Amazing Trading Rivers of the World Quiz

Answer: Valdai Hills

The Volga is the main waterway in this great nation. Its importance to the Russian people stretches far back into the mists of time, leading to this river being given the affectionate title "Mother Volga". It contains many locks which were built to bypass reservoirs and dams. Trade is important upstream and downstream on this giant waterway, with building materials, fish, and grain ferried to its upper regions, and lumber shipped downstream.

Answer: Atlantic Ocean

The Congo is almost 3,000 miles long. Interestingly, it is the deepest river in the world, reaching depths of 750 feet. The area of Africa through which it makes its long journey badly lacks roads and railways, apart from the very minimum of these. The Congo then is the lifeline that holds the economy together. Products that are ferried along this river include copper, palm oil, sugar, coffee and cotton.

The Congo is also a vital source of produced electricity. Astonishingly, by the turn of the 21st century, it possessed forty hydropower plants along its journey, with more planned.

These produce thirteen percent of the world's entire hydropower generated electricity. With the potential for many more to be constructed, the very real possibility exists for the Congo to become a leading trader in this necessity of the modern world.

Answer: The cradle of Chinese civilisation

The history of this mighty river is fascinating. Its giant floods, its massive change of direction, its enormous cost of life - it's almost as though this massive waterway is a country in its own right. Just one little snippet in this regard: such is the amount of sediment deposited in some parts of the river, the resulting build up of the same actually causes the river to flow ABOVE the level of the lands it flows through. For thousands of years this stupendous river has seen the enormous development of agricultural products.

This allowed the increasing population along its banks to store and trade in these crops. With this then came the craftsmen and the artisans to add their products to an ever-growing trade along the river. Cites built around this economy grew from this. Today the river is an important source of hydroelectricity as well.

In 2010, more than 2,000 representatives of investment firms from all around the world converged in the "Shandong province to participate in the first Economic Trade Fair of the Yellow River Delta High-Efficient Eco-Economic zone".

Answer: Tibet

At 2,600 miles long, the Mekong rises in the highlands of Tibet and eventually, at the end of its incredible journey, empties into the South China Sea. Such is the force of its power during rainy seasons that the Mekong actually causes another river, the Tonle Sap, to reverse its direction. That's astonishing. Because it can be navigated for several hundred miles upstream from its mouth, the Mekong is known for the major trading port it has generated at Phnom Penh.

The United Nations, and China in particular, is working to make this river more accessible further upstream, and also working on the construction of several dams along its length to produce hydroelectric power.

The river is a valuable economic centre for trading on the international scene and "a major trading route linking...Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam".

Answer: Porcupine

Because of the weather conditions in that part of the world, the Yukon can only be navigated by river boats for three months of the year. It's such a shame, really, because it's one of the longest rivers on the continent of North America, and links the two giant countries of Canada and the U.S.A. During the Klondike gold rush days (1896-1903), it was the major means of transportation in the Yukon. Paddle steamers carrying trading goods were a never ceasing sight, whenever the weather permitted, on its waters.

This lasted until the Klondike highway was built. Villages built along the Yukon rely heavily on salmon for their commercial and subsistence value. This has generated a huge fishing industry in the area. Mining and tourism also play a part along the banks of this beautiful river. One could say the Yukon trades beauty, canoeing and fishing holidays for cash generation in this regard.

The future for the Yukon River will also eventually incorporate the supply of electricity generated by hydropower.

Answer: New South Wales and Victoria

The Murray is Australia's main river. It is joined along its length by the Darling River. Together these two rivers form what is known as the Murray-Darling river system which transverses a large area of south-eastern Australia. Their combined length of almost 3,000 miles drains a seventh of Australia's land mass and provides the life blood of almost fifty percent of Australia's agricultural production. Once these waters were the site of hundreds of paddle steamers ferrying goods and people up and down their length. Today, however, only a few historical paddle steamers are seen, and these are used for tourism purposes.

The others have all been replaced by excellent highways and "numerous hydroelectric plants and reservoirs. These include the massive Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme and the large Hume Reservoir.

The Murray Darling no longer provides the means by which trading goods were transferred to markets. It has instead, because of the huge irrigation areas it supplies, become the means by which our huge agricultural output is produced for internal consumption and external trade.

Answer: Turkey

Over its long course, the Euphrates flows through Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Today it is mostly unnavigable except for the smallest of water craft. In some parts it is now nothing more than a slow moving stream. Part of this lack of flow is due to the huge Anatolia Project in Turkey which involves 22 dams built upon the river in Turkey - with more planned for the future.

This will no doubt cause friction between Turkey and the other countries through which the river flows. In Syria, for example, the people of that country rely heavily on the Euphrates to provide irrigation for their agricultural products. To allow for the use of barges on the lower parts of the Euphrates to transport any goods that are still traded, a canal was built between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the 1960s. Today, however, the Euphrates depends more on a trade in hydro generated electricity, drinking water, and fishery industries than in the massive agricultural trading of old.

Answer: Toucan

The name translates to "Toucan's Beak". Many people today consider this river a branch of the mighty Amazon. In fact it isn't so, but a powerful, though much smaller, river in its own right. Rising in the mountainous area of Pireneus, the Tocantins flows through four of Brazil's states before it finally empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Replete with waterfalls and rapids along its course, today its main economic base is that which is generated by tourism and canoeing trips.

However, a series of locks have been built, with many more to be completed by 2015.

This will see the economic base to this river change dramatically in the future because it will enable the navigation of the river by much larger vessels.

Answer: River Clyde

The River Clyde runs through the major city of Glasgow and has been an area of trade and ship building since the early 18th century. Major dredging work had to take place before the river became navigable to large ships, initially dealing with the cotton and tobacco trade from the Americas. Over 25,000 ships have been built along the river, but trade began to decline after the Second World War.

The Clyde Waterfront Regeneration project, which was funded by investments totaling between £5-6 billion by the public and businesses, has seen the instigation of many works of improvement to the river's surrounds.

This is the United Kingdom's largest urban renewal project. It will see the development of "transport and leisure facilities, shops, and businesses throughout the area" as well as market gardens, garden centres and plants converting waste into energy.

It is expected that, on completion, it will have generated more than 50,000 new jobs.

Answer: Lava beds

The Columbia rises in the Rocky Mountains in Canada's British Columbia and flows north-west, south and then west again before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Oregon. Not only have lava beds contributed to the change of direction of this river over time, but the ice age also played a large part as well in the formation of the river's journey to the sea. Salmon fishing was an original trading industry generated by the Columbia. Fur traders then used the river to transport their goods to hungry markets further south. Farms and their subsequent crops followed these. From 1932 onwards, the building of dams and hydroelectric stations commenced along this beautiful waterway. Today these have an enormous generating capacity and this has had a "significant effect on the economic patterns of the Pacific Northwest".

It's sad to think however that the production of nuclear power and weapons is also taking place along the Columbia, leading to one area in particular being described as "the most contaminated site in the U.S.".