The fastest rivers in the world and in Russia

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Rivers are short and long, wide and narrow. But all of them are united by the fact that they are a water stream that originates from the source and ends at the mouth (lake, sea or other body of water). Rivers are found all over the world and are an integral part of many people's lives. There is another common feature of all rivers. Because they are a water stream, it necessarily has a water current, and its speed for each river is different and depends on many external factors. For example, from time of year. Consider in our article what are the fastest rivers in Russia and in the world as a whole.

Lena

There are a lot of different rivers in Russia. Lena is the fastest of them. It flows through Siberia and flows into the Laptev Sea in the Arctic Ocean. Its speed reaches 1-2 meters per second. An interesting fact is that this river is also the longest in Russia. Its length is 4400 kilometers. It even ranks among the ten longest rivers in the world. The river still boasts 8th place in the world ranking for full flow.

Unfortunately, the power of this river has its negative consequences. During periods when Lena warms up,that is, in summer and spring, it becomes faster and reaches its peak of full flow. In 2007, the river flooded about a thousand houses, and the flood itself affected 12 cities.

Yenisei

And this river is also considered one of the fastest and longest. The Yenisei ranks fifth in the world in length (about 3,500 kilometers). Like the Lena, this river flows mainly through Siberia, but its beginning and source are in Mongolia. The Yenisei flows into the Arctic Ocean.

This is a fast river, at times its speed reaches 1-2 meters per second - in summer and spring. Residents of villages and cities, which are covered by the Yenisei, sometimes complain about floods. In this regard, the river is similar to the Lena.

Perhaps, on these most high-speed rivers of Russia, you can complete the list. Despite the great abundance of reservoirs and streams, most of them are flat. That is why the flow velocity is rather small even for relatively large fast rivers. In the Rostov region, for example, the speed of the Don fluctuates on average from 0.5 to 0.9 m/s.

Amazon

This river, located in South America, is a champion in many ways. The Amazon is the deepest, widest, longest and fastest river in the world! The depth of some of its places reaches 135 meters, the width sometimes reaches 200 kilometers, and its length is 7000 km. As for the speed, the current of the Amazon can reach about 4.5-5 meters per second, or, in other words, it is 15 kilometers per hour. During the rainy season, this figure may increase.

This incredible South American river has a phenomenon called reverse flow. It occurs when water flows back at a speed of 7 m / s, and not into the ocean, because it does not allow it to be done due to the tide. As a rule, such a "collision" causes waves up to 5 meters high. It is also interesting that the tide stops at a distance of 1.5 kilometers and dissipates. This phenomenon is called "pororoka", which means "thundering water".

Congo

The largest, most powerful and fastest river in West and Central Africa. On the entire continent, in length, equal to more than 4000 km, it is second only to the Nile. Its other name is Zaire. In terms of water content, the Congo ranks second after the Amazon.

This is a very dangerous and fast river, the waters of which have a very large number of waterfalls and rapids. The average water flow is 41,800 m³/s. The current is very fast and dangerous, but in some places it is calm. At times, the Congo is very unpredictable and causes flooding.

Yangtze

This river is the longest and fastest not only in China and Asia in general, but throughout Eurasia! Its length is 6,000 kilometers, which puts the Yangtze in third place in the world in terms of length, and fourth in terms of power. She, like many of the above full-flowing, powerful and fast rivers, can overflow its banks and destroy everything in its path. However, this usually happens once for several months of calm and calm.

Mississippi

And now let's move on to North America. The Mississippi is the most powerful, deepest and most full-flowing river in the United States of America. It is also the second longest after the Missouri. Its length is 3770 kilometers. At certain times of the year, the river sometimes overflows its banks and floods settlements, and people have to be evacuated.

As a conclusion, let's summarize. No matter how fast the rivers are, it should be borne in mind that at different times of the year and depending on the place, the speed of the current may change. There are many fast rivers all over the world, but as a rule, the longer and fuller they are, the faster. Above we have considered only some of them.