Do any rivers run south to north?

Most rivers in the world flow downhill, often South, due to gravity. The Nile River is an exception to this rule, flowing from South to North. Other rivers have the ability to flow different directions due to where sloping occurs away from their headwaters.



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Women and Children on the Banks of the Nile. Even today, families come to the banks of the Nile River to gather water for their day, against the backdrop of ancient Egyptian ruins. The Nile River flows from south to north through eastern Africa.

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According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, four of the world's 10 longest rivers flow generally northward: the Nile, the Mackenzie-Peace (in Canada) the Ob and the Lena (in Siberia). In fact, NASA says that there are rivers flowing north on every continent.

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Other rivers that flow south to north include: St. John's River in Florida, the San Joaquin River in California, the Red River running through several southern states, the Shennandoah in Virginia and West Virginia, the Ob, Yenisey and Lena Rivers in Russia, and the Mackenzie River in Canada, to name just a few.

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There is absolutely nothing weird about a river flowing north. Rivers flow in one direction all over the world, and that direction is downhill. Across the central and eastern United States, it is rare for rivers to flow north because the slope of the land is toward the south and east.

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It always does — right? But under Antarctica's ice, water can sometimes run uphill. Under the right conditions, a whole river can spurt from one lake uphill to another lake. That's because the ice weighs so much that it presses down on the water with thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch.

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Florida is the only state that has two rivers that have the same name. There is a Withlacoochee River in Madison County and a Withlacoochee River located in central Florida.

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Northern America The Missouri River is the longest river in North America and the United States (2,341 mi (3,767 km)). The second longest river in North America and the United States is the Mississippi River (2,320 mi (3,730 km)).

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Why the Tonle Sap River Is Unlike Any Other River in the World. In this week's Maphead column, Ken Jennings explains how one river in Cambodia ends up changing direction a few times every year.

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Over millions of years, much of this water is recycled between the inner Earth, the oceans and rivers, and the atmosphere. This cycling process means that freshwater is constantly made available to Earth's surface where we all live. Volcanoes release massive amounts of water from the inner Earth to the atmosphere.

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Water always flows down to the sea, and the land slopes downward through the Great Lakes Basin from west to east, but the Niagara River actually flows north. Today, less than one percent of the water of the Great Lakes is renewable on an annual basis (precipitation and groundwater).

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The most famous river that flows north is also the longest river in the world: the Nile, which passes through 11 different countries in northeastern Africa. The river's principal tributaries are the White Nile and the Blue Nile.

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A more precise total should consist of thousands of rivers. It is safe to say that over 250 major rivers in the world actually flow north.

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Water flows in the path of least resistance – there are rivers and tributaries all over the world that flow east, west, north, and south. The St. Johns flows north because its headwaters are a mere 27 feet higher in elevation than where it ends – dropping approximately one inch per mile over the course of 310 miles.

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The Yellowstone River flows northward through Yellowstone National Park, feeding and draining Yellowstone Lake, then dropping over the Upper and Lower Yellowstone Falls at the head of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone within the confines of the park.

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All rivers flow to the ocean Except for the driest deserts, every place on Earth has a connection to the ocean through a river. Even the highest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest, is connected to the sea by flowing water. Because of their connectivity, rivers gave rise to human civilization.

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The Mississippi River rises in Lake Itasca in Minnesota and ends in the Gulf of Mexico. It covers a total distance of 2,340 miles (3,766 km) from its source. The Mississippi River is the longest river of North America.

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