To Witness The Power of Pure Water Quiz

Answer: Zero

The Amazon has the largest drainage basin in the world and discharges about 209,000 cubic metres per second or 55,000,000 US gal/second which is greater than the next seven largest rivers in the world combined. This represents 20% of the global ocean discharge from rivers.
The Amazon River is in the northern half of South America, flowing from west to east. It originates in the Andes Mountains in Peru then travels through Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Brazil before reaching the Atlantic Ocean 6400 kilometres or 4000 miles (approximately) later.

There are no capital cities on the river for two reasons: The river is actually a huge flood plain and along most of its length are protected conservation areas to preserve fauna and flora.

There are three major cities on the river: Iqitos in Peru, Manhaus in the centre of Brazil and Belem on the river's delta near the Atlantic coast. It is possible to reach Manhaus, a city of two million people, by road but it is an 11 hour bus journey from Boa Vista in northern Brazil or 36 hours from Venezuela. Iquitos, a city of nearly half a million, can only be reached by river or plane.

Another fascinating piece of trivia: Not one bridge crosses the Amazon in its entire 6400 km length. While any such bridge would be very long there are no plans to build one as the population around the river is very small and ferries are all that is required.

Answer: Juba

The Nile river has a total length of about 6,650 km (4,130 mi) between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river and is the only major African river than flows south to north.

The Nile, known as the White Nile above Khartoum, starts in Burundi, flows into Lake Victoria and flows northward where it meets the Blue Nile (which commences in Ethiopia) at Khartoum the capital of Sudan. It continues as the Nile, passing through Cairo before it reaches the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria.

Answer: Kinshasa and Brazzaville

The Bantu people occupied both sides of the Congo River until the Scramble for Africa occurred in the 1800s and the French colonised one side of the river and the Belgians the other side. When de-colonialism occurred in the 1960, they became the Republic of Congo and The Republic of Zaire which later became the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Congo River flows entirely within the two counties despite its total length of 4371 km. The river flows north from Katanga Province to the town Bumba where it turns south-west, passes the "twin capitals" before it reaches the Atlantic shortly afterwards. It is the only river in the world that crosses the equator twice. Whilst the Congo is navigable for much of its length, Livingstone Falls, a series of rapids and gorges downstream from the capitals, mean the river can not be navigable across its entire length. The Congo is also the deepest in the world with a depth exceeding 720 ft (220m) in places.

Buenos Aires in Argentina and Montevideo in Uruguay are situated opposite each other on the River Plate. However this 'river' is actually an estuary so is not comparable with its two African counterparts.

Answer: Hong Kong, Macau and Guangzhou

Beijing is located on the Han River system just north of the Yellow River though the Han does not connect with the Yellow River. Shanghai and Ningpo are located on the Yangtze River delta south of Beijing but north of Hong Kong. Taipei is the capital of Taiwan, an island.

The Pearl River delta is where the Pearl River splits into the three rivers of the delta (North, East and West Rivers) as it empties into the South China Sea. This area contains the province of Guangdong where the provincial capital alone, Guangzhou, has a metropolitan population exceeding 25 million. Hong Kong is not a capital but a Special Administrative Region, (as is the much smaller nearby Macau on the other side of the estuary). Hong Kong has over seven million people and there are eleven other cities in the region with a population exceeding one million people each.
The population has boomed because of the favourable port location which means the infrastructure around the ports increased to match the demand. The delta is known as the world's workshop and over a quarter of all manufactured goods for China are made here,

Answer: Tokyo

The Sumida River which flows through Tokyo is an indicator of the progress of Tokyo itself. It is only 27 km long but the port of Tokyo is at its seaboard southern end. In the 1800s, the river was a playground with sailing and swimming commonplace, unlike the polluted rivers of industrial age Europe.

After the rebuilding of Tokyo after WWII, the banks were crammed with factories polluting the river, killing the fish. Fireworks festivals have been held here annually for over 200 years but in 1961, they were cancelled because the pollution stench was so bad.

This prompted a clean up. The factories have been moved out and replaced with office blocks and parks. Fish have returned to the waters and tourist operators ply their trade. A feature of the river is there is a bridge every kilometre of the 27 km route.

A very pleasant way to escape the frenetic energy of the city is to catch a boat and examine the bridges as you saunter past them on the way to the fish market - another popular attraction.

Answer: Phnom Penh and Vientiane

At 2,700 miles (4,350 km) long, the Mekong River is the longest river in Southeast Asia, the seventh longest in Asia, and the twelfth longest in the world. It starts in the southeastern Chinese province of Qinghaithen through the Tibet Autonomous Region after which it forms part of the border between Myanmar and Laos, then the border between Laos and Thailand.

The river then flows through Laos, Cambodia, and briefly Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea south of Ho Chi Minh City. There are two capitals on the river: Vientiane (Viangchan), the capital of Laos, and Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The river, navigable to near Tibet has always been a major transport and commerce route and is one of the reasons the lower four countries have such a high population density.

Answer: Molonglo

Canberra was a planned city located between Melbourne and Sydney and became the capital in 1927. It was not sited in its location as it was roughly halfway between Sydney and Melbourne, but for all the colonies to agree to federation the capital had to be "No less than 100 miles from Sydney". Walter Burley-Griffin, an American, was chosen to plan the new city. One of the reasons this site was chosen was the river could be made into an 'ornamental feature'.

The river was dammed downstream creating an east-west lake which bisected the major road which ran north south with the city centre at one end and the Parliament House (site) at the other.

The river is not long, 135km or 71 miles long but it drops over 2000 feet from its headwaters in the Great Dividing range to its merge as a tributary of the larger Murrumbidgee River.

The river may be small but many of Australia's major decisions are made in close proximity to it.

Answer: 4

The Danube is the second largest European river after the Volga. Over its 2,850 km (1,770 mi) south east journey from the Black Forest of Germany to the Black Sea, it passes through another nine countries after Germany: Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine.

The four national capitals are Vienna (Austria), Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary) and Belgrade (Serbia). The river is navigable as far as Germany and as such has been an important trade route and cultural centre for centuries.

It is, arguably, Europe's most important route, though the only major port is in Romania near its mouth.

Answer: Each is located at the confluence of two major rivers

Columbus, the state capital of Ohio, is at the confluence of Scioto and Olentangy Rivers. The Scioto flows west until it meets the Ohio River on the Kentucky border.
California's capital, Sacramento, is located on Sacramento River, just downstream of its confluence with the American River. The Sacramento is the largest in California and drains into San Francisco Bay.
Winnipeg, capital of Manitoba, is situated at the confluence of the red River and its tributary, the Assiniboine River, the latter of which is prone to flooding.
At Ottawa, the Rideau River flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River 146km or 91 miles later by waterfall. The Ottawa River continues eastward where it forms the border in part between Ontario and Quebec before it meets the St Lawrence River near Montreal.

Answer: Mississippi 2, Missouri 3

The Missouri River, at 2,540 miles long, flows east then south-east where it enters the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis, which is not the state capital for Missouri. The Mississippi river source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota. The river flows generally south for 2,320 miles to the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana.

It runs through or along ten states with the state capitals of St Paul and Baton Rouge being located at the two 'ends' of the river in Minnesota and Louisiana respectively. The three state capitals on the Missouri are Jefferson City in Missouri; Bismarck, North Dakota; and Pierre, South Dakota.

Helena lies within ten miles of the Missouri River in Montana but it played no role in its settlement.