What is a river?

A river is a course of water that flows to another water source such as an ocean, lake or even another river.  A river is not exactly a landform but part of other landforms such as mountains, prairies and valleys.  They can even be parts of many different landforms at the same time.

A river has 3 main characteristics

1. Largest stream of water

2. Flows through land

3. Into lake, ocean or other body of water

Famous Rivers

There are many famous rivers in the world.  Probably the most famous in the United States is the Mississippi River.  The most famous river in the world is probably the world’s longest river, the African Nile.  It is 4,132 miles long.  The second largest river is the Amazon River in South America.

How are Rivers Formed?

Rivers are formed in many different ways.  One common way a river is formed is water feeding it from lakes.  The Mississippi starts from Lake Itasca in Minnesota.  It then is fed from other lakes and rivers during its trip to the gulf of Mexico.  A couple of other ways rivers are created are from mountain and glacier run off.

Rivers are not only created by other landforms but they also create landforms.  Rivers can create canyons such as the Grand Canyon, valleys and bluffs.  They do this through erosion and deposition.

Examples of River Landforms:

The Mississippi River
The Nile River

The Grand River

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