The river is constant water flow created by nature. It begins its movement at the source, and ends at the mouth, covering a long distance with the flow along its channel. Streams are a major part of the Earth's hydrological cycle. By latest research More than a billion large and small rivers flow around the world, and they carry billions of tons of water to the seas.
In this article we will look at the most interesting facts about rivers.
1. We remember from geography lessons that the most long river peace - Nile. However, thanks to recent research, it has become known that the Amazon has already surpassed it. The Nile is about 6695 km long and has two tributaries. His most most of Egypt accounts for 22%, the rest belongs to other countries - Burundi, Zaire, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. Interesting fact: The Nile was covered with ice only twice in its entire existence - in the 9th and 11th centuries. 
2. The Amazon is the longest river of modern times. Its length is already more than 6800 km. It flows through South America and then into Atlantic Ocean. In 2011, Amazon was recognized as one of the natural wonders peace. It contains more water than any other river on the planet. The Amazon is also amazing because along its entire course only one bridge, the Rio Negro, was built. Its length exceeds 3.5 km. 
3. Irtysh is the most clean river and is the main tributary of the Ob. Its length is 4248 km and flows through the territories of three countries: Russia, Kazakhstan and China. In Russia, the Irtysh is considered the longest river after the Lena River (more than 2 thousand km). 
4. The most “load-bearing river” is the Kosi River. It flows through the territory of modern India, and every year it lays a new channel, while devastating large territory. The total volume of sediment per year brought by Kosi is up to 120 cubic meters. 8 freight cars can be filled with sand, pebbles and clay, which the river brings every year from the Himalayas! 
5. One of the most mysterious rivers is Caño Cristales in Colombia. The second name of this river is “five-colored”. It is very small - up to 100 km long, no more than 20 meters wide, and there are almost no fish in it. The mystery of Kanyo is that it comes in 5 colors - green, blue, yellow, red and black. This palette of colors is given to it by the reflection of the sky, algae and river sand. It looks especially colorful between the dry and rainy seasons. 
6. The most deep river world - Congo. Its depth reaches 250 m! 
7. The most polluted river is the Royal River, which flows through the territory modern state Australia. It is polluted with chemical waste from the mining industry. Since 1995, more than 1.5 million sulfides have been released into the Royal River each year. 
8. On the territory of modern Poland there is interesting place, where the Nelba and Velna rivers intersect at an angle of 90 degrees. And due to the large temperature difference, different levels and water flow velocities do not mix with each other. 
9. The most water-rich country is Finland. There are 188,000 lakes and 650 rivers flowing on its territory.
10. There is only one country on the planet in whose territory not a single river constantly flows - this is Saudi Arabia.
11. Drunk is the most winding river planets. Its length is more than 400 km, but the distance from the mouth to the source is no more than 30 km. She was located almost entirely in Nizhny Novgorod region, however, a very small piece of it falls on the Mordovian lands. 
12. The most popular fictional river is Styx. It flows through the territory of the underground kingdom of the god Hades. However, on Earth there is its “namesake” in the city of Perm. The “second” Styx separated the city from the Yegoshikha cemetery back in the 18th century. However, on this moment its bed is not visible, because the Styx was driven into the pipes. 
13. Paradox! IN Voronezh region There are two rivers with the name Devitsa, which have tributaries with the names Rossoshka, and they both flow into the Don.
14. One of the mysteries of nature is also blue rivers. They flow through the territory of Greenland. During periods of comparative warmth and with the arrival of summer, the ice begins to melt, causing small streams that merge into very large streams and eventually become rivers. To your great surprise, the water of these reservoirs is dark aquamarine in color. It's just a combination of incredible beauty: eye-catching White snow and the sky blue river. 
15. Planet Earth is the owner of six rivers called Don.
16. In contrast to the Amazon, there is the shortest river on the planet. Its name is similar to its length - the D River. It flows through the United States, and its length is only 36 meters.
17. One of the funniest rivers is the Los River, which flows through Moscow. Her most large influx It's also called Elk Calf.
Planet Earth is fraught with many amazing natural wonders. Today we discovered a few facts about rivers, just a part of what nature has in store for us. We hope it was entertaining. 
On our planet there are many incredibly beautiful, but at the same time scary places that arose under the influence of nature and man. Paradoxically, the more dangerous the attraction, the more attractive it is to travelers. And why is it so common for people to be drawn to everything forbidden, dangerous and mysterious? Let's look at four of the most terrible bodies of water that hide in their abyss mortal danger.
Sicilian Lake of Death
The view of the reservoir delights you with its beauty and incredible awareness of the danger. The name of this lake fully justifies itself, because not a single living organism can survive either in the waters or nearby. Life ends the moment the waters of death embrace any Living being. The explanation for this is high degree concentration of sulfuric acid.
"Swamp of Ghosts"
No less dangerous and truly frightening is the Manchac Swamp, located near New Orleans. By ancient legend This swamp is cursed and a cruel queen who possessed Voodoo magic was imprisoned here. According to the scripture, she placed a curse on this swamp. Of the living creatures, only crocodiles live here. Incredibly, bodies still rise to the surface year after year dead people, whose death occurred more than a decade ago. In these places there is a belief that werewolves live in the swamp and howl at night. It is impossible to say with certainty what is the most terrible thing in this swamp, ghosts, alligators or a curse, but few local residents dare to spend the night here. This place is visited only by tourists with strong nervous system and lovers of occult sciences.
Karachay
This is the most deadly body of water in the world. The explosion of the Mayak plant storage facility in 1957 led to contamination large territory Ural and Siberia Russia. Until now, Lake Karachay contains in its waters a volume of radiation that is twenty times higher than the radiation background after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Just five minutes and any living creature will receive a lethal dose of radiation. Is not tourist place and it is impossible to be there.
Boiling Lake
Another of the reservoirs fraught with mortal danger is Lake Boiling, the location of which is national park Morne-Troyes – Piton, Dominican Republic. In the waters of this lake the temperature reaches 92 degrees Celsius. Anyone who bathes will certainly be boiled alive.
Some creations of nature look terrible, especially if they arise from human carelessness. Such water “cemeteries” emanate a chilling horror, which you can feel even without being near such a place.
All fresh water bodies- from temporary puddles to rivers and lakes - inhabited by living creatures. Some animals are forced to adapt to the fast current, others to the periodic drying out of their homes, and others have learned to survive in conditions of fierce competition for food. Inhabitants of reservoirs breathe atmospheric air or oxygen dissolved in water.
Life in fresh water bodies and on their banks is quite diverse; even on different sections of the same river, completely different species of living creatures can live. This is due to the fact that the reservoir can begin high in the mountains and have a clear cold water With fast current, so its inhabitants will be adapted to such, quite extreme conditions. When this river flows through a valley, its flow will slow down significantly, the water temperature will be slightly higher and other species of fish, amphibians and insects will thrive in it. Today we will talk about various animals from all over our planet that have chosen fresh water bodies as their home.
Big-headed turtle (Platysternon megacephalum)
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Inhabitant mountain rivers and streams of southern China and Indochina. This is a predatory animal with a shell length of up to 20 cm and hunts aquatic invertebrates, fish and frogs. She has very low fertility: there are only two eggs in the clutch. The big-headed turtle leads a crepuscular lifestyle. Very mobile. Unusual is the ability to climb rocks, bushes and trees well. And the turtle's head is so large that it cannot be pulled under the shell. AND a long tail It also doesn't fit underneath.
Piranhas (Serrasalminae)
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About 25 various types piranhas inhabit rivers and lakes of tropical regions South America. These predators attack other fish species. Most often, their victims are injured or sick individuals. The signal that prompts these fish to attack is the smell of blood. But stories about the bloodthirstiness of piranhas are greatly exaggerated. They become dangerous, as a rule, only in unusual stressful situations. This happens during droughts, when rivers become very dry and fish unwittingly end up crowded in surviving reservoirs. Often the person himself is to blame for their aggressiveness. In many places, it is customary to dump waste from slaughterhouses into rivers, thus people accustom fish to meat and the smell of blood.
Gray Heron (Ardeacinerea)
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The largest heron in Europe is also interested in life in fresh water bodies. Its range occupies most of Eurasia. Gray heron inhabits coastal areas rivers, lakes and reservoirs. It feeds on coastal and aquatic insects, fish, and frogs. It also preys on lizards, snakes, small birds and mammals, which it finds in coastal thickets. It nests in colonies, often together with other heron species. There are 4-6 eggs in a clutch. In autumn it migrates to Western Europe and Mediterranean countries.
Red-crowned crane (Grusjaponensis)
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Refers to rare birds peace. It is considered one of the most beautiful cranes. It feeds on rhizomes, tubers and succulent shoots of marsh plants, pecking at the same time various small animals. Creates a pair for life. The nest is built in a wetland. The chicks that have hatched desperately fight among themselves, and the parents manage to raise only one crane.
Discus (Symphysodondiscus)
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One of the most beautiful aquarium fish. IN wildlife lives in the fresh waters of the Amazon. Discus form married couples, who carefully look after the laid eggs, and then the larvae. When the larvae turn into fry, the most interesting part begins - feeding with “milk”. Fish “milk” is a thick, protein-rich substance secreted from the skin of discus fish and hardens on the sides of the fish in the form of a grayish-yellow coating. In the first days of life, the fry feed on this substance.
Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris)
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The largest rodent in the world, lives in tropical and subtropical swamps, rivers and lakes of South America. Body length up to 1.5 m, weight up to 50 kg. Feeds on coastal vegetation. Swims and dives beautifully. The female gives birth to 2-4 well-developed cubs, which soon become independent. The capybara lives both in forests and on open area. It always stays near bodies of water, which is why it received its second name – “capybara”.
Night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
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One of the most common birds in the world. It is not found only in Australia and northern Eurasia. Inhabitant of shallow swampy reservoirs. It got its name from the peculiar “kwa-kwa” that it calls out during nesting. It feeds on aquatic invertebrates, small fish, amphibians and their larvae. It prefers hunting at dusk, relying on its excellent eyesight and hearing. The night heron is one of the few bird species that can catch fish using bait. Breeds in colonies. A massive nest of branches is placed on trees or reeds. There are 4-5 eggs in a clutch.
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22.04.2016
There are approximately 117 million lakes on Earth. They all differ in the composition of the liquid filling them, in the method of formation of the basins, in size and shape. Among them there are giants and dwarfs, disappearing and appearing again, rich in life and poor in it. And there are those that surprise with their extreme unusualness. What interesting facts about lakes does modern science have?
- There are several lakes in the world, the color of which is colored in different shades of red - pink, crimson, purple. The water of Raspberry Lake in the Altai Territory is colored by tiny, variously colored soda crystals and planktonic crustaceans. In Australia, the waters of Lake Hillier are colored by cyanobacteria and other microorganisms.
- There is a lake in Algeria, the water into which comes from two rivers, entering into chemical reaction and turning into ink. The lake is called Chernilnoye. The liquid from it is exported to different countries world as a ready-made filler for rods.
- Gilemaumau Boiling Lava Lake is located on Hawaiian Islands in the crater of the Kilauea volcano. It ejects a liquid mass of lava that hardens in air, turning into drop-shaped, needle-shaped or thread-like structures.
- The largest lake in the world by area is the Caspian Sea-lake. Rivers do not flow from it, but it has a flow. Its water flows through the strait into the Kara-Bogaz-Gol bay-lagoon, where it actively evaporates due to the heat of the Karakum Desert. Translated from Turkmen, the name of the bay means “black mouth”.
- The deepest and cleanest lake in the world is Baikal. The volume of water in it is a hundred times greater than in the Sea of Azov. The lake contains one fifth of the Earth's fresh water. Another unique feature of the reservoir is its age. Most of the Earth's lakes have existed for only a few thousand years, while Baikal has been alive for 35 million years. Therefore, it is home to unique organisms, most of which are relicts and endemics.
- The mysterious Lake Chad is located in transition zone between the Sahara and the savannas called the Sahel. Its outline is not constant and it looks different on all maps. This is because the volume of water in it is subject to periodic changes. About 30 years ago, during a drought, its size shrank sixfold, and people sounded the alarm. But the time of active precipitation came, and the reservoir regained its size and even exceeded it. Another mystery for scientists is that being in tropical zone and having no drainage, the lake contains fresh water. Chad is believed to have underground drainage in its northern part.
- The Dead Sea is located on a rift earth's crust. In fact, it is a lake that stretches 76 km in length. Its surface is the most low place on earth's land, it lies 405 meters below ocean level. The salinity of its waters is 300‰, which is why no organisms can live here. If a fish gets here through the Jordan River flowing into it, it dies within a few seconds. Only a few extreme bacteria live in the mouth of the Jordan. Geysers of natural asphalt erupt in the lake.
- Lake Trinidad is located 50 km from Venezuela, near the village of La Brea. Its basin, 90 meters deep, lies in the crater extinct volcano. Through the vent, oil rises from the depths of the earth, inhalants evaporate from it, which contributes to the formation of natural asphalt, which is successfully used in economic activity of people. Liquid from the middle part of the lake is constantly withdrawn in large volumes, but its amount does not decrease. It seems that the lake is inexhaustible.
- Another miracle lake exists on the Sinai Peninsula; it is fenced off from the Red Sea by a partition made of ancient fossilized shell rock. Only in the surface layer and at a shallow depth of the reservoir do fish live and plants grow. At its six-meter depth there is no longer life, because the water temperature there reaches 60 °C.
- Thermos lake in the country eternal ice called Wanda. It is located in Antarctica and is covered with a layer of ice equal to four meters. Just below the ice it is fresh, but deeper down it is salty. These layers of water also differ in temperature. At a depth of about 70 meters, the water temperature is +25 °C, as if in warm southern latitudes. However, its bottom does not contain hot springs. The lens-shaped layer of ice covering the reservoir heats and maintains the temperature of the water.
- There is a lake in Sicily containing a large number of sulfuric acid. It is called the Lake of Death and lives up to its name in full. Any living thing that accidentally falls into its waters dies instantly, and parts of the body of animals and humans that come into contact with the liquid of the reservoir receive a chemical burn. The lake is supplied with acid from springs located at its bottom.
And this is only a small fraction of interesting facts about unusual lakes of our planet. In any corner of the Earth there is a body of water about which local residents can tell amazing and sometimes unprecedented things.
Russian nature is not just beautiful and diverse, but simply stunning. Forests, rivers, lakes...by the way, we will talk about one lake today. Few people have not heard of Lake Baikal. This lake is located in Eastern Siberia, namely in Irkutsk region. The area of this lake is 31,500 sq. km. But let's not go into details. Here are some interesting facts about Lake Baikal.
So, the most interesting facts about Lake Baikal:
In spring, water transparency on Lake Baikal reaches 40 meters
- Lake Baikal is considered the cleanest lake on the planet. The water here can be drunk even without pre-treatment, which is unusual for other lakes. It even tastes almost identical to distilled water, since it contains a lot of oxygen and few microorganisms.
- Baikal is the largest freshwater body of water in the world. About 1/5 of all water reserves are located in this lake.
- Not only is the lake huge and the cleanest, but it is also the deepest in the world. Maximum detected most deep point is 1642 m.
- Despite the fact that Baikal is a lake and not a sea, it still gets stormy here quite often and there are good waves.
- More than 300 rivers flow into Lake Baikal, but only one flows out - the Angara.
- Lake Baikal is more than 20 million years old, but despite its advanced age, it is considered young and is still expanding.
- Lake Baikal is rich in various fauna, which is no longer found in other bodies of water. For example fish Baikal omul It is found only in Lake Baikal, which is why it received its name. This is a fish from the salmon family with an average weight of 1-1.5 kg. You can also find sturgeon in this lake, but catching it is prohibited.
- The water in Baikal is very cold and even in the hot summer it does not warm up above 9-10 degrees. True, in some bays the water temperature can reach up to 20 degrees.
- The exact origin of the word “Baikal” is still not known. But the most common options are:
- from the word Bai Gal (Mongolian) - Rich fire
- from the word Bai Hai (Chinese) - North Sea
- from the word Bai Kul (Turkic) - Rich lake
Lake Baikal is natural heritage not only Russia, but the whole world, so we must take care of it, preserve its pristine nature. Baikal reveals to us many beautiful landscapes, looking at which will take your breath away...
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