Great Rivers of the World Quiz

The Nile River in Africa stretches approximately 4,130 miles (6,650 km), making it widely recognized as the world's longest river. It flows northward through northeastern Africa into the Mediterranean Sea.

The Amazon River runs through South America, primarily through Brazil, and is the world's largest river by volume of water — it carries more water than any other river on Earth.

The Nile has flowed through Egypt for thousands of years, and ancient Egyptian civilization depended on its annual floods to fertilize farmland. It remains a vital water source for Egypt today.

The Mississippi River travels roughly 2,340 miles from northern Minnesota all the way south to the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. It is one of the most important rivers in North American history.

The Volga River in Russia stretches about 2,193 miles (3,530 km), making it the longest river in Europe. It flows southward through western Russia and drains into the Caspian Sea.

The Yangtze River, stretching about 3,917 miles through China, is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world. The famous Three Gorges Dam was built across the Yangtze.

The Rio Grande runs about 1,900 miles and forms the entire southern border of Texas with Mexico. Its name means 'Big River' in Spanish, and it flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Danube flows through ten countries — Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine — before emptying into the Black Sea. No other river in the world crosses so many national borders.

Victoria Falls sits on the Zambezi River, on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The local name 'Mosi-oa-Tunya' means 'the smoke that thunders,' and Scottish explorer David Livingstone named it after Queen Victoria in 1855.

St. Louis, Missouri sits just downstream of the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, which is why it became such an important hub for westward expansion in the 1800s. The famous Gateway Arch stands on the Mississippi near this historic meeting point.

Babylon, one of the great cities of the ancient world, was built on the banks of the Euphrates River in what is now Iraq. The Euphrates and the nearby Tigris River together defined the region known as Mesopotamia, meaning 'the land between two rivers.'

The Amazon River carries more water than any other river on Earth — roughly 20% of all the freshwater that flows into the world's oceans comes from the Amazon. Its flow is about five times greater than the next largest river.

The River Thames flows through the heart of London, England, and has been central to the city's history for over 2,000 years. Famous landmarks along its banks include Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, and the Tower of London.

Washington's daring crossing of the icy Delaware River on Christmas night 1776 led to a crucial American victory at the Battle of Trenton. This bold move turned the tide of the Revolutionary War and boosted American morale at a desperate moment.

The Ob-Irtysh system stretches over 3,350 miles through western Siberia in Russia, making it one of the longest river systems in the world. It drains into the Ob Gulf, which connects to the Arctic Ocean.