Publisher's Synopsis
Representing the top ten rivers in the world, this book is part of a series which depicts the greatest examples of geographic features placing them all in a world context. As well as learning about individual rivers the reader learns how they were formed and how they are changing still.;The book begins with an explanation of the origins of rivers, and the various geographical features - the source, tributaries, waterfalls, gorges, delta and mouth. It describes man's use of rivers from transport to hydroelectricity and his misuse in the form of pollution. A double-page map highlights the top ten river systems of the world giving their length in kilometres.;The Nile being the longest river in the world, is illustrated first showing its effects on both ancient and modern man as it travels all the way through from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea. The Amazon is not as long as the Nile but it carries more water as it surges through the rain forest from its source high in the Andes mountains of Peru. More than 700 smaller rivers join the Chang Jiang as is courses its way through the East China Sea near Shanghai. Where this river rushes through gorges the Chinese have built one of China's biggest dams the Gezhouba. Nearly half of China's people live near this river. The Mississippi, in America has its source in the Rocky Mountains and heads south towards the Gulf of Mexico. Just north of St Louis the Missouri pours into the Mississippi and then winds on for New Orleans, one of the busiest ports in the world.;Flowing from the south of Russia, near Mongolia to its northern coast is the Yenisei which eventually feeds the Lake Baikal. This lake holds about one-fifth of all fresh water on Earth. There are many dams on the Yenisei and in 1994 large oil spillages caused much environmental damage.;The Huang He begins on a high plateau and flows right across China. The soil around this river is made fertile by the river's muddy silt. This makes it ideal farming land, and Chinese civilizations began here, about 9000 years ago.;The entire length of the river Ob in Siberia is frozen solid each winter, but in summer it is an important route for carrying grain and cattle. In Brazil, the Paranaiba joins the Rio Grande and becomes the Parana. In 1991 the world's biggest dam began making electricity from the waters of this river. Unlike the Nile, the Zaire flows through tropical rainforest and grassland on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.;The tenth longest river is also in Siberia, the Lena. This book also includes information on main rivers such as the Murray-Darling, the Thames, Colorado and the Ganges.
