Worlds Great River Systems

1
Worlds Great River Systems

• Explorers Club
• Ray Jackson

2
Five Great River Systems

• Nile Africa
• Amazon South America
• Yangtze (Chang Jiang) China
• Mississippi Missouri United States
• Ob Irtysh Russia

3
Nile

• White Nile starts at Lake Victoria, Uganda
• Blue Nile starts at Lake Tana, Ethiopia
• Join at Khartoum, Sudan to form the Nile
• Flows south to north through Egypt
• Empties into the Mediterranean Sea
• Supplies fresh water the countries in the Nile
  River Basin

4
Amazon

• Starts high in the Andes mountains
• Flows west to east across northern South America
• Empties into the Atlantic Ocean
• Most important river in South America
• Contains about 50 of the worlds species
• Contains about 20 of the worlds fresh water

5
Yangtze (Chang Jiang)

• Starts in the Kunlun Mountains, China
• Flows west to east across central China
• Empties into the East China Sea near Shanghai
• Longest river in China
• Provides huge hydroelectric capacity
• Three Gorges dam is largest generator of
  electricity in the world

6
Mississippi Missouri

• Mississippi River starts in northern Minnesota
• Missouri River starts in the Rocky Mountains
• Join north of St. Louis, MO
• Empties into the Gulf of Mexico
• Worlds third longest river system
• Working river system used for transportation and
  shipping

7
Ob Irtysh

• Ob starts in south-central Siberia, Russia
• Irtysh starts in the Mongolian Altai mountains
• Largest river system in Asia
• Join in western Siberia
• Flows northwest then east
• Empties into the Arctic Ocean
• Parts are frozen several months of the year

8
Sources

• Rivers of Life, Hamline University Center for
  Global Environmental Education, 2001,
  http//cgee.hamline.edu/rivers/ (accessed May 2,
  2006).
• The Living Africa, ThinkQuest Library, 1998,
  http//library.thinkquest.org/16645/the_land/nile_
  river.shtml (accessed May 2, 2006).

9
Sources

• Rebecca Lindsey, Amazonia, NASA Earth
  Observatory, December 31, 2002,
  http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/LBA/
  (accessed May 2, 2006).
• Ob, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed., 2000,
  http//www.questia.com/PM.qst?aod8169789
  (accessed May 2, 2006).

10
Sources

• Irtysh River, Wikipedia, April 7, 2004,
  http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irtysh_River
  (accessed May 2, 2006).