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List of drainage basins by area

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This is a list of ocean, mediterranean sea, river, and lake drainage basins larger than 400,000 square kilometers (154,440 square miles), sorted by area. It includes drainage basins which do not flow to the ocean (endorheic basins). It does not include the drainage basins for oceanic seas, as the boundaries of these seas are set by convention and do not necessarily correspond to hydrologically coherent areas.

The oceans drain approximately 83% of the land in the world. The other 17% – an area larger than the basin of the Arctic Ocean – drains to internal endorheic basins.

Note that there are substantial areas of the world that do not "drain" in the commonly understood sense. In Arctic deserts much of the snowfall sublimates directly into the air and does not melt into flowing water, while in equatorial deserts precipitation may evaporate before joining any substantial water course. However, these areas can still be included in topographically defined basins if one considers the hypothetical flow of water (or ice), and thus nutrients or pollutants, over the surface of the ground (or ice sheet); this is the approach taken here. For example, the Antarctic ice sheet can be divided into basins [2], and most of Libya is included the Mediterranean Sea basin even though almost no water from the interior actually reaches the sea.

Basins

Continent color key
Africa Asia Europe North America Australia South America Antarctica
Basin Type Continent Drains to Basin Area Notes
Atlantic Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 69,800,000 km² 26,900,000 mi² [1]
Arctic Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 23,100,000 km² 8,900,000 mi² [1]
Pacific Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 20,300,000 km² 7,800,000 mi² [1]
Indian Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 19,400,000 km² 7,500,000 mi² [1]
Southern Ocean Ocean Antarctica n/a 14,000,000 km² 5,400,000 mi² [1] [2]
(Eurafrican) Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Atlantic Ocean[3] 8,500,000 km² 3,300,000 mi² [1]
American Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Atlantic Ocean[3] 6,200,000 km² 2,400,000 mi² [1]
Amazon River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 6,144,727 km² 2,372,492 mi²
Congo River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 3,730,474 km² 1,440,344 mi²
Caspian Sea Lake Asia/Europe n/a (endorheic basin) 3,626,000 km² 1,400,000 mi²
Nile River Primary River Africa Mediterranean Sea 3,254,555 km² 1,256,591 mi²
Mississippi-Missouri River Primary River North America Gulf of Mexico 3,202,230 km² 1 236 388 mi² [4]
Ob River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 2,972,497 km² 1,147,688 mi²
Paraná River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 2,582,672 km² 997,175 mi²
Yenisei River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 2,554,482 km² 986,291 mi²
Lake Chad Lake Africa n/a (endorheic basin) 2,497,918 km² 964,452 mi²
Black Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Mediterranean Sea[3] 2,400,000 km² 930,000 mi² [1]
Lena River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 2,306,772 km² 890,650 mi²
Niger River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 2,261,763 km² 873,272 mi²
Amur River Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 1,929,981 km² 745,170 mi²
Mackenzie River Primary River North America Arctic Ocean 1,743,058 km² 672,998 mi²
Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 1,722,155 km² 664,927 mi²
Baltic Sea Mediterranean sea Europe Atlantic Ocean[3] 1,700,000 km² 660,000 mi² [1]
Irtysh River Tributary River Asia Ob River 1,673,470 km² 646,130 mi²
Aral Sea Lake Asia n/a (endorheic basin) 1,618,750 km² 625,000 mi²
Madeira River Tributary River South America Amazon River 1,485,218 km² 573,446 mi²
Volga River Primary River Europe Caspian Sea 1,410,994 km² 544,788 mi²
Persian Gulf Mediterranean sea Asia Indian Ocean[3] 1,400,000 km² 540,000 mi² [1]
Zambezi River Primary River Africa Indian Ocean 1,332,574 km² 514,510 mi²
Missouri River Tributary River North America Mississippi River 1,331,810 km² 514,215 mi² [4]
Paraguay River Tributary River South America Paraná River 1,168,540 km² 451,176 mi²
Lake Eyre Basin Lake Australia n/a (endorheic basin) 1,200,000 km² 460,000 mi²
Tarim Basin endorheic basin Asia n/a (endorheic basin) 1,152,447 km² 444,962 mi²
Australasian Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Pacfic / Indian Oceans[3] 1,100,000 km² 420,000 mi² [1]
Nelson River Primary River North America Hudson Bay 1,093,442 km² 422,180 mi²
Indus River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 1,081,733 km² 417,659 mi²
Murray River Primary River Australia Southern Ocean 1,072,000 km² 413,900 mi²
St. Lawrence River Primary River North America Atlantic Ocean 1,049,621 km² 405,261 mi²
Ganges River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 1,016,104 km² 392,320 mi²
Great Slave Lake Lake North America Mackenzie River 976,200 km² 376,913 mi²
Orinoco River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 953,598 km² 368,186 mi²
Huang He Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 945,065 km² 364,892 mi²
Orange River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 941,421 km² 363,485 mi²
Kasai River Tributary River Africa Congo River 925,172 km² 357,211 mi²
Yukon River Primary River North America Bering Sea 847,642 km² 327,276 mi²
Mekong River Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 805,627 km² 311,054 mi²
Great Lakes Lake North America St. Lawrence River 800,114 km² 308,926 mi²
Danube River Primary River Europe Black Sea 795,686 km² 307,216 mi²
Syr Darya Primary River Asia Aral Sea 782,669 km² 302,190 mi²
Tigris-Euphrates Rivers Primary River Asia Persian Gulf 765,831 km² 295,689 mi²
Tocantins River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 764,183 km² 295,053 mi²
Okavango River/Okavango Delta Primary River Africa n/a (endorheic basin) 721,277 km² 278,487 mi²
Rio Negro Tributary River South America Amazon River 720,114 km² 278,038 mi²
Colorado River (U.S.) Primary River North America Gulf of California 703,132 km² 271,481 mi²
Kolyma River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 679,908 km² 262,514 mi²
Columbia River Primary River North America Pacific Ocean 657,490 km² 253,858 mi²
Brahmaputra River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 651,334 km² 251,481 mi²
Red Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Indian Ocean[3] 620,000 km² 230,000 mi² [1]
São Francisco River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 617,812 km² 238,539 mi²
Ubangi River Tributary River Africa Congo River 613,202 km² 236,759 mi²
Rio Grande Primary River North America Gulf of Mexico 608,023 km² 234,759 mi²
Lake Baikal Lake Asia Angara River 571,000 km² 220,000 mi²
Chari River Primary River Africa Lake Chad 548,747 km² 211,872 mi²
Amu Darya Primary River Asia Aral Sea 534,764 km² 206,474 mi²
Dnieper River Primary River Europe Black Sea 531,817 km² 205,336 mi²
Xingu River Tributary River South America Amazon River 520,292 km² 200,886 mi²
Lake Balkhash Lake Asia n/a (endorheic basin) 512,010 km² 197,688 mi²
Viljuj River Tributary River Asia Lena River 507,874 km² 196,091 mi²
Kama River Tributary River Europe Volga River 507,000 km² 195,754 mi²
Jubba River Primary River Africa Indian Ocean 497,655 km² 192,146 mi²
Great Basin   North America n/a (endorheic basin) 492,000 km² 190,000 mi² [5]
Ohio River Tributary River North America Mississippi River 490,603 km² 189,423 mi²
Tapajos River Tributary River South America Amazon River 486,792 km² 187,951 mi²
Songhua River Tributary River Asia Amur River 459,745 km² 177,509 mi²
Don River Primary River Europe Black Sea 458,703 km² 177,106 mi²
Arkansas River Tributary River North America Mississippi River 435,122 km² 168,002 mi²
Saskatchewan River Tributary River North America Lake Winnipeg 435,000 km² 168,000 mi²
Tobol River Tributary River Asia Irtysh River 426,000 km² 164,480 mi²
Limpopo River Primary River Africa Indian Ocean 421,168 km² 162,614 mi²
Senegal River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 419,659 km² 162,031 mi²
Ayeyarwady River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 413,674 km² 159,720 mi²
Pearl River Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 409,458 km² 158,093 mi²
Volta River Primary River Africa Indian Ocean 407,093 km² 157,179 mi²
Colorado River (Argentina) Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 402,956 km² 155,582 mi²
Central Asian Internal Drainage Basin Asia n/a (endorheic basin)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l This is an approximate value based on geospatial data from the USGS.[1] Approximate values for the area of Greenland and Antarctica were added to this data.
  2. ^ The value listed here assumes that the entire continent drains to the ocean, such as through the many ice streams, outlet glaciers, and seasonal glacial streams along the coast. However, there are many small endorheic lakes, for example in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Note that the connection between a mediterranean sea (or a large estuary) and its parent ocean usually involves simultaneous inflow and outflow in the lower and upper water layers of the connecting channel. Depending on the salinity of the sea, the upper layer may either flow into or out from the ocean; the bottom layer will flow the opposite direction.
  4. ^ a b The Mississippi is not the longest watercourse in the Mississippi-Missouri watershed; the combination of the Lower Mississippi and the Missouri is longer. The Upper Mississippi River could thus be seen as a tributary of that river. See list of rivers by length for more details.
  5. ^ The Great Basin is not one unified drainage basin. The largest basin within it drains to the Great Salt Lake; this basin has an area of 54,390 km² (21,000 mi²).

See also

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