Water is fundamental for the proliferation of life on planet Earth, since living beings had their appearance in aquatic environments, that is, in water.
From this verification it is observed that both the fauna and flora beings as well as man have their respective organisms formed and composed of a large part of water, moreover, all these beings cannot survive without such a resource, thus, it is essential to any and all forms of life.
To meet the need for this resource it is necessary to remove it from nature, in it the waters are basically distributed in two groups: fresh water and salt water. Both are important for humanity, however, only fresh water is consumed by living beings. This is found in nature in rivers, lakes, streams, in addition to groundwater and those found in the atmosphere.
One of the main sources of water for societies are the rivers scattered around the world. Since the first civilizations, rivers have always been part of the development of important societies, thus, they were grouped in the vicinity of springs.
Rivers stand out in providing water to all societies in the world, they are generally responsible for providing the resource that is ingested by people and domestic animals, it is also used in the irrigation of crops, used in people's hygiene, in addition to enabling the flow in its waters through waterways, as well as fishing, nautical sports, leisure, energy production and others.
There are thousands of rivers, but some occupy a prominent place on the world stage, thus, the main rivers in the world are:
Mississippi: this is an important river that is located in the United States, along with its tributaries encompasses approximately 40% of the national territory, thus, is the most extensive of all existing in the parents.
Amazons: river that rises in the Andes mountain range and runs for 6,868 kilometers and holds at least 7,000 tributaries in Because of these characteristics, it is the largest river on the planet, in two aspects, both in volume and in extension.
Parana River: important river in South America, especially for Brazil and Paraguay, it was in the waters of this spring that one of the the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world, the Itaipu Power Plant, this undertaking caused the flooding of the seven falls that existed there.
Danube River: river that runs through nine countries on the European continent and has always played an important role in the societies it crossed, this is the second largest river on the continent.
Volga River: European river, 3,688 kilometers long, is the largest river on the continent, contributing to the flow of waterways, as its waters are suitable for transport of this nature.
Ganges River: river that rises at an altitude of 4,200 meters, this is considered by the Hindus as sacred because they believe their waters have the ability to purify the soul during a bath.
Huang-Ho or Yellow River: river that rises in the center of China, the name Yellow comes from the color of its waters. This is one of the most prominent rivers in Chinese territory.
Yang-Tse or Blue River: Chinese river that cuts through much of the territory from west to east.
Congo River: corresponds to the second largest river in volume of water, its course runs through predominantly African areas equatorial, thus, there is a large incidence of rain causing an increase in the volume of water of that river.
Nilo river: this is one of the best known in the world, in addition, it is the second largest. Important civilizations arose on the banks of this source.
Tiger and Euphrates: rivers of extreme importance to the Middle East region, mainly because it is an area of restricted water reserve.
By Eduardo de Freitas
Graduated in Geography