Snipfact:

  In 1960, The Aral sea (kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) was 64,501 sq km (24,904 sq miles). Since then feeder rivers have been diverted for irrigation and the lake has shrunk to about 28,00 sq km (10,811 sq miles). It is now in danger of disappearing.

    Lake Baikal, Russia, contains 22,995 cubic km (5,517 cubic miles) of water. It has an average depth of 730 m (2,395 ft) and is 1,741m (5,712 ft) at its deepest point – deep enough to cover more than four Empire State Buildings piled on top of one another.

    Some geographers think that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are one lake. They have a combined area of 117,612 sq km (45,410 sq miles) and have a larger area than half the world’s countries.

  The Caspian Sea (Russia, Kazakhastan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran) has a volume of 78,200 cubic km (18,760 cubic miles) and an area of 374,000 sq km (144,402 sq miles), making it the world’s largest body of inland water. It would take 400 years for the entire contents of the Caspian to flow over Niagara Falls!

  The volume of water flowing from the mouth of a river varies according to the season. The figures given are highest averages. The outflow of the Amazon would fill almost two million baths every second. 1 Amazon flows into the South Atlantic, Brazil at 219,000 m 3 /sec 2 Ganges flows into the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh at 43,900 m 3 /sec 3 Zaire (Congo) flows into the South Atlantic, Angola/Congo at 41,800 m 3 /sec 4 Chang Jiang flows into the Yellow Sea, China at 31,900 m 3 /sec 5 Orinoco flows into the South Atlantic, Venezuela at 31,900 m 3 /sec 6 Plata-Parana-Grande flows into the South Atlantic, Uruguay at 25,700 m 3 /sec (Based on rate of discharge at mouth)

  During the last Ice Age, more than 30 per cent of the Earth’s surface was covered by glaciers –frozen rivers of ice that move very slowly. Today as much as 10 percent is covered with glaciers. The Lambert-Fisher Glacier is the longest in the world and was discovered (from the air) in 1956. The longest glacier in North America is the Hubbard Glacier, Alaska, Which measures 146 km (91 miles). The longest in Europe is the Aletsh Glacier, Switzerland, at 35 km (22 miles). 1 Lambert-Fisher, Antarctica – 515 km 2 Novaya Zemlya, Russia – 418 km 3 Arctic Institute, Antarctica – 362 km 4 Nimrod-Lennox-King, Antarctica – 290 km 5 Denman, Antarctica – 241 km

    Glaciers hold about 75 per cent of world’s fresh water. If all the glaciers melted, the world’s sea level would rise about 70 m (230 ft).

  The Great Lakes are a group of five freshwater lakes in North America on the border between the USA and Canada. Superior is so called because it is higher upstream that the others. Huron takes its name from the name French settlers gave to a local Indian tribe (from hure, a boar’s head). No one knows where the name Michigan comes from, but Erie and Ontario are both from the Iroquois language. Erie means cat, the animal the tribe used as its symbol. Ontario simply means beautiful lake. 1 Superior, Canada/USA –82,414 sq km 2 Huron, Canada/USA –59,596 sq km 3 Michigan, USA –58,016 sq km 4 Erie, Canada/USA –25,719 sq km 5 Ontario, Canada/USA –19,477 sq km

  Waterfalls form when a river or stream goes over a drop, often where softer rocks are eroded faster than harder ones. The drop is the distance from top to bottom of the waterfall. 1 Angel Falls, Carrao river, Venezuela – 979 m (longest single drop 807 m) 2 Tugela Falls, Tugela river, South Africa – 948 m 3 Ramnefjellsfossen, Josedal Glacier, Nesdale, Norway – 800 m 4 Mongefossen Falls, Monge river, Mongebekk, Norway – 774 m 5 Gocta Cataracta, Cocahuayco river, Peru – 771 m 6 Mutarazi Falls, Mutarazi river, Zimbabwe – 762 m 7 Yosemite Falls, Yosemite Creek California, USA – 739 m 8 Ostre Mardola Foss, Mardals rivver, Eikisdal, Norway – 656 m 9 Tyssestrengane Falls, Tysso river, Hardanger, Norway – 646 m 10 Cuquenan Falls, Arabopo river, Venezuela – 610 m

  The flow of many waterfalls varies according to the season, and some have been reduced by building dams to harness their power for hydro-electric plants.   The flow of the Boyoma waterfall is equivalent to 17m. litres (36m. gall) a second –enough to fill more than 140,000 baths per second, or enough for every person on Earth to have two baths a day! 1 Boyoma (Stanley), Democratic Republic of Congo –17,000 m 3 /sec 2 Khone,Laos* –11,330 m 3 /sec 3 Niagra (Horseshoe), Canada –5,830 m 3 /sec 4 Grande, Uruguay –4,500 m 3 /sec 5 Paulo Afonso, Brazil –2,800 m 3 /sec * Widest waterfall based on volume of water at 10.8 km

  The source of the Nile was discovered by Europeans in 1858 when British explorer John Hanning Speke reached Lake Victoria Nyanza, in what is now Burundi. About one hundred years later, in 1953, the source of the Amazon was identified as a stream called Huarco flowing from the Misuie glacier in the Peruvian Andes mountains. By following the Amazon from its source and up the Rio Para, it is possible to sail for 6,750 km, which is slightly more than the length of the Nile. But geographers do not consider the entire route to be part of the Amazon basin, so the Nile is considered the world’s longest river.     1 Nile * flows through Burundi, Dem, Rep of Congo, Egypt , Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda –6,695 km 2 Amazon flows through Peru and Brazil –6,448 km 3 Chang Jiang (Yangtze) flows through China –6,378 km 4 Amur flows through China and Russia –4,415 km * In 2006 the British and New Zealand Ascend the Nile team sailed from the mouth...