How will you define River? A stream of flowing water towards the ocean, lake or you can say another river. But the fact is that the importance of the river is not only confined to this definition. There are lot many interesting things will come into your mind when you think about rivers. Let me share what came to my mind when I hear rivers, the first thing is that they are lifelines for flora and fauna on planet Earth. Let me tell you the name of the longest river in the world, its Nile river. It has a total length of 6,650 and covers total 11 countries during its course. Now you will think, how we will measure the width of the river? Rivers have far more wide importance on human life than we think, they help in shaping much civilization. They are also one of the important transportation media during early civilization. If you are aware of History most of the civilization formed around the rivers itself.
We are sure you have not heard most of the fact about rivers that we will be listing today, let us give you an overview first, Diamonds are found along the bottom of rivers. They were not mined in the past. Now this one is surprising, there is one more river called Rio Hamza which flows beneath the river Amazon. Amazon is the second-longest river in the world after the Nile covering over 6,400 kilometers during its course. You will be shocked to know that there is a river in Thailand called Mekong River from which fireballs erupt every year called Naga fireballs. These fireballs are known as Naga fireballs. Science says that it is the result of methane gas. Moon has its own effects on rivers, during the full moon, big tidal waves erupt in Amazon river every day for three weeks. It is also a good time for the surfers who are known to surf over it for approximately 10 KM. The oldest river known in the United States is called the New River. There are many scientists and researchers who believe the only old river beside this will be the Nile River in Africa.
Martin Strel of Slovenia has a record of swimming full length of Mississippi, Yangtze, Amazon, and Danube rivers. The first human-made bridge over the Amazon river called the Rio Negro was opened back in 2010. We all know that rivers are there are on every continent, however, there are total 17 countries in the world that don’t have any rivers. Out of all the Saudi Arabia is the biggest. Here are the facts about rivers you probably didn’t know,
Fact About Rivers
Now, let me list a few more fact about rivers that you all should know,
1. London has approximately 20 hidden rivers that flow beneath its streets.
2. Germany has built water bridges on the Elbe river which allows ships to cross the river.
3. The Amazon river has a greater volume of water compared to the next 7 biggest rivers combined.
Also Read: 10 Most Important Rivers in the World
4. The New Madrid Earthquake, considered to be the most powerful Earthquake of US history. It was so strong that it reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.
5. The Hudson River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Scientists study evolutionary processes as of how the eater organism learning to adapt to its water.
6. The Cuyahoga River in Ohio is so polluted that it itself lit fire 13 times in a row!
7. We have turned the direction of the Chicago River in the 20th century. Now it flows in the opposite direction.
8. A river divides one of the safest cities in North America (El Paso, Texas) from one of the most dangerous Juarez located in Mexico.
Also Read: 10 Longest Rivers In The World
9. The Imjin River in South Korea is also called the “river of the dead” because thousands of bodies of North Koreans have come floating down it.
10. The Catatumbo River in Venezuela receives hundreds of lightning strikes every hour. This is happening almost half of the year and 10 hours every day. The phenomena are happening continuously for hundreds of years.
11. The most expensive photo that was ever auctioned was $4.3 million. The photo is of the Rhine river called as Rhein II. The photo is mostly photoshopped.
12. Approximately, 20 rivers hidden underneath London.
13. The first bridge of Amazon rain systems was over 6000 km long and situated over the Rio Negro opened on 10 October 2010 near Manaus, Brazil.
14. The mouth of Catatumbo River in Venezuela approximately receives 280 lightning strikes per hour i.e 10 hours every day that too for up to 160 days a year. The phenomena are going for centuries.
Also read: Top 10 Longest Rivers in India
15. Hundreds of fireballs erupt in the Mekong river in Thailand from the surface of the river. The local people have believed a mythical serpent called Naga spits fire from the water. The natural phenomena are known as Naga fireballs.
