The Amazon is undeniably one of the world’s greatest rivers. It is the largest river by volume, and its basin is home to the Amazon Rainforest, the world’s richest and most-varied biological reservoir. The Amazon might also be the world’s longest river—depending on whom you ask. Most scientists believe the South American river is at least 4,000 miles (6,400 km) long—still shorter than the Nile, which is widely held to be the world’s longest river at about 4,132 miles (6,650 km). Others, however, have asserted that the Amazon is actually much longer. One would think a definitive measurement would be easy to obtain with modern technology; if its namesake online company can deliver cans of unicorn meat by drone, then determining the Amazon’s length shouldn’t be too hard. However, it’s actually proven very difficult.
The main problem has to do with the Amazon’s start and end points—rather basic elements when determining length. For centuries the source of the Amazon has been questioned. In fact, even the definition of what constitutes a source has been debated—though most scientists agree it is the farthest point of continuously flowing water that can travel to the river’s mouth. Faced with the Amazon’s complex river system, much of which is in remote areas, explorers have proposed various locations as the source, with Carhuasanta Creek at Mount Mismi in southern Peru being one of the more popularly accepted ones. (The Carhuasanta helps form the Lloqueta River, an extension of the Apurímac.)
Concerning its end point, the Amazon has three main outlets to the Atlantic Ocean: two on the northern side of Marajó Island in Brazil and one to the island’s south that joins the Pará River. Scientists have typically selected one of the northern outlets, since the Pará is an estuary of the Tocantins River, which is technically separate from the Amazon.
From the mid-20th century, there have been numerous attempts to determine the Amazon’s length. One of the more-notable recent studies was conducted by a group of Brazilians in 2007. They determined that Apacheta Creek—which is 6 miles (10 km) longer than the nearby Carhuasanta—is actually the Amazon’s source. For the river’s mouth, the researchers controversially chose the south side of Marajó Island, which added an additional 219 miles (353 km). In the end, the Amazon River’s total length was found to be 4,345 miles (6,992 km). Turning their attention to the Nile, the researchers concluded that the African river is about 4,258 miles (6,853 km), some 125 miles (200 km) longer than previously thought. However, their calculations meant that the Nile is still about 90 miles (145 km) shorter than the Amazon—making the latter the longest river.
This headline-making news was met with skepticism by many, especially since the Brazilian study was not published, which raised questions about the researchers’ methodology. In addition, other expeditions have subsequently proposed different sources for the Amazon. In fact, the only thing that seems certain is that the length of the Amazon River will continue to be uncertain.