What is the only river in the world that flows backwards?
In this week's Maphead, Ken Jennings explores how a canal changed the river's flow from north to south.
People Also Ask
Did you know? Illinois is home to the only river in the world that flows backwards. The Chicago River, known mainly for the different colors it is dyed to celebrate different events and holidays, has been a hallmark of Chicago since the earliest days of the city.
Another common misconception is that only two world's rivers, St. Johns River (US) and River Nile (Africa), flow north. The truth is that the two rivers are examples of the many rivers that flow northwards. However, the exact number of the northward-flowing rivers has not been established.
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.
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.
Key Points: 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.
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.
There are countless examples of rivers flowing northward. Some of the most famous are the world's longest river the Nile, along with Russia's Ob, Lena, and Yenisey Rivers. The Red River in the U.S. and Canada and Florida's St. Johns River also flow north.
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.
All rivers flow to the oceanExcept 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.
The Mississippi River watershed is the fourth largest in the world, extending from the Allegheny Mountains in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. The Amazon for comparison drains about 7.1 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles).
The Everglades is the world's slowest-moving river. When rain fills Lake Okeechobee, in south-central Florida, the lake overflows into the 50-foot wide, 1.5 million acre water filtration system and flows about one meter an hour toward the Gulf of Mexico, at the southern tip of the Sunshine State.
Amazon RiverThe river cuts across South America and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Its watersheds span the countries of Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru. With a mind-boggling average discharge of 209,000 m³/s, it sets the record as the world's largest river by volume.
Bangladesh has the highest number of rivers (about 700) and is known as the 'land of rivers'. Some major Rivers of Bangladesh are: Brahmaputra, Ganges, Suma, Atrai, Raidak, Mahananda, Teesta, Karnaphuli, Meghna and Bangshi among others.