Rivers, Lakes, Bodies of Water

Yangtze River (Chang Jiang)

It rises in the Kunlun Mountains, flows across the Tibetan Plateau, passes the cities of Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai, and empties into the South China Sea. Its basin is China's granary and is home to nearly a third of Chinese citizens. The river is dammed by the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest, which reduced flooding but displaced 1.5 million people and buried over 1,300 known archaeological sites.

Yellow River

It rises in Qinghai province and flows into the Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea. The river's name comes from the extraordinary amount of loess silt that it carries, an average of 57 pounds for every cubic yard of water.

Mekong River

It originates in eastern Tibet, forms much of the Laos-Thailand border, flows south through Cambodia, and enters the South China Sea in southern Vietnam just south of Ho Chi Minh City. The capital cities Vientiane and Phnom Penh are on this river.

Ganges River

It rises in the Himalayas and flows a comparatively short 1,560 miles to the world's largest delta, on the Bay of Bengal. Among that delta's distributaries are the Hooghly (on whose banks Kolkata — formerly Calcutta — may be found) and the Padma (which enters Bangladesh)

Brahmaputra River

This river runs 1,800 miles from its source in the Tibetan Himalayas; it starts eastward across the plateau, then turns south into the Indian state of Assam, and then enters Bangladesh, where it merges with the Ganges to form the world's largest delta. While serving as a historical route to Tibet, the river is also prone to disastrous flooding.

Tigris River

Defines the Eastern border of Mesopotamia. Flows through Baghdad.

Euphrates River

Defines the Western border of Mesopotamia. Rises in the Zagros Mountains of Turkey.

Jordan River

rises in Syria from springs near Mount Hermon. It flows south to Lake Merom, through the Sea of Galilee, and into the Dead Sea, which is 1,300 feet below sea level.

Nile River

White and blue type of this river. Headwaters are lake Victoria and Burundi. At Aswan High Dam it forms Lake Nasser.

Congo River

Flows counterclockwise to the Atlantic. Africa's second longest river.

Niger River

Flows clockwise before entering the Gulf of Guinea. Africa's 3rd longest river.

Lake Victoria

This lake lies along the equator. It's shared among Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. 2nd largest freshwater lake in the world.

Lake Tanganyika

2nd deepest lake in the world. Shared by Tanzania, DRC, Burundi and Zambia. 2nd largest African lake.

Lake Malawi

Between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. Africa's 3rd largest lake.

Mississippi River

Referred as the "father of waters". Begins in Lake Itasca, Minnesota. Flows into the Gulf of Mexico.

Colorado River

Begins in the Rocky Mountain National Park. Forms many canyons including the Grand Canyon. Flows into the Gulf of California.

Ohio River

Forms the border between Northern and Southern United States. Flows through Cincinnati, Louisville and Evansville.

Columbia River

Forms from the Rocky mountains in British Columbia. Creates much of the Washington, Oregon border.

Missouri River

Starts in Montana and flows past the Dakotas. Flows through Kansas city before meeting the Mississippi River in St.Louis.

Mackenzie River

This river flows out of the Great Slave Lake to the Beaufort Sea. This river is the longest in Canada.

Rio Grande

Forms the border between Mexico and Texas. This river flows south out of Colorado.

Rhine River

This river begins in the Swiss Alps. Important in German conflicts. This river passes through Lake Constance.

Danube River

This river begins in Germany's Black Forest. This river passes through Vienna, Budapest and Belgrade.

Volga River

longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea.

Ob River

in western Siberia, and with its tributary the Irtysh forms the world's seventh-longest river system, at 5,410 kilometres. origins in the Altai Mountains

Amur River

Forms the border between Russia and China

Lena River

Longest River in Russia

Irawaddy River

to the Gulf of Martaban, an arm of the Bay of Bengal. Its delta is one of the world's most important rice-growing regions, and its name is thought to come from the Sanskrit word for "elephant." Chief river of Myanmar/Burma.

Indus River

Rises in Tibet, and flows into the Arabian Sea. Southeast of Karachi. Flows through the Punjab region.

St. Lawrence River

emerges from the northeastern corner of Lake Ontario in the Thousand Islands archipelago, forming the border between Ontario and New York. Flows through Montréal and Quebec City

Hudson River

flows 315 miles through eastern New York state. flows past New York's capital, Albany, and West Point before forming the boundary between Manhattan and New Jersey

Red River

forms most of the border between Oklahoma and Texas. runs through the Louisiana cities Shreveport and Alexandria before emptying into the Mississippi south of Natchez, Mississippi.

Snake River

Rising in Yellowstone National Park, Flowing through Pocatello and Boise, forms much of the border between Idaho and Oregon,

Delaware River

source in the Catskills, forming the border between Delaware and New Jersey. flows past Trenton, New Jersey and Philadelphia, empties into the Atlantic

Potomac River

Rising at Fairfax Stone in West Virginia, forming the border between Virginia and Maryland.

Zambezi River

rises in eastern Angola, passes through Zambia, flows along the borders of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe, crosses through Mozambique, and enters the Indian Ocean's Mozambique Channel

Limpopo River

Rising as the Crocodile (or Krokodil) River in South Africa's Witwatersrand region, it forms the Transvaal's border with Botswana and Zimbabwe,

Okavango River

from central Angola, through Namibia's Caprivi Strip, and into the Kalahari Desert of Botswana.

Lake Volta

Largest man-made lake by area.

Lake Chad

reduced by over 90% since the 1960s due to diversion of water from Chari River. The lake is at the intersection of Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria

Seine River

a French river that flows through the heart of Paris and then northward into the English Channel

Tagus River

Principle river of the Iberian peninsula. Passing through Lisbon.

Rhone River

originates in the Swiss Alps and flows into Lake Geneva. enters the sea just west of Marseille.

Po

Italy's longest river

Lorie

France's longest river

Shannon River

Ireland's longest river

Oder

forms Polish-German river. One of the largest rivers to enter the Baltic sea

Elbe

Rising in the Krkonose Mountains of the Sudetenland in the Czech Republic, the river flows near Prague

Thames River

Flows through central London. Principal river of England