rivers

Many modern rivers are extremely polluted - this is due to human activities, the general environmental situation on the planet. Doubtful primacy in this matter belongs to the Royal River in Australia, followed by the Hudson. However, people are trying to rectify the situation; many rivers are being cleaned today. So, the “fiery river” of Cayahog in the US states has been cleaned up, now there is quite a decent environmental situation there. In the past, it even burned, and more than 10 times - so much garbage floated on it.

The human impact on the rivers leads to bad consequences for the flora and fauna of water bodies, the constructed dams impede the normal movement of fish to spawn, and create a host of other problems. But they provide mankind with a huge amount of electricity.Also, a person receives from the river the water necessary for agriculture, production.

Sometimes the water intake is excessive, the river cannot even reach the sea, into which it must flow. Such problems arose with the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, which in the past fed the Aral Sea, maintained the water level in the reservoir. The field irrigation systems created by people led to the fact that the sea was almost dry. But in history there were more grandiose ideas - to turn the river back, for example. In practice, this was done only by American engineers who were able to deploy the course of the Chicago River.

Thus, rivers have many interesting features, secrets, not yet known to people. They require a careful attitude - if only because the first ancient civilizations of mankind just arose near the largest rivers.