Quiz on Rivers of the World

Which river flows through the Egyptian capital, Cairo?

• The Nile ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Amazon
• The Congo
• The Danube

Source: The Nile sustained ancient Egypt, and 95% of Egyptians still live along its narrow green banks.

On which river does the city of London sit?

• The Severn
• The Thames ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Seine
• The Mersey

Source: The Thames was once so dirty it caused the 1858 'Great Stink' that shut down Parliament.

Which river is most associated with the city of Paris?

• The Loire
• The Rhône
• The Seine ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Rhine

Source: The Seine splits around two islands, and Paris itself was founded on one of them, the Île de la Cité.

Which river forms much of the border between the United States and Mexico?

• The Colorado
• The Rio Grande ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Mississippi
• The Pecos

Source: Mexicans call this same river the Río Bravo, meaning 'fierce river'.

Which South American river carries the most water of any river on Earth?

• The Paraná
• The Orinoco
• The Amazon ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Río de la Plata

Source: The Amazon discharges more water than the next seven largest rivers combined.

Which major river runs through the German city of Cologne?

• The Rhine ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Elbe
• The Danube
• The Main

Source: The Rhine carries more cargo than any other river in Europe, linking Switzerland to the North Sea.

Which sacred river flows through the Indian city of Varanasi?

• The Indus
• The Brahmaputra
• The Yamuna
• The Ganges ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Millions of Hindus bathe in the Ganges believing its waters wash away their sins.

Which river flows through Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade?

• Sava
• Danube ✓ (Correct answer)
• Tisza
• Vistula

Source: The Danube passes through four national capitals, more than any other river on Earth.

Which African river is famous for its annual flood pulse and Victoria Falls?

• The Niger
• The Zambezi ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Congo
• The Limpopo

Source: Victoria Falls is locally called Mosi-oa-Tunya, 'the smoke that thunders'.

Which river drains the largest basin of any river in North America?

• The Mississippi ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Yukon
• The St. Lawrence
• The Colorado

Source: The Mississippi basin gathers water from 31 US states and two Canadian provinces.

Which river carves the Grand Canyon in Arizona?

• The Colorado ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Rio Grande
• The Snake
• The Gila

Source: The Colorado spent roughly six million years cutting the mile-deep Grand Canyon.

Which river is traditionally called the cradle of Chinese civilization?

• The Pearl River
• The Yellow River ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Yalu River
• The Liao River

Source: The Yellow River's fertile loess plains nurtured early Chinese dynasties, earning it the name 'Mother River'.

Which Southeast Asian river flows through China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam?

• The Irrawaddy
• The Mekong ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Salween
• The Chao Phraya

Source: The Mekong's catch makes it the world's most productive inland fishery.

Which river is the longest in Europe?

• The Danube
• The Volga ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Rhine
• The Dnieper

Source: The Volga empties into the landlocked Caspian Sea, not an ocean.

Which river has the second-largest discharge in the world, after the Amazon?

• The Yangtze
• The Ganges
• The Congo ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Orinoco

Source: The Congo is also the world's deepest river, plunging to over 220 metres in places.

Which is the longest river that lies entirely within one country?

• The Yangtze ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Volga
• The Ganges
• The Mekong

Source: The Yangtze runs over 6,300 km without ever leaving China, the longest single-nation river.

Into which body of water does the Colorado River now barely reach?

• Gulf of Mexico
• Pacific Ocean
• Gulf of California ✓ (Correct answer)
• Great Salt Lake

Source: So much water is diverted for cities and farms that the Colorado often dries up before the sea.

Which two rivers framed ancient Mesopotamia, the 'land between the rivers'?

• Nile and Jordan
• Tigris and Euphrates ✓ (Correct answer)
• Indus and Ganges
• Volga and Don

Source: 'Mesopotamia' literally means 'between rivers' in Greek, naming the Tigris and Euphrates.

Which river's delta gave the world the word 'delta' for its triangular shape?

• The Ganges
• The Mississippi
• The Nile ✓ (Correct answer)
• The Mekong

Source: Herodotus named the Nile's fan-shaped mouth after the triangular Greek letter delta.

Which river feeds the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland?

• The Orinoco
• The Paraná
• The Paraguay ✓ (Correct answer)
• The São Francisco

Source: The Paraguay River's seasonal overflow floods the Pantanal, a wetland larger than England spanning Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.