Rivers are short and long, wide and narrow. But all of them are united by the fact that they are a water stream that originates from the source and ends at the mouth (lake, sea or other body of water). Rivers are found all over the world and are an integral part of many people's lives. There is another common feature of all rivers. Because they are a water stream, it necessarily has a water stream, and its speed at each river is different and depends on many external factors. For example, from the time of year. We will consider in our article what the fastest rivers exist in Russia and in the world as a whole.
Lena
There are a lot of different rivers in Russia. Lena is the fastest of them. It flows through Siberia, and flows into the Laptev Sea in the Arctic Ocean. Its speed reaches 1-2 meters per second. An interesting fact is that this river is also the longest in Russia. Its length is 4400 kilometers. It is even one of the ten longest rivers in the world. The river still boasts of 8th place in the world ranking for full-flow.
Unfortunately, the power of this river has its negative consequences. During periods when Lena warms up, that is, in summer and spring, she becomes faster and reaches its peak in full flow. In 2007, the river flooded about a thousand houses, and the flood itself touched 12 cities.
Yenisei
And this river is also considered one of the fastest, as well as the longest. The Yenisei is the fifth largest in the world in length (approximately 3,500 kilometers). Like the Lena, this river flows mainly through Siberia, but its beginning and source are in Mongolia. The Yenisei flows into the Arctic Ocean.
This is a fast river, at times its speed reaches 1-2 meters per second - in summer and spring. Residents of villages and cities that the Yenisei covers sometimes complain of floods. In this regard, the river is similar to Lena.
Perhaps, on these most high-speed rivers of Russia, you can finish the list. Despite the great abundance of ponds and streams, most of them are flat. That is why the flow rate is quite low even in relatively large fast rivers. In the Rostov region, for example, the speed of the Don varies on average from 0.5 to 0.9 m / s.
Amazon
This river, located in South America, is a record holder in many ways. The Amazon is the deepest, deepest, widest, longest and fastest river in the world! The depth of some of its places reaches 135 meters, the width sometimes reaches 200 kilometers, and its length is 7000 km. As for speed, the Amazon can reach about 4.5-5 meters per second or, in other words, 15 kilometers per hour. In the rainy season, this figure may increase.
This incredible South American river has the phenomenon of a reverse flow. It occurs when water flows at a speed of 7 m / s back, and not into the ocean, because it does not allow it to be done due to the tide. As a rule, such a “collision” causes waves up to 5 meters high. It is also interesting that the tide stops at a distance of 1.5 kilometers and dissipates. This phenomenon is called "vice", which means "booming water."
Congo
The largest, most powerful and fastest river in West and Central Africa. On the entire continent, in length equal to more than 4000 km, it is second only to the Nile. Her other name is Zaire. In terms of water content, Congo is second only to the Amazon.
This is a very dangerous and fast river, the waters of which have a very large number of waterfalls and rapids. The average water flow rate is 41,800 m³ / s. The course is very fast and dangerous, but sometimes calm. From time to time, the Congo behaves very unpredictably and entails floods.
Yangtze
This river is the longest and fastest, not only in China and Asia as a whole, but throughout Eurasia! Its length is 6,000 kilometers, which puts the Yangtze in third place in the world in length, and in fourth in terms of power. It, like many of the aforementioned full-flowing, powerful and fast rivers, can go over the banks and destroy everything in its path. However, this usually happens once for several months of calm and tranquility.
Mississippi
Now, let's move on to North America. The Mississippi is the most powerful, deepest, and deepest river in the United States of America. It is also the second longest after the Missouri. Its length is 3770 kilometers. At certain times of the year the river sometimes overflows and floods settlements, and people have to be evacuated.
As a conclusion, we summarize. No matter how fast the rivers are, it is worth considering that at different times of the year and depending on the place, the speed of the current can vary. There are many fast rivers all over the world, but as a rule, the longer and longer they are, the faster. Above, we examined only a few of them.