List of rivers of Europe



This article lists the principal rivers of Europe with their main tributaries.

Scope
The border of Europe and Asia is here defined as from the Kara Sea, along the Ural Mountains and Ural River to the Caspian Sea. While the crest of the Caucasus Mountains is the geographical border with Asia in the south, Georgia, and to a lesser extent Armenia and Azerbaijan, are politically and culturally often associated with Europe; rivers in these countries are therefore included.

The list is at the outset limited to those rivers that are at least 250 km long from the most distant source, have a drainage basin (catchment area, watershed) of at least 10000 km2, or have a mean discharge (volume, flow) of at least 150 m3/s. Also included are a number of rivers (currently 47) that do not meet these criteria, but are very well known and/or nearly make the mark. Examples of these are the Arno, Ruhr, Saar, and Clyde. See the lists of rivers for individual countries linked to at the bottom of the page for smaller rivers.

The rivers are ordered from those flowing to the extreme northeast into the Arctic Ocean, following the coastline anticlockwise all the way to the southeastern coast of the Black Sea. Iceland and the British Islands are included via virtual connections with northern Norway and across the Strait of Dover and the North Channel, respectively. Finally, rivers draining into the Caspian Sea are listed from Azerbaijan to the Ural River.

The table can be sorted by each column. The first three columns give a ranking for (maximum) length, area and volume of those rivers flowing into the sea or an endorheic lake down to the cut-off values. No ranking of tributaries is attempted, as the concept is too contentious; for example, hydrologically the middle and upper Volga could be considered a tributary of the Kama, in which case it would be the fifth or sixth longest river in Europe. Instead it does not appear in the table at all.

The commercial and geopolitical importance of rivers is not ranked here. As a transportation artery, a river may unite a region commercially and economically, but major rivers, as barriers to travel, may also form political boundaries between states. The Danube, the second longest river in Europe, is notable for flowing through or past ten countries; the Rhine through or past six. The Volga, the longest river in Europe, unites a huge region of European Russia; eleven of the twenty largest cities in Russia lie on its banks. The Loire and the Po unite important regions within France and Italy respectively. The most important rivers in Europe include Rhone, Elbe, Oder, Tagus, Thames, Don and Dnieper, among others.

Caveats
The measurements shown are drawn from sources deemed most reliable, but still are often uncertain, especially when other sources disagree wildly. For example, the Siret in Romania and Ukraine is 726 km long with a basin of 44,000 km2 according to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 647 km (44,811 km2) according to a Romanian management plan for the Siret basin and 559 km (47,610 km2) according to the extensive transboundary rivers study by the Economic Commission for Europe.

Length estimates for rivers depend on a number of variables:
 * River Source - The choice of the source obviously has an impact. Here we attempt to list the most distant source. When that involves a tributary nearer the mouth of the river, the length of the nominal river is listed as well, if it meets the above criteria.
 * River End - Rivers flowing into estuaries have an arbitrary lower end. The channel of such a river through an estuary is usually included in the length when it is exposed at low tide.
 * Path Granularity - The estimate will be larger when the curves of the river are traced at a smaller scale.
 * Intermediate Bodies of Water - The length of a watercourse through a reservoir or lake is open to interpretation. For this table, when a source for the total length of a river system involving lakes is lacking, the shortest possible course through the lakes is used
 * Path Changes - Over time, a river's length can change through canalization, the creation of reservoirs, and natural changes in the water course.

The catchment areas are more consistent between sources. However, in low relief the watershed is less obvious, while underground connections (especially in karst systems) further complicate area measurements. Unless excellent sources are available, the areas below 70°N latitude are taken from the HydroBASINS project. The River Networks and Ramsar Sites Information Service websites provide convenient interfaces to assess the accuracy of many of the basins. Areas for rivers above 70°N are warned and found to be less reliable.

The listed multiyear mean discharges are even less reliable than the lengths. Underestimates are most common, as the gauging stations are often far above the mouth, so that only a fraction of the drainage basin is represented. On the other hand, the highest volume of a river may not be at the mouth due to water loss by human usage, diversion (e.g. through distributaries), evaporation, or underground drainage.

Rivers of Europe by length
The longest rivers in Europe with their approximate lengths (incomplete list):


 * 1) Volga -   3690 km
 * 2) Danube - 2860 km
 * 3) Ural   -    2428 km
 * 4) Dnieper - 2290 km
 * 5) Don   -     1950 km
 * 6) Pechora - 1809 km
 * 7) - Kama -  1805 km (the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge)
 * 8) - Oka   -   1500 km (the longest right tributary of Volga)
 * 9) - Belaya - 1430 km (tributary of Kama)
 * 10) Dniester - 1352 km
 * 11) Rhine   -   1236 km
 * 12) - Desna - 1130 km (major left tributary of Dnieper)
 * 13) Elbe   -   1091 km
 * 14) - Donets   -   1053 km (major right tributary of Don River)
 * 15) Vistula - 1047 km
 * 16) Tagus   - 1038 km
 * 17) Daugava - 1020 km
 * 18) Loire - 1012 km
 * 19) - Tisza   -    966 km (1358 km before 1880) (tributary of the Danube)
 * 20) Ebro - 960 km
 * 21) - Prut - 953 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 22) Neman - 937 km
 * 23) - Sava - 933 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 24) Meuse - 925 km
 * 25) Kuban - 906 km
 * 26) Douro - 897 km
 * 27) Mezen - 857 km
 * 28) Oder - 854 km
 * 29) Guadiana - 829 km
 * 30) Rhône - 815 km
 * 31) Southern Bug - 806 km (501 mi)
 * 32) Kuma - 802 km
 * 33) - Warta - 795 km (major tributary of Oder)
 * 34) Seine  - 776 km
 * 35) Mureș - 761 km
 * 36) Northern Dvina - 744 km
 * 37) - Vychegda - 744 km (major left tributary of Northern Dvina)
 * 38) - Drava - 710 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 39) Po - 682 km
 * 40) Guadalquivir - 657 km
 * 41) Bolshoy Uzen - 650 km
 * 42) - Siret - 647 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 43) - Maly Uzen - 638 km (tributary of Bolshoy Uzen)
 * 44) Terek - 623 km
 * 45) - Olt - 615 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 46) - Vashka - 605 km (major tributary of Mezen)
 * 47) Glomma - 604 km(Norway's longest and most voluminous river)
 * 48) Garonne - 602 km
 * 49) - Usa - 565 km (major tributary of Pechora)
 * 50) Kemijoki - 550 km
 * 51) - Great Morava - 550 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 52) - Moselle 546 km(longest left tributary of Rhine)
 * 53) - Main 525 km (longest right tributary of Rhine)
 * 54) Torne - 522 km
 * 55) Dalälven - 520 km
 * 56) - Inn 518 km(tributary of the Danube)
 * 57) Maritsa - 515 km
 * 58) Marne - 514 km (major tributary of Seine)
 * 59) Neris - 510 km
 * 60) Júcar - 509 km
 * 61) Dordogne - 483 km
 * 62) - Saône - 480 km (major tributary of Rhône)
 * 63) Ume - 470 km
 * 64) -- Mur - 464 km (tributary of Drava)
 * 65) Ångerman - 460 km
 * 66) - Klarälven - 460 km (major tributary of the Göta älv)
 * 67) Lule - 460 km
 * 68) Doubs - 453 km
 * 69) Gauja - 452 km
 * 70) Weser - 452 km
 * 71) Kalix - 450 km
 * 72) - Vindel River - 445 km (major tributary of the Ume River)
 * 73) Ljusnan - 430 km
 * 74) Indalsälven - 430 km
 * 75) - Vltava - 430 km (major tributary of the Elbe)
 * 76) Ponoy - 426 km
 * 77) Ialomița - 417 km
 * 78) Onega- 416 km
 * 79) -- Someș - 415 km (tributary of Tisza)
 * 80) Struma - 415 km
 * 81) Adige - 410 km
 * 82) Skellefte - 410 km
 * 83) Tiber - 406 km
 * 84) - Vah - 406 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 85) Pite - 400 km
 * 86) - Faxälven - 399 km (major tributary of the Ångerman)
 * 87) Vardar - 388 km
 * 88) Shannon - 386 km
 * 89) Charente - 381 km
 * 90) - Iskar - 368 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 91) - Tundzha - 365 km (major tributary of Maritsa)
 * 92) Ems - 362 km
 * 93) Tana - 361 km
 * 94) Scheldt - 360 km
 * 95) - Timiș - 359 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 96) - Genil - 358 km
 * 97) Severn - 354 km
 * 98) - Morava - 353 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 99) Luga - 353 km
 * 100) - Argeș - 350 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 101) Ljungan - 350 km
 * 102) Minho - 350 km
 * 103) Venta - 346 km
 * 104) Thames - 346 km
 * 105) - Drina - 346 km (major tributary of Sava, Danube)
 * 106) - Jiu -  339 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 107) Drin - 335 km
 * 108) Segura - 325 km
 * 109) - Osam - 314 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 110) - Arda - 290 km (tributary of Maritsa)
 * 111) - Yantra - 285 km (tributary of the Danube)
 * 112) - Bosna - 271 km (major tributary of Sava, Danube)
 * 113) Kamchiya - 254 km
 * 114) Mesta - 243 km

Rivers of Europe by discharge
This is an incomplete list of the largest rivers of Europe by discharge:
 * 1) Volga - 8,087 m3/s
 * 2) Danube - 6,450 m3/s
 * 3) Pechora - 4,380 m3/s
 * 4) - Kama - 3,800 m3/s (the longest left tributary of the Volga and the largest one in discharge)
 * 5) Northern Dvina - 3,330 m3/s
 * 6) Neva - 2,490 m3/s
 * 7) Rhine - 2,315 m3/s (Aare - 560 m3/s as major tributary of the Rhine, even larger than Rhine's contribution of 440 m3/s at their confluence in Koblenz; Waal - 1,500 m3/s as its main distributary)
 * 8) Rhône - 1,900 m3/s
 * 9) Dnieper - 1,700 m3/s
 * 10) - Sava - 1,609 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
 * 11) Po - 1,460 m3/s (largest river in Italy)
 * 12) - Usa - 1,310 m3/s (major tributary of Pechora)
 * 13) - Oka - 1,258 m3/s (the longest right tributary of the Volga)
 * 14) - Vychegda - 1,160 m3/s (major left tributary of Northern Dvina)
 * 15) Vistula - 1,080 m3/s
 * 16) Don - 890 m3/s
 * 17) Mezen - 890 m3/s
 * 18) - Vyatka - 890 m3/s (tributary of the Kama, Volga)
 * 19) Loire - 889 m3/s
 * 20) - Tisza - 863 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
 * 21) Elbe - 860 m3/s
 * 22) - Belaya - 858 m3/s (tributary of the Kama, Volga)
 * 23) - Svir - 790 m3/s (tributary of Neva, through Lake Onega)
 * 24) - Inn - 735 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
 * 25) Douro - 720 m3/s (Most voluminous river in Iberian Peninsula)
 * 26) Glomma - 709 m3/s (Norway's longest and most voluminous river)
 * 27) Neman - 678 m3/s
 * 28) Göta älv - 575 m3/s
 * 29) Lule älv - 505 m3/s
 * 30) Ångermanälven - 500 m3/s
 * 31) Indalsälven - 445 m3/s
 * 32) Umeälven - 443 m3/s
 * 33) Kuban River - 430 m3/s
 * 34) Maritsa - 383 m3/s
 * 35) Meuse - 357 m3/s
 * 36) Dniester - 313 m3/s
 * 37) - Neretva - 240 m3/s
 * 38) - Una - 240 m3/s (tributary of Sava, which is a tributary of the Danube)
 * 39) - Great Morava - 232 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
 * 40) Vardar - 170 m3/s
 * 41) - Bosna - 163 m3/s (tributary of Sava, which is a tributary of the Danube)
 * 42) - Vrbas - 132 m3/s (tributary of Sava, which is a tributary of the Danube)
 * 43) - Drina - 124 m3/s (tributary of Sava, which is a tributary of the Danube)
 * 44) - Arda - 77 m3/s (tributary of Maritsa)
 * 45) Struma - 76 m3/s
 * 46) - Iskar - 54 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
 * 47) - Yantra - 47 m3/s (tributary of the Danube)
 * 48) Mesta - 45 m3/s
 * 49) - Tundzha - 32 m3/s (tributary of Maritsa)
 * 50) Kamchiya - 26 m3/s