The Nile is the longest river in the world, measuring ... · A river delta is a fan shaped area, where sediment has built up at the mouth of the river. The River Nile has a famous

The Nile is the longest river in the world, measuring 4,135 miles (6,650 kilometres) and running through ten African countries.

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The Amazon is the largest river in the world by volume of water, and is believed to contain about 20% of all the Earth's fresh water.

A smaller stream that joins up with a river is known as a tributary. The point where the river and tributary join is called a confluence.


Most of the world's major cities are near or on major rivers. This is because rivers are an important means of transport, bringing goods and people into the city, as well as providing water.

The River Danube flows through four capital cities; Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary) and Belgrade (Serbia).


The Ganges in India is one of the most polluted waterways in the world. Nonetheless, about 450 million people who live on its banks depend on it for water.

Rivers begin on high ground and flow downwards until they empty into a larger body of water, such as a lake or sea.


A river flows down a channel. The land on each side is called the river bank. The base of the channel is called the river bed.

Dams are structures built across rivers to hold back the water. They can be used to generate hydro electricity, as well as to prevent flooding or to form a reservoir.


The largest dam in the world is the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Hubei Province, China. It can hold back 19 billion cubic metres of water!

There are many words for a small river, including brook, stream, beck, branch, burn, runnel and rindle.


The start of a river is called the source, and the end is called the mouth. Some British place names, such as Exmouth in Devon, show that the town is on the mouth of a river.

The longest river in Britain is the Severn, which is 220 miles (54 kilometres) long, from the source in Wales to the Severn Estuary near Bristol.


An estuary is the tidal mouth of a large river. They are the point where river and sea meet; fresh and sea water mix together, making brackish water. Many animals and plants depend on this habitat for survival.

A river delta is a fan shaped area, where sediment has built up at the mouth of the river. The River Nile has a famous delta. The sediment makes very fertile land for farming.


A river flows downstream, away from the source and towards the mouth. Upstream means opposite to the current's flow, going towards the source.

Waterfalls occur where a river flows over a steep incline. The tallest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls in Venezuela. The water falls an amazing 985 metres (3,230 feet) in total.


The area around a river that floods when the river is too full (for example, after very heavy rain or high tides) is called the flood plain.

Rivers shape the land around them by erosion. As it flows, the force of the water wears away the banks and carries rocks along. Over millions of years the river gets bigger and bigger, forming a valley.


Water wheels harness the flow of the river to drive machinery. People used to build mills on rivers and use the water wheel to turn the grinding equipment.


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The Nile is the longest river in the world, measuring ... · A river delta is a fan shaped area, where sediment has built up at the mouth of the river. The River Nile has a famous