Length of river query -- Nile vs. Amazon
The Green Troll <http://www.rev.net/people/aloe/green/level.html>
from various sources, some of them contradictory.
We can only provide an epistemological answer to the following
question from a reader:
>If the Nile is 4180 miles and the Amazon is 3920 miles in length , why
>is the Nile listed as 6484Km and the Amazon as 6516 km? Why should the
>Amazon be longer in km?We are trying to establish the longest river in
>the world and this information seems contradictory.
Does anyone have a definitive answer?
-- Agua del Rio
Byron Bodo
>
>The information at <http://www.rev.net/people/aloe/river> is gathered
>from various sources, some of them contradictory.
>
>We can only provide an epistemological answer to the following
>question from a reader:
>
>>If the Nile is 4180 miles and the Amazon is 3920 miles in length , why
>>is the Nile listed as 6484Km and the Amazon as 6516 km? Why should the
>>Amazon be longer in km? We are trying to establish the longest river in
>>the world and this information seems contradictory.
>
>Does anyone have a definitive answer?
About a yr ago, Nat'l Geographic announced they found the precise
source of the Amazon.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1071000/1071838.stm
The news item claim about the Amazon being 3,900 mi long was likely
just a stock estimate. It doesn't appear that anyone had marched down
from source to outlet with a tape measure. The Amazon poses another
tricky problem, i.e., where does the river end & the Atlantic begin.
The Amazon has another quirk. The source of the Orinoco bifurcates
& feeds both rivers. Look up the Orinoco-Amazon Link / Casiquiare
Bifurcation.
-bb