Top 10 Most Powerful Rivers in the World




10. Mekong River


9. Lena River


8. Parana River



7. Yenisey River


6. Mississippi River


5. Brahmaputra River


4. Yangtze River


3. Orinoco River


2. Congo River


1. Amazon River


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  1. sie koennten versuchen sich hier on

    Der Beweis folgt prompt ein paar Tage sp?ter auf der Homepage .

  2. Pius N Mwita on

    I was watching Video on your TOPTENZ Rivers and they are very interesting.
    I really like them. I would like to know how much the price and how can
    I buy them from. Please kindly let me know.

  3. What about the Zambezi in Mozambique, Zambia & Zimbabwe? Had read somewhere that with its crazy rapids, biggest Victoria Falls waterfall in the world, it’s the most powerful in the world.

    Also no rivers from Europe & Australia could make your list, huh?

  4. Length or width are not measures of what makes a river “powerful”. It is the rate of flow.

    Most of the rivers listed above are very wide with very sluggish water flow.

    The most ‘powerful’ river in the world is probably the Niagara.

    • Steve Mitchell on

      Just before the Drop, known as Niagara Falls, the river is said to be about 4 feet deep, and the current at least 35 miles per hour. Thus swimming is banned nearby — too dangerous.

      However, approximately 100 years ago, the Niagara River actually dried up during a long drought. So it can’t be that powerful, except at the Falls.

      My home is on the St. Marys River, connecting Lake Superior to Lake Huron. The upper 4 Great Lakes are drained by the Niagara, as we all know. However the flow past my home is very very slow, and actually we have a small daily fluctuation in water levels, with a major seasonal high water level, and low water level. Again, if the Niagara was as powerful as we seem to think, my beachfront would have a much faster current, even though I’m hundreds of miles upstream. It is said that the water in the St. Marys takes 3 full days to arrive at Niagara Falls. So the powerful flow at the Falls is very deceiving to us.

      • Yes, I probably should have noted that the Niagara may once have been the most powerful flowing river, except that its flow has been largely diverted. The current rate at the falls is about one fourth of the natural flow. This has been done to reduce the rate of erosion. The Niagara Falls could cease to exist within a very short geological period (only a few hundred years) if it weren’t for the diversion. I suppose that within the context of this article, the Niagara can no longer be considered the most powerful flowing river in the world, because its flow has been reduced by human intervention to save the Niagara Falls from extinction.

  5. 5. Brahmaputra River
    How can you say that it is situated in Faridabad of Bangladesh when the fact is that it is flowing through 3 countries, Tibbet, India and Bangladesh.
    It has several names not just Brahmaputra River. Like, in Tibbet it is named as Tsangpo, entering India, in Arunachal Pradesh (A state of India) it is named as Dihong, IN Assam (Another state of India) it is called Brahmaputra (means the Son of God Brahma), in Bangladesh it is named as Yamuna and after merging with Ganga, it is named as Padma.

    Over all a nice story to read. Thanks for sharing.

  6. Where did you get this information from? You said that the Mississippi is the second longest in the USA? The Mississippi is 3710 miles long, not 2340. It is also the third longest river in the world after only the Nile and the Amazon. So, based on your post, what river in the US is longer than the Mississippi?

    • Source is, which states, “…there are competing claims as to the Mississippi’s length. The staff of Itasca State Park at the Mississippi’s headwaters say the river is 2,552 miles long. The US Geologic Survey has published a number of 2,300 miles, the EPA says it is 2,320 miles long, and the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area suggests the river’s length is 2,350 miles.” It seems no one can agree.

      The Missouri river is listed as being 2,540 miles long. So it depends who you ask, I guess. We can agree though that the Mississippi is one of the top 10 most powerful and useful rivers in the world, yes?

  7. Hello, I really enjoyed reading all the information about the rivers of the world, someday I would like to be able to travel and see some of them. Siberia has always called me for an adventure. I only have one question though. What about the Piscataqua river along the banks of Maine and New Hampshire, USA. I aways thought that its currents were the second strongest in the world ? Thank you, Brad

  8. Interesting, but engineering ability is not the reason that a bridge cannot be built to cross the Amazon. There simply isn’t the economic need for one. And why would depth be a reason to not swim in a body of water?

  9. After descending from the Andes, the Amazon River is joined by the waters of over 1100 tributaries until it becomes a liquid mass of unimaginable proportions. Stretching for 6762 km, it is the longest and widest river, with the greatest volume of water in the world. In Peru, it drains some 956 751 km2 and close to 900 species of fish have been identified in its waters. To see pictures of the Amazon River and the Pacaya Samiria Reserve you must visit

  10. "if you’re thinking about going for a swim in the Amazon, think again!"¨

    Why don't you tell that to Martin Strel a 52 year old who spent 66 days swimming the entire amazon.

    Some of his other endeavours were the Missisipi, The Yahtze river etc..

  11. Hi – I am an Instructional Technology Specialist and am creating a project for our fourth graders on the great explorers. Could I please have your permission to link to the picture of the Mississippi?


  12. Paulo Portugal on

    The wave that you saw in Amazonas is the Pororoca Wave and happens one time for year and was caused by the moon…

  13. I,apreciate the services provided,to me i like touring and seeing geographical features. They do intrest me because it's one way of learning creation and how beings came into existance.

  14. The waters of the Parana River is also the main power for the Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant, currently the biggest hydroelectric plant in the world.

  15. I think that brahmaptra is the world best river cause its natural beauty is outstanding if u don't see it then u can't bealive it. I saw its beauty thats why i toll about its self.