What is the official longest river in the world It has changed over the years?

Question

When I was at school in the 50's it was the Amazon then came a period when the books said the Missisippi-Missouri then finally the Nile. None of these rivers could have changed in length

Answer 1

The mississippi and missouri have never been the longest, perhaps this was the most available data at that time. Some sources say that as a tributary of the Mississippi, the Missouri is actually longer than the Mississippi.  It comes down to the Nile and the Amazon. The Nile has 2 main tributaries, the White and Blue Nile. The White nile is the longest of the 2 and at around 4100-4200 miles (there is certainly no agreed accurate figure available) is GENERALLY considered the longest of all the rivers. However, it is not that straight forward. For several decades this title has been disputed with the Amazon. At this point do not confuse LONGEST with LARGEST BY VOLUME, no-one disputes that the Amazon is largest by volume, but that is not what you have asked. The Amazon tends to be quoted around 4000 miles long. Over this past decade there have been several scientific studies that show that the Amazon MAY in fact be longer than the White Nile. The problem arises in trying to determine and locate the TRUE source of the Amazon which is no mean feat given the terrain and habitat it passes through. Even satellite and aerial views cannot decide this problem. It is likely though that within the next 10 years we will have undisputed and universal agreement on this very issue. Rivers can and have changed their course, length, width and flow rates over their existence. I suspect myself that the Amazon may indeed be the longest after all, but the fact is TODAY the White Nile is widely regarded as the longest river on planet earth.

Answer 2

nile is longest amazon contains the most water

Answer 3

This is a dabated subject.  Oficially the Nile is the longest river. The amazon has a larger volume of water but is slight shorter.  As as far as I am aware the mississippi has never been consdiered one of the biggest.

It is difficult to measure becasue rivers bend and twist and are always changing direction and paths as erosion take place.  This means that over a period of many years a river can get shorter and longer.  

And different people measure in different ways using different methods.

Answer 4

it is the nile...but some people still belive it is the amazon...the amazon does have more water but it is shorter....it is hard to measue a rivver because they change shape due to erosion and sometimes peole find new tributaries which makes them longer

Answer 5

the nile river is the longest river. it is in egypt