World Rivers, Seas, lakes, and waterfalls

Question 1

Rhine

Answer 1

River and waterway of western Europe, culturally and historically one of the great rivers of the continent and among the most important arteries of industrial transport in the world. It flows from two small headways in the Alps of east-central Switzerland north and west to the North Sea, into which it drains through the Netherlands. The length of the Rhine was long given as 820 miles

Question 2

Thames

Answer 2

River Thames, ancient Tamesis or Tamesa, also called (in Oxford, England) River Isis, chief river of southern England. Rising in the Cotswold Hills, its basin covers an area of approximately 5,500 square miles (14,250 square km). The traditional source at Thames Head, which is dry for much of the year, is marked by a stone in a field 356 feet (108.5 metres) above sea level and 3 miles (5 km) southwest of the town of Cirencester

Question 3

Famous ships

Answer 3

a

Question 4

Yellow river

Answer 4

Huang He, Wade-Giles romanization Huang Ho, also spelled Hwang Ho, English Yellow River , principal river of northern China, often called the cradle of Chinese civilization. It is the country’s second longest river, with a length of 3,395 miles (5,464 km), and its drainage basin is the third largest in China—an area of some 290,000 square miles (750,000 square km). The river rises in Qinghai province on the Plateau of Tibet and crosses six other provinces and two autonomous regions in its course to the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli), an embayment of the Yellow Sea. In its lower reaches it is a shifting, turbulent, silt-laden stream that often overflows its banks and sends floodwaters across the North China Plain. For this reason, it has been given such names as “China’s Sorrow” and “The Ungovernable.” The word huang (“yellow”) is a reference to the fine loess sediments that the river carries to the sea. The Huang He basin has an enormous population—exceeded by only a small number of countries—and the river and its tributaries flow past some of China’s oldest cities, including Lanzhou, Baotou, Xi’an (Sian), Taiyuan, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Jinan.

Question 5

Ganges river

Answer 5

Ganges River, Hindi Ganga, Brahmaputra River [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]great river of the plains of northern India. Although officially as well as popularly called the Ganga in Hindi and in other Indian languages, internationally it is known by its conventional name, the Ganges. From time immemorial it has been the holy river of Hinduism. For most of its course it is a wide and sluggish stream, flowing through one of the most fertile and densely populated regions in the world. Despite its importance, its length of 1,560 miles (2,510 km) is relatively short compared with the other great rivers of Asia or of the world.

Varanasi: morning prayer along Ganges [Credit: Gavin Hellier—Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images]Rising in the Himalayas and emptying into the Bay of Bengal, it drains a quarter of the territory of India, while its basin supports hundreds of millions of people. The Gangetic Plain, across which it flows, is the heartland of the region known as Hindustan and has been the cradle of successive civilizations from the Mauryan empire of Ashoka in the 3rd century bce down to the Mughal Empire, founded in the 16th century.

Question 6

Loire river

Answer 6

A

Question 7

Yarra river

Answer 7

Yarra River, river, south-central Victoria, Australia. It rises near Mount Matlock in the Eastern Highlands and flows westward for 153 miles (246 km) through the Upper Yarra Dam, past the towns of Warburton, Yarra Junction, and Warrandyte, to Melbourne. The river’s upper course traverses timber and dairy country; its mouth at Hobson’s Bay (at the head of Port Phillip Bay), formerly a swamp, was dredged to create the port of Melbourne. Development of the upper Yarra River basin is controlled by the New Yarra Valley Authority, created in 1977. The river was seen in 1803 by Charles Grimes during his survey of Port Phillip Bay, and its first settlement (1835) grew to become the city of Melbourne. The Yarra was once called Great, or Freshwater, River, and its present Aboriginal name means “running water.”

Question 8

Zambezi

Answer 8

A

Question 9

Danube river

Answer 9

D

Question 10

Volga

Answer 10

A

Question 11

Rhone

Answer 11

F

Question 12

Nile

Answer 12

D

Question 13

Yangtze

Answer 13

A

Question 14

Mekong

Answer 14

Vietnam

Question 15

Xian (Sian)

Answer 15

Xi’an, Wade-Giles romanization Hsi-an, also spelled Xian, conventional Sian, historically Chang’an, Chinese architecture: old city wall [Credit: Mike McQueen/Corbis]city and capital of Shaanxi sheng (province), north-central China. It is located in the south-central part of the province, at the southern limit of the Loess Plateau. The city site is on a low plain on the south bank of the Wei River. Just to the south the Qin (Tsingling) Mountains rise dramatically above the plain. The Xi’an region is one of the most important in the history of China, both as the capital of several ruling dynasties and as a market and trade centre. Xi’an was the eastern terminus of the Silk Road, the ancient trade route that connected China with the Mediterranean. Pop. (2006 est.) city, 3,094,267; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 4,009,000….

Question 16

Amazon River

Answer 16

Amazon River, Portuguese Rio Amazonas, Spanish Río Amazonas, also called Río Marañón and Rio Solimões, the greatest river of South America and the largest drainage system in the world in terms of the volume of its flow and the area of its basin. The total length of the river—as measured from the headwaters of the Ucayali-Apurímac river system in southern Peru—is at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km), which makes it slightly shorter than the Nile River but still the equivalent of the distance from New York City to Rome. Its westernmost source is high in the Andes Mountains, within 100 miles (160 km) of the Pacific Ocean, and its mouth is in the Atlantic Ocean, on the northeastern coast of Brazil. However, both the length of the Amazon and its ultimate source have been subjects of debate since the mid-20th century, and there are those who claim that the Amazon is actually longer than the Nile.

Question 17

Nile River

Answer 17

Nile River, Arabic Baḥr Al-Nīl or Nahr Al-Nīl, Nile River [Credit: © nicolas lecoz/Fotolia]Nile River basin [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]river, the father of African rivers and the longest river in the world. It rises south of the Equator and flows northward through northeastern Africa to drain into the Mediterranean Sea. It has a length of about 4,132 miles (6,650 kilometres) and drains an area estimated at 1,293,000 square miles (3,349,000 square kilometres). Its basin includes parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, and the cultivated part of Egypt. Its most distant source is the Kagera River in Burundi.

Blue Nile River [Credit: Jialiang Gao (www.peace-on-earth.org)]The Nile is formed by three principal streams: the Blue Nile (Arabic: Al-Baḥr Al-Azraq; Amharic: Abay) and the Atbara (Arabic: Nahr ʿAṭbarah), which flow from the highlands of Ethiopia, and the White Nile (Arabic: Al-Baḥr Al-Abyad), the headstreams of which flow into Lakes Victoria and Albert.

The name Nile is derived from the Greek Neilos (Latin: Nilus), which probably originated from the Semitic root naḥal, meaning a valley or a river valley and hence, by an extension of the meaning, a river. The fact that the Nile—unlike other great rivers known to them—flowed from the south north

Question 18

Jordan River

Answer 18

Jordan River, Arabic Nahr Al-Urdun, Hebrew Ha-Yarden, river with the lowest elevation in the world. It rises on the slopes of Mount Hermon, on the Syrian-Lebanese border, flows southward through northern Israel to the Sea of Galilee, and then divides Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank on the west from Jordan on the east before emptying into the Dead Sea at an elevation of about 1,312 feet (400 metres) below sea level. The Jordan is more than 223 miles (360 km) in length, but, because its course is meandering, the actual distance between its source and the Dead Sea is less than 124 miles (200 km).

Question 19

Sea of Galilee

Answer 19

Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Tiberias, Arabic Buḥayrat Ṭabarīyā, Hebrew Yam Kinneret, lake in Israel through which the Jordan River flows. From 1948 to 1967 it was bordered immediately to the northeast by the cease-fire line with Syria. It is famous for its biblical associations. Located 686 feet (209 m) below sea level, it has a surface area of 64 square miles (166 square km). The sea’s maximum depth, which occurs in the northeast, is 157 feet (48 m). Measuring 13 miles (21 km) from north to south and 7 miles (11 km) from east to west, it is pear-shaped. Its Old Testament name was Sea of Kinneret (Kinerot), but, after the exile of the Jews to Babylon in the 6th century bce, it was called the Lake of Gennesaret.

Question 20

Dead Sea

Answer 20

Dead Sea, Arabic Al-Baḥr al-Mayyit, Hebrew Yam HaMelaẖ, also known as Salt Sea, landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan, which lies some 1,300 feet (400 metres) below sea level—the lowest elevation and the lowest body of water on the surface of the Earth. Its eastern shore belongs to Jordan, and the southern half of its western shore belongs to Israel. The northern half of the western shore lies within the Palestinian West Bank and has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

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The Dead Sea lies between the hills of Judaea to the west and the Transjordanian plateaus to the east. The Jordan River flows from the north into the Dead Sea, which is 50 miles (80 km) long and attains a width of 11 miles

Question 21

Yarmuk River

Answer 21

The Yarmūk rises on a lava plateau in southwest Syria, near the Jordan frontier, and flows roughly southwestward to its confluence with the Jordan River. The Yarmūk is only 20 miles (32 km) long in a straight line, but because of the many convolutions in its course, the total length of the stream is about 50 miles (80 km). The river has cut through the resistant lava of the plateau to soft, chalky limestone beneath, creating a steep-walled gorge. The river basin has a warm, semiarid climate. In January, temperatures average above 41 °F (5 °C). In the summer months, temperatures may exceed 86 °F (30 °C). Rain falls mainly between October and March. The vegetation in this region is dominated by short grasses and drought-resistant scrub.

The Yarmūk was the site of the Battle of the Yarmūk River, one of the decisive battles in the history of Palestine. The Arabs, who under Khālid ibn al-Walīd had conquered Damascus in ad 635, were forced to leave the city when they were threatened by a large Byzantine army under Theodorus Trithurius. Khālid concentrated his forces south of the Yarmūk River, and on August 20, 636, he took advantage of the desertion of the Byzantines’ Armenian and Christian Arab auxiliaries and attacked the Byzantines’ remaining forces, who were almost completely destroyed. This victory marked the beginning of Muslim dominance in Palestine, which was broken only by the period of the Crusades (1099–1291) and lasted until World War I.

The Yarmūk River formerly provided hydroelectric power for Jordan, and its valley was the site of a branch railway, but successive Arab-Israeli wars and the accompanying territorial disputes have largely erased these economic developments.

After the Six-Day War of 1967, the government of Israel opened the lower Yarmūk River valley, with its fine scenery, hot springs, and interesting Roman ruins, to tourist traffic. The Ghawr ash-Sharqiyah (East Ghor) Canal, completed in 1966, diverts water from the Yarmūk to irrigate the eastern Jordan River valley in Jordan.

Question 22

Rio Grande

Answer 22

Rio Grande, Spanish Río Grande del Norte, or (in Mexico) Río Bravo, or Río Bravo del Norte , Mexico: Rio Grande River [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]fifth longest river of North America, and the 20th longest in the world, forming the border between the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico. Rising as a clear, snow-fed mountain stream more than 12,000 feet (3,700 metres) above sea level in the Rocky Mountains, the Rio Grande descends across steppes and deserts, watering rich agricultural regions as it flows on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The total length of the river is about 1,900 miles (3,060 kilometres).

The area within the entire watershed of the Rio Grande is some 336,000 square miles (870,000 square kilometres). Because a large proportion of the river’s basin is arid or semiarid, however, only about half of the total area, or about 176,000 square miles, actually contributes to the river’s flow.

Question 23

Seine River

Answer 23

Seine River, Seine River [Credit: © Tupungato/Shutterstock.com]Rhine River [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]river of France, after the Loire its longest. It rises 18 miles (30 kilometres) northwest of Dijon and flows in a northwesterly direction through Paris before emptying into the English Channel at Le Havre. The river is 485 miles (780 kilometres) long and with its tributaries drains an area of about 30,400 square miles (78,700 square kilometres). It is one of Europe’s great historic rivers, and its drainage network carries most of the French inland waterway traffic. Since the early Middle Ages it has been above all the river of Paris, and the mutual interdependence of the river and the city that was established at its major crossing points has been indissolubly forged. The fertile centre of its basin in the Île-de-France was the cradle of the French monarchy and the nucleus of the expanding nation-state and is still its heartland and metropolitan region

Question 24

Loire River

Answer 24

Loire River, longest river in France, rising in the southern Massif Central and flowing north and west for 634 miles (1,020 km) to the Atlantic Ocean, which it enters south of the Bretagne (Brittany) peninsula. Its major tributary is the Allier, which joins the Loire at Le Bec d’Allier. Its drains an area of about 45,000 square miles (117,000 square km). The picturesque valley is dotted with châteaus.

The river rises at about 4,500 feet (1,370 m) above sea level, at the foot of the Gerbier de Jonc in the Cévennes near the Mediterranean coast. In its upper course it flows through a succession of downfaulted, flat-floored basins set in the highlands of the Massif Central. Crossing them, its valley narrows to gorges. After being joined by the Allier, the greatly enlarged stream flows across the limestone platform of Berry, and its valley becomes only a slight groove.

Question 25

Tiber River

Answer 25

Tiber River, Italian Fiume Tevere, historic river of Europe and the second longest Italian river after the Po, rising on the slope of Monte Fumaiolo, a major summit of the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano. It is 252 miles (405 km) long. Twisting in a generally southerly direction through a series of scenic gorges and broad valleys, the Tiber flows through the city of Rome and enters the Tyrrhenian Sea of the Mediterranean near Ostia Antica. Its major tributaries are the Chiascio, Nestore, Paglia, Nera, and Aniene. Below Rome, the Tiber branches out into a delta, the main channel being the Fiumara, with the Fiumicino functioning as a distributary branch on the north side. Some ancient writers allege that it was known originally as Albula—a reference to the whiteness of its waters—but it was renamed Tiberis after Tiberinus, a king of Alba Longa (an area centred on Lago Albano, south of Rome) who was drowned in it.

Question 26

Po River

Answer 26

Po River, Latin Padus, longest river in Italy, rising in the Monte Viso group of the Cottian Alps on Italy’s western frontier and emptying into the Adriatic Sea in the east after a course of 405 miles (652 km). Its drainage basin covers 27,062 square miles (70,091 square km), forming Italy’s widest and most fertile plain.

Flowing eastward in its upper course, the Po is rapid and precipitous, descending about 5,500 feet (1,700 m) in its first 22 miles (35 km). Just west of Saluzzo the Po turns sharply northward, flows through Turin and skirts the Monferrato upland, then turns east at Chivasso and continues in a generally easterly course to its delta on the Adriatic.

Question 27

Strait of Gibraltar

Answer 27

Strait of Gibraltar, Latin Fretum Herculeum, channel connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, lying between southernmost Spain and northwesternmost Africa. It is 36 miles (58 km) long and narrows to 8 miles (13 km) in width between Point Marroquí (Spain) and Point Cires (Morocco). The strait’s western extreme is 27 miles (43 km) wide between the capes of Trafalgar (north) and Spartel (south), and the eastern extreme is 14 miles (23 km) wide between the Pillars of Heracles—which have been identified as the Rock of Gibraltar to the north and one of two peaks to the south: Mount Hacho (held by Spain), near the city of Ceuta, a Spanish exclave in Morocco; or Jebel Moussa (Musa), in Morocco. The strait is an important gap, averaging 1,200 feet (365 metres) in depth in the arc formed by the Atlas Mountains of North Africa and the high plateau of Spain.

Question 28

Strait of Magellan

Answer 28

Strait of Magellan, Spanish Estrecho de Magallanes, channel linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, between the mainland tip of South America and Tierra del Fuego island. Lying entirely within Chilean territorial waters, except for its easternmost extremity touched by Argentina, it is 350 miles (560 km) long and 2–20 miles (3–32 km) wide. It extends westward from the Atlantic between Cape Vírgenes and Cape Espíritu Santo, proceeds southwestward, and curves to the northwest at Froward Cape on the southern tip of Brunswick Peninsula to reach the Pacific Ocean after passing Cape Pillar on Desolación Island. The strait’s major port is Punta Arenas, on the Brunswick Peninsula; the port is a shipping point for Chilean mutton.

Question 29

Strait of Malacca

Answer 29

Strait of Malacca, waterway connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pacific Ocean). It runs between the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west and peninsular (West) Malaysia and extreme southern Thailand to the east and has an area of about 25,000 square miles (65,000 square km). The strait is 500 miles (800 km) long and is funnel-shaped, with a width of only 40 miles (65 km) in the south that broadens northward to some 155 miles (250 km) between We Island off Sumatra and the Isthmus of Kra on the mainland. The strait derived its name from the trading port of Melaka (formerly Malacca)—which was of importance in the 16th and 17th centuries—on the Malay coast.

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In the south of the strait, water depths rarely exceed 120 feet (37 metres) and are usually about 90 feet (27 metres). Toward the northwest, the bottom gradually deepens until it reaches to about 650 feet (200 metres) as the strait merges with the Andaman Basin. Numerous islets, some fringed by reefs and sand ridges, hinder passage at the southern entrance to the strait. The sand ridges are identified as accumulations of material that have been brought down by rivers from Sumatra.

Question 30

Strait of Dover

Answer 30

Strait of Dover, French Pas de Calais, Latin Gallicum Fretum, narrow water passage separating England (northwest) from France (southeast) and connecting the English Channel (southwest) with the North Sea (northeast). The strait is 18 to 25 miles (30 to 40 km) wide, and its depth ranges from 120 to 180 feet (35 to 55 metres). Until the comparatively recent geologic past (c. 5000 bce), the strait was an exposed river valley, thus making England an extension of the European continent. Because of the prevailing winds, the main flow of water through the strait is from the southwest, but a persistent northeast wind can reverse the current. The white cliffs on the British side, composed of soft chalk, are receding because of erosion. Although the strait is one of the world’s busiest seaways, a strict system of traffic lanes and navigation information became mandatory only in 1977.

Question 31

North Sea

Answer 31

North Sea, shallow, northeastern arm of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the British Isles and the mainland of northwestern Europe and covering an area of 220,000 square miles (570,000 square km). The sea is bordered by the island of Great Britain to the southwest and west, the Orkney and Shetland islands to the northwest, Norway to the northeast, Denmark to the east, Germany and the Netherlands to the southeast, and Belgium and France to the south. It is connected to the Atlantic by the Strait of Dover and the English Channel and opens directly onto the ocean between the Orkney and Shetland islands and between the Shetland Islands and Norway. The Skagerrak, an eastward extension of the North Sea between Norway and Denmark, connects the North and Baltic seas via the Kattegat and the Danish straits.

Question 32

English Channel

Answer 32

English Channel, also called The Channel, French La Manche, narrow arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the southern coast of England from the northern coast of France and tapering eastward to its junction with the North Sea at the Strait of Dover (French: Pas de Calais). With an area of some 29,000 square miles (75,000 square kilometres), it is the smallest of the shallow seas covering the continental shelf of Europe. From its mouth in the North Atlantic Ocean—an arbitrary limit marked by a line between the Scilly Isles and the Isle of Ushant—its width gradually narrows from 112 miles (180 kilometres) to a minimum of 21 miles, while its average depth decreases from 400 to 150 feet (120 to 45 metres). Although the English Channel is a feature of notable scientific interest, especially in regard to tidal movements, its location has given it immense significance over the centuries, as both a route and a barrier during the peopling of Britain and the emergence of the nation-states of modern Europe. The current English name (in general use since the early 18th century) probably derives from the designation “canal” in Dutch sea atlases of the late 16th century. Earlier names had included Oceanus Britannicus and the British Sea, and the French have regularly used La Manche (in reference to the sleevelike coastal outline) since the early 17th century.

Question 33

St. Lawrence River

Answer 33

Saint Lawrence River and Seaway, hydrographic system of east-central North America. It connects the North River (source of the St. Louis River, in the U.S. state of Minnesota, which flows into Lake Superior) with Cabot Strait, leading into the Atlantic Ocean in the extreme east of Canada, crossing the interior of the North American continent for some 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometres). It is of vital geographic, hydrologic, and economic importance to the United States and Canada.

The St. Lawrence system can be divided into three broad sectors. Upstream lies the Great Lakes region, with narrow riverlike sections linking the broad expanses of the lakes themselves. In the centre, from the eastern outflow of Lake Ontario, near the Canadian town of Kingston, to the Île d’Orléans, just downstream from the city of Quebec, the system passes through a more normal watercourse. From the Île d’Orléans to the Cabot Strait, between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, the system broadens out again, first as the St. Lawrence estuary, and then, passing Anticosti Island, as the oval-shaped marine region known as the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The discussion here is confined primarily to the latter two sectors. For a treatment of the Great Lakes sector, see Great Lakes.

The St. Lawrence is a mighty and unique hydrographic system. Bedded in an ancient geologic depression, it drains the heart of a continent. It is at once an international, an intra-Quebec, and a multiprovincial system. An axis of regional population, it is also a waterway linking Canada and the United States to western Europe and a large part of the rest of the world. The frontages of the several regions of the St. Lawrence River are not equally developed and do not maintain the same types of relationship with their hinterlands and with the outside world. Throughout its length, nevertheless, the St. Lawrence retains a great natural beauty.

The St. Lawrence Seaway, a massive navigational project undertaken jointly by Canada and the United States and completed in 1959, opened North America’s industrial and agricultural heartlands to deep-draft ocean vessels. It forged the final link in a waterway some 2,340 miles long from Duluth, Minnesota (at the westernmost point of Lake Superior) to the Atlantic by clearing a throughway in a 186-mile stretch of the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Lake Ontario. Although the official seaway consists of only this stretch and the Welland Canal (connecting Lakes Ontario and Erie), the entire Great Lakes–St. Lawrence system, with 9,500 miles of navigable waterways, has come to be known as the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Question 34

Volga River

Answer 34

Volga River, Russian Volga, ancient (Greek) Ra or (Tatar) Itil or Etil, Dnieper River [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]river of Europe, the continent’s longest, and the principal waterway of western Russia and the historic cradle of the Russian state. Its basin, sprawling across about two-fifths of the European part of Russia, contains almost half of the entire population of the Russian Republic. The Volga’s immense economic, cultural, and historic importance—along with the sheer size of the river and its basin—ranks it among the world’s great rivers.

Rising in the Valdai Hills northwest of Moscow, the Volga discharges into the Caspian Sea, some 2,193 miles (3,530 kilometres) to the south. It drops slowly and majestically from its source 748 feet (228 metres) above sea level to its mouth 92 feet below sea level. In the process the Volga receives the water of some 200 tributaries, the majority of which join the river on its left bank. Its river system, comprising 151,000 rivers and permanent and intermittent streams, has a total length of about 357,000 miles. Houses 11 of 20 of Russia’s largest cities

Question 35

Yangtze

Answer 35

Yangtze River, Chinese (Pinyin) Chang Jiang or (Wade-Giles romanization) Ch’ang Chiang , Huang He [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]Yangtze River [Credit: Long Hongtao—Xinhua/Corbis]longest river in both China and Asia and the third longest river in the world, with a length of 3,915 miles (6,300 kilometres). Its basin, extending for some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from west to east and for more than 600 miles (1,000 km) from north to south, drains an area of 698,265 square miles (1,808,500 square km). From its source on the Plateau of Tibet to its mouth on the East China Sea, the river traverses or serves as the border between 10 provinces or regions. More than three-fourths of the river’s course runs through mountains. The Yangtze has eight principal tributaries. On its left bank, from source to mouth, these are the Yalung, Min, Jialing, and Han rivers; those on the right bank include the Wu, Yuan, Xiang, and Gan rivers.

The name Yangtze—derived from the name of the ancient fiefdom of Yang—has been applied to the river mainly by those in the West. Chang Jiang (“Long River”) is the name used in China, although it also is called Da Jiang (“Great River”) or, simply, Jiang (“[The] River”).

Question 36

Danube River

Answer 36

Danube River, German Donau, Slovak Dunaj, Hungarian Duna, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian Dunav, Romanian Dunărea, Ukrainian Dunay , Danube River: Danube River basin and its drainage network [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]Belgrade [Credit: Jon Arnold/SuperStock]Balkan Europe: The Danube River [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]river of Europe, the second longest river after the Volga. It rises in the Black Forest mountains of western Germany and flows for some 1,770 miles (2,850 km) to its mouth on the Black Sea. Along its course, it passes through nine countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine.

Budapest: Danube River [Credit: Jean S. Buldain/Berg & Assoc.]Danube Canal [Credit: Siegfried Layda—Stone/Getty Images]The Danube played a vital role in the settlement and political evolution of central and southeastern Europe. Its banks, lined with castles and fortresses, formed the boundary between great empires, and its waters served as a vital commercial highway between nations. The river’s majesty has long been celebrated in music. The famous waltz An der schönen, blauen Donau (1867; The Blue Danube), by Johann Strauss the Younger, became the symbol of imperial Vienna. In the 21st century the river has continued its role as an important trade artery. It has been harnessed for hydroelectric power, particularly along the upper courses, and the cities along its banks—including the national capitals of Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), and Belgrade .

Question 37

Zambezi River

Answer 37

Zambezi River, also spelled Zambesi, Zambezi basin [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]Zambezi River: Victoria Falls [Credit: G. Holton/Photo Researchers]Zambezi River [Credit: Art Wolfe—Stone/Getty Images]river draining a large portion of south-central Africa. Together with its tributaries, it forms the fourth largest river basin of the continent. The river flows eastward for about 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometres) from its source on the Central African Plateau to empty into the Indian Ocean. With its tributaries, it drains an area of more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 square kilometres). The Zambezi (meaning “Great River” in the language of the Tonga people) includes along its course the Victoria Falls, one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, and the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams, two of Africa’s largest hydroelectric projects. The river either crosses or forms the boundaries of six countries—Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique—and the use of its waters has been the subject of a series of international agreements.

Question 38

MeKong River

Answer 38

Mekong River, Cambodian Mékôngk, Laotian Mènam Khong, Thai Mae Nam Khong, Vietnamese Sông Tiên Giang, Chinese (Pinyin) Lancang Jiang or (Wade-Giles) Lan-ts’ang Chiang, Irrawaddy River [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]longest river in Southeast Asia, the 7th longest in Asia, and the 12th longest in the world. It has a length of about 2,700 miles (4,350 km). Rising in southeastern Qinghai province, China, it flows through the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan province, after which it forms part of the international border between Myanmar (Burma) and Laos, as well as between Laos and Thailand. The river then flows through Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam before draining into the South China Sea south of Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Vientiane (Viangchan), the capital of Laos, and Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, both stand on its banks. About three-fourths of the drainage area of the Mekong lies within the four countries the river traverses on its lower course—Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Question 39

Columbia River

Answer 39

Columbia River, largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America. It is exceeded in discharge on the continent only by the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and Mackenzie rivers. The Columbia is one of the world’s greatest sources of hydroelectric power and, with its tributaries, represents a third of the potential hydropower of the United States. In addition, its mouth provides the first deepwater harbour north of San Francisco. Two-fifths of the river’s course, some 500 miles (800 km) of its 1,240-mile (2,000-km) length, lies in Canada, between its headwaters in British Columbia and the U.S. border.

Question 40

Tagus River

Answer 40

Tagus River, Portuguese Rio Tejo, Spanish Río Tajo, longest waterway of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises in the Sierra de Albarracín of eastern Spain, at a point about 90 miles (150 km) from the Mediterranean coast, and flows westward across Spain and Portugal for 626 miles (1,007 km) to empty into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. Its drainage basin of 31,505 square miles (81,600 square km) is only exceeded on the peninsula by that of the Ebro River, to the northeast. The Tagus covers the heart of Portugal and Spain and has been of vital importance to the modern economic development of the two nations.

The upper Tagus cuts into limestone rocks and flows generally southwestward through narrow, sinuous valleys with deep canyons and abundant ravines. Near Trillo (Guadalajara province) it runs more peacefully, and just before the town of Bolarque it is held back by the dams of Entrepeñas and Buendía, forming an artificial lake known as the Sea of Castile, which covers an area of 51 square miles

Question 41

Caribbean Sea

Answer 41

Caribbean Sea, suboceanic basin of the western Atlantic Ocean, lying between latitudes 9° and 22° N and longitudes 89° and 60° W. It is approximately 1,063,000 square miles (2,753,000 square km) in extent. To the south it is bounded by the coasts of Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama; to the west by Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico; to the north by the Greater Antilles islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico; and to the east by the Lesser Antilles chain, consisting of the island arc that extends from the Virgin Islands in the northeast to Trinidad, off the Venezuelan coast, in the southeast. Within the boundaries of the Caribbean itself, Jamaica, to the south of Cuba, is the largest of a number of islands.

Question 42

South China Sea

Answer 42

South China Sea, Chinese Nan Hai, arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland. It is bounded on the northeast by the Taiwan Strait (by which it is connected to the East China Sea); on the east by Taiwan and the Philippines; on the southeast and south by Borneo, the southern limit of the Gulf of Thailand, and the east coast of the Malay Peninsula; and on the west and north by the Asian mainland. The South China Sea and the East China Sea together form the China Sea. The southern boundary of the South China Sea is a rise in the seabed between Sumatra and Borneo, and the northern boundary stretches from the northernmost point of Taiwan to the coast of Fujian province, China, in the Taiwan Strait. It embraces an area of about 1,423,000 square miles (3,685,000 square km), with a mean depth of 3,976 feet (1,212 metres).

Question 43

Arabian Sea

Answer 43

Arabian Sea, northwestern part of the Indian Ocean, covering a total area of about 1,491,000 square miles (3,862,000 square km) and forming part of the principal sea route between Europe and India. It is bounded to the west by the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, to the north by Iran and Pakistan, to the east by India, and to the south by the remainder of the Indian Ocean. To the north the Gulf of Oman connects the sea with the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz. To the west the Gulf of Aden connects it with the Red Sea via the Bab el-Mandeb (Bāb al-Mandab) Strait. It has a mean depth of 8,970 feet (2,734 metres). In Roman times its name was Mare Erythraeum (Erythraean Sea).

Question 44

Coral Sea

Answer 44

Coral Sea, sea of the southwestern Pacific Ocean, extending east of Australia and New Guinea, west of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides, and south of the Solomon Islands. It is about 1,400 miles (2,250 km) north-south and 1,500 miles east-west and covers an area of 1,849,800 square miles (4,791,000 square km). To the south it merges with the Tasman Sea, to the north with the Solomon Sea, and to the east with the Pacific; it is connected to the Arafura Sea (west) via the Torres Strait. North of latitude 20° S, the seafloor is dominated by the Coral Sea Plateau

Question 45

Philippine Sea

Answer 45

Philippine Sea, section of the western North Pacific Ocean, lying east and north of the Philippines. The floor of this portion of the ocean is formed into a structural basin by a series of geologic folds and faults that protrude above the surface in the form of bordering island arcs. The Philippine islands of Luzon, Samar, and Mindanao are on the southwest; Palau, Yap, and Ulithi (of the Carolines) on the southeast; the Marianas, including Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, on the east; the Bonin and Volcano islands (Iwo Jima) on the northeast; the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu on the north; the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) on the northwest; and Taiwan (Formosa) in the extreme west. They surround an area measuring 1,800 miles (2,900 km) north-south by 1,500 miles east-west and occupying a total surface area of 40,000 square miles (1,000,000 square km), about 3 percent of the entire Pacific region. The basin, with a general depth of 19,700 feet (6,000 m), plunges to its greatest depths in trenches to the east of the island arcs. The deepest is the Philippine Trench at 34,578 feet (10,539 m). Numerous seamounts rise from the basin floor, some of which are volcanic; their peaks, often flat (called tablemounts, or guyots), are capped with coral. The warm Pacific North Equatorial Current flows westward across the southern part of the sea. On meeting the Philippines, the current divides; part swings north near Luzon to form the Kuroshio (Japan Current), of which some will return to the sea as the Kuroshio Countercurrent, and part swings south as the Pacific Equatorial Countercurrent. These currents, together with areas near reefs, ridges, and seamounts, are the sites of fishing grounds. Typhoons, which become particularly strong in September, originate in the sea.

Question 46

Kraken

Answer 46

Kraken, a Scandinavian sea monster perhaps imagined on the basis of chance sightings of giant squids. It appears in literature in a poem of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s juvenilia called “The Kraken.”

Question 47

Caspian Sea

Answer 47

Caspian Sea, Russian Kaspiyskoye More, Persian Darya-ye Khezer, Caspian Sea [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]world’s largest inland body of water, lying to the east of the Caucasus Mountains and to the west of the vast steppe of Central Asia. Its name derives from the ancient Kaspi peoples, who once lived in Transcaucasia to the west; among its other historical names, Khazarsk and Khvalynsk derive from former peoples of the region, while Girkansk stems from Girkanos, “Country of the Wolves.” The elongated sea sprawls for nearly 750 miles (1,200 km) from north to south, although its average width is only 200 miles (320 km). It covers an area of about 149,200 square miles (386,400 square km)—larger than Japan—and its surface lies some 90 feet (27 metres) below sea level. The maximum depth, toward the south, is 3,360 feet (1,025 metres) below the sea’s surface. The drainage basin of the sea covers some 1,400,000 square miles (3,625,000 square km). The sea contains some 63.4 billion acre-feet or 18,800 cubic miles (78,200 cubic km) of water—about one-third of the Earth’s inland surface water. The sea is bordered in the northeast by Kazakhstan, in the southeast by Turkmenistan, in the south by Iran. Some consider it a lake.

Question 48

Persian Gulf

Answer 48

Persian Gulf, Arabic Baḥr Fāris, Persian Khalīj-e Fārs, also called Arabian Gulf, shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that lies between the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Iran. The sea has an area of about 93,000 square miles (241,000 square km). Its length is some 615 miles (990 km), and its width varies from a maximum of about 210 miles (340 km) to a minimum of 35 miles (55 km) in the Strait of Hormuz. It is bordered on the north, northeast, and east by Iran; on the southeast and south by part of Oman and by the United Arab Emirates; on the southwest and west by Qatar, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia; and on the northwest by Kuwait and Iraq. The term Persian Gulf (or Arabian Gulf, the name used by Arabs) sometimes is employed to refer not only to the Persian Gulf proper but also to its outlets, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman, which open into the Arabian Sea. This discussion, however, focuses primarily on the Persian Gulf proper.

Question 49

Red Sea

Answer 49

Red Sea, Arabic Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar , El Gouna [Credit: © Xufang/Shutterstock.com]Red Sea: depth contours [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]narrow strip of water extending southeastward from Suez, Egypt, for about 1,200 miles (1,930 km) to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects with the Gulf of Aden and thence with the Arabian Sea. Geologically, the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba (Elat) must be considered as the northern extension of the same structure. The sea separates the coasts of Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea to the west from those of Saudi Arabia and Yemen to the east. Its maximum width is 190 miles, its greatest depth 9,974 feet (3,040 metres), and its area approximately 174,000 square miles (450,000 square km).

The Red Sea contains some of the world’s hottest and saltiest seawater. With its connection to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, it is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world, carrying maritime traffic between Europe and Asia. Its name is derived from the colour changes observed in its waters. Normally, the Red Sea is an intense blue-green; occasionally, however, it is populated by extensive blooms of the algae Trichodesmium erythraeum, which, upon dying off, turn the sea a reddish brown colour.

Question 50

Black Sea

Answer 50

Black Sea, Russian and Bulgarian Chernoye More, Ukrainian Chorne More, Turkish Karadenız, Romanian Marea Neagră, large inland sea situated at the southeastern extremity of Europe. It is bordered by Ukraine to the north, Russia to the northeast, Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the west.

The roughly oval-shaped Black Sea occupies a large basin strategically situated at the southeastern extremity of Europe but connected to the distant waters of the Atlantic Ocean by the Bosporus (which emerges from the sea’s southwestern corner), the Sea of Marmara, the Dardanelles, the Aegean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. The renowned Crimean Peninsula thrusts into the Black Sea from the north, and just to its east the narrow Kerch Strait links the sea to the smaller Sea of Azov. The Black Sea coastline is otherwise fairly regular. The maximum east-west extent of the sea is about 730 miles (1,175 km), and the shortest distance between the tip of the Crimea and the Cape Kerempe to the south is about 160 miles (260 km). The surface area, excluding the Sea of Marmara but including the Sea of Azov, is about 178,000 square miles (461,000 square km); the Black Sea proper occupies about 163,000 square miles (422,000 square km). A maximum depth of more than 7,250 feet (2,210 metres) is reached in the south-central sector of the sea.

Question 51

Suez Canal

Answer 51

Suez Canal, Arabic Qanāt al-Suways, Suez Canal [Credit: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]sea-level waterway running north-south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt to connect the Mediterranean and the Red seas. The canal separates the African continent from Asia, and it provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian and western Pacific oceans. It is one of the world’s most heavily used shipping lanes. The canal extends 101 miles (163 kilometres) between Port Said (Būr Saʿīd) in the north and Suez in the south, with dredged approach channels north of Port Said into the Mediterranean, and south of Suez. The canal does not take the shortest route across the isthmus, which is only 75 miles, but utilizes several lakes, from north to south, Lake Manzala (Buḥayrat al-Manzilah), Lake Timsah (Buḥayrat al-Timsāḥ), and the Bitter Lakes: Great Bitter Lake (Al-Buḥayrah al-Murrah al-Kubrā) and Little Bitter Lake (Al-Buḥayrah al-Murrah al-Ṣughrā). The Suez Canal is an open cut, without locks, and, though extensive straight lengths occur, there are eight major bends. To the west of the canal is the low-lying delta of the Nile River; to the east is the higher, rugged, and arid Sinai Peninsula. Prior to construction of the canal

Question 52

Adriatic Sea

Answer 52

Adriatic Sea, Italian Mare Adriatico, Bosnian, Croatian, and Montenegrin Jadransko More, Albanian Deti i Adriatikut, arm of the Mediterranean Sea, lying between the Italian and Balkan peninsulas. The Strait of Otranto at its southeasterly limit links it with the Ionian Sea. It is about 500 miles (800 km) long with an average width of 100 miles, a maximum depth of 4,035 feet (1,324 metres), and an area of 50,590 sq mi (131,050 sq km). The Adriatic has been of great importance in the historical development of Mediterranean Europe and is of considerable scientific interest in itself. Modern study of the Adriatic has been carried out mainly under the auspices of several Italian and Balkan scientific institutes.

Question 53

Lake Chad

Answer 53

Lake Chad, French Lac Tchad , freshwater lake located in the Sahelian zone of west-central Africa at the conjunction of Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger. It is situated in an interior basin formerly occupied by a much larger ancient sea that is sometimes called Mega-Chad. Historically, Lake Chad has ranked among the largest lakes in Africa, though its surface area varies greatly by season, as well as from year to year. When the surface of the lake is approximately 920 feet (280 metres) above sea level, the area is about 6,875 square miles (17,800 square km); in the early 21st century, however, the area was typically about 580 square miles (1,500 square km). The hydrologic contributions and biological diversity of Lake Chad are important regional assets. The region is noteworthy for important archaeological discoveries, its role in trans-Saharan trade, and its association with historic African kingdoms.

Question 54

Lake Victoria

Answer 54

Lake Victoria, also called Victoria Nyanza , largest lake in Africa and chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya. Among the freshwater lakes of the world it is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America, its area being 26,828 square miles (69,484 square km). An irregular quadrilateral in shape, its shores, save on the west, are deeply indented. Its greatest length from north to south is 210 miles (337 km), its greatest breadth 150 miles (240 km). Its coastline exceeds 2,000 miles (3,220 km). Its waters fill a shallow depression in the centre of the great plateau that stretches between the Western and Eastern Rift Valleys. The lake’s surface is 3,720 feet (1,134 metres) above sea level, and its greatest ascertained depth is 270 feet (82 metres). Many archipelagos are contained within the lake, as are numerous reefs, often just below the surface of the clear waters. Lake Victoria has more than 200 species of fish, of which the Tilapia is the most economically important. The lake’s basin area covers 92,240 square miles (238,900 square km).

Question 55

Lake Baikal

Answer 55

Lake Baikal, Russian Ozero Baykal, also spelled Ozero Bajkal, lake located in the southern part of eastern Siberia within the republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast (province) of Russia. It is the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth (20–25 million years old), as well as the deepest continental body of water, having a maximum depth of 5,315 feet (1,620 metres). Its area is some 12,200 square miles (31,500 square km), with a length of 395 miles (636 km) and an average width of 30 miles (48 km). It is also the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume, containing about one-fifth of the fresh water on the Earth’s surface, some 5,500 cubic miles (23,000 cubic km). Into Lake Baikal flow more than 330 rivers and streams, the largest of which include the Selenga, Barguzin, Upper (Verkhnyaya) Angara, Chikoy, and Uda.

Question 56

Great Bear Lake

Answer 56

Great Bear Lake, lake, in northern Fort Smith region and southeastern Inuvik region, Northwest Territories, Canada, lying astride the Arctic Circle. It was discovered before 1800 by North West Company traders and later named for the bears that inhabited its shores. Irregular in shape and containing many small islands, Great Bear Lake is roughly 200 miles (320 km) long and 25–110 miles (40–175 km) wide and has a maximum depth of 1,356 feet (413 m). Its area of 12,096 square miles (31,328 square km) makes it the largest lake entirely within Canada and the fourth largest in North America. The lake’s cold, clear waters abound with fish, notably the speckled trout. The localities of Echo and Sawmill bays on the eastern shore and the trading post of Fort Franklin on the west are the lake’s main settlements. The 70-mile- (113-kilometre-) long Great Bear River, which drains the lake westward through marshes into the Mackenzie River, forms an important transportation link during its four ice-free months.

Question 57

Lake Nyasa

Answer 57

Lake Nyasa, also called Lake Malawi, lake, southernmost and third largest of the East African Rift Valley lakes of East Africa, lying in a deep trough mainly within Malawi. The existence of the lake was reported by a Portuguese explorer, Caspar Boccaro, in 1616. David Livingstone, the British explorer-missionary, reached it from the south in 1859.

Question 58

Lake Tahoe

Answer 58

Lake Tahoe, freshwater lake occupying a fault basin on the California-Nevada border in the northern Sierra Nevada, U.S. Fed by numerous small streams, it is drained by the Truckee River to Pyramid Lake, Nevada, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast. It measures 22 miles (35 km) north-south and 12 miles (19 km) east-west and has an area of 193 square miles (500 square km); its surface stands at 6,229 feet (1,899 m) above sea level, and its maximum depth is 1,640 feet (500 m). Visited in 1844 by the soldier-explorer John C. Frémont, the intensely blue lake took its name from the Washoe Indian word meaning “big water.” Water is supplied through its western outlet, the Truckee, for the Newlands Irrigation Project in Nevada. The lake and the surrounding area of national forests have been developed as tourist resorts.

Question 59

Lake Titicaca

Answer 59

Lake Titicaca, Spanish Lago Titicaca, Real, Cordillera [Credit: © Tony Morrison/South American Pictures]Titicaca, Lake [Credit: © Index Open]the world’s highest lake navigable to large vessels, lying at 12,500 feet (3,810 metres) above sea level in the Andes Mountains of South America, astride the border between Peru to the west and Bolivia to the east. Titicaca is the second largest lake of South America (after Maracaibo). It covers some 3,200 square miles (8,300 square km) and extends in a northwest-to-southeast direction for a distance of 120 miles (190 km). It is 50 miles (80 km) across at its widest point. A narrow strait, Tiquina, separates the lake into two bodies of water. The smaller, in the southeast, is called Lake Huiñaymarca in Bolivia and Lake Pequeño in Peru; the larger, in the northwest, is called Lake Chucuito in Bolivia and Lake Grande in Peru.

The meaning of the name Titicaca is uncertain, but it has been variously translated as Rock of the Puma or Crag of Lead. Titicaca lies between Andean ranges in a vast basin

Question 60

Lake Geneva

Answer 60

Lake Geneva, French Lac Léman or Lac de Genève, German Genfersee, largest Alpine lake in Europe (area 224 square miles [581 square km]), lying between southwestern Switzerland and Haute-Savoie département, southeastern France. About 134 square miles (347 square km) of the lake’s area are Swiss, and 90 square miles (234 square km) are French. Crescent in shape, the lake is formed by the Rhône River, which enters it at the east end between Villeneuve, Switzerland, and Saint-Gingolph, France, and leaves it at the west end through the city of Geneva. The only important tributaries are the Dranse (south) and the Venoge (north). Lying at an elevation of 1,220 feet (372 metres), the lake is 45 miles (72 km) long, with a maximum width of 8.5 miles (13.5 km) and an average width of 5 miles (8 km). The maximum depth is 1,017 feet (310 metres), the mean depth 262 feet (80 metres).

Question 61

Lake Constance

Answer 61

Lake Constance, also called Lake of Constance, Constance also spelled Konstanz, German Bodensee, Latin Lacus Brigantinus, lake bordering Switzerland, Germany, and Austria and occupying an old glacier basin at an elevation of 1,299 feet (396 m). It has an area of 209 square miles (541 square km) and is about 40 miles (65 km) long and up to 8 miles (13 km) wide, with an average depth of 295 feet (90 m) and a maximum depth of 827 feet (252 m). It has about 125 miles (200 km) of shoreline. In the west, near Konstanz (Constance), it is divided by the Bodan mountain ridge into two parts: the Unter Lake (south) and the Überlinger Lake (north). The lake’s main body southeast of Konstanz is called the Ober Lake. The lake forms part of the course of the Rhine River, which enters it in the southeast near Bregenz and leaves it at the west via the Unter Lake. The island of Mainau is north of Konstanz in the Überlinger Lake, and the island of Reichenau is west of the city in the Unter Lake. Konstanz itself is a “political island,” for it is the only part of Germany on the lake’s southwestern shore; it is entirely surrounded by Swiss territory, except on the northeast where it fronts on the lake.