This list covers 72 rivers, starting with “Wabash River” and ending with “Wynoochee River.” They range from short tributaries that stretch just a few miles to major waterways that cross entire countries. Many of these rivers supply drinking water, generate hydroelectric power, support farming, and serve as routes for trade, transport, and recreation.

Rivers are natural channels of flowing water that carry rain, snowmelt, and groundwater from higher ground down toward a lake, sea, or another river. Every river belongs to a larger drainage system, feeding into bigger rivers or emptying directly into the ocean. Some, like New Zealand’s Whanganui River, hold deep cultural significance and even legal recognition as living entities.

Below you’ll find the table with the river, countries, length, type, and description.

River: the name of each river, so you can quickly find the one you’re looking for.

Countries: the country or countries each river flows through, helping you place it on a map.

Length (km): the river’s length in kilometers, giving you a sense of its scale.

Type: whether the river is a main river, tributary, or distributary, showing you how it fits into its wider river system.

Description: a short summary of what makes the river notable, from its history to its role in the surrounding landscape.

Rivers

RiverCountriesLength (km)Type
Wabash RiverUnited States810Tributary of the Ohio River
WaalNetherlands85Distributary of the Rhine
Waikato RiverNew Zealand425Main river
Wairau RiverNew Zealand169Main river
Whanganui RiverNew Zealand290Main river
WartaPoland808Tributary of the Oder
WearEngland96Main river
WeserGermany452Main river
WerraGermany292Tributary (forms the Weser)
WeyEngland56Tributary of the Thames
WharfeEngland96Tributary of the Ouse
White NileSouth Sudan, Uganda, Sudan3700Headwater tributary of the Nile
White VoltaBurkina Faso, Ghana800Tributary (forms the Volta)
Willamette RiverUnited States301Tributary of the Columbia River
Wisconsin RiverUnited States692Tributary of the Mississippi River
WithamEngland132Main river
WupperGermany116Tributary of the Rhine
WyeWales, England215Tributary of the Severn
WindrushEngland68Tributary of the Thames
WaveneyEngland90Main river
WandleEngland14Tributary of the Thames
WisseyEngland38Tributary of the Great Ouse
WylyeEngland24Tributary of the Hampshire Avon
WellandEngland105Main river
WensumEngland74Tributary of the Yare
WyreEngland45Main river
WeaverEngland61Tributary of the Mersey
Winooski RiverUnited States145Tributary of Lake Champlain
Wind RiverUnited States296Tributary of the Bighorn River
Wichita RiverUnited States209Tributary of the Red River
White RiverUnited States1158Tributary of the Mississippi River
Wabasca RiverCanada587Tributary of the Peace River
Wapiti RiverCanada314Tributary of the Peace River
Winnipeg RiverCanada235Main river
Winisk RiverCanada475Main river
Waterton RiverCanada82Tributary of the Belly River
Waini RiverGuyana150Main river
Wouri RiverCameroon160Main river
Wei RiverChina818Tributary of the Yellow River
Wu RiverChina1037Tributary of the Yangtze
Wuding RiverChina491Tributary of the Yellow River
Wardha RiverIndia528Tributary of the Godavari
Wainganga RiverIndia579Tributary of the Godavari
West Rapti RiverNepal224Tributary of the Ganges basin
Warrego RiverAustralia1380Tributary of the Darling River
Wimmera RiverAustralia400Main river
Weld RiverAustralia29Tributary of the Huon River
Wollondilly RiverAustralia82Tributary of the Nepean River
Wingecarribee RiverAustralia60Tributary of the Wollondilly River
Werribee RiverAustralia110Main river
Waipa RiverNew Zealand117Tributary of the Waikato River
Waimakariri RiverNew Zealand161Main river
Waitaki RiverNew Zealand209Main river
Waihou RiverNew Zealand175Main river
Wateree RiverUnited States306Tributary of the Santee River
Waccamaw RiverUnited States224Main river
Wando RiverUnited States40Tributary estuary near Charleston Harbor
Wapsipinicon RiverUnited States325Tributary of the Mississippi River
Washita RiverUnited States805Tributary of the Red River
Weber RiverUnited States201Main river (drains to Great Salt Lake)
Wenatchee RiverUnited States92Tributary of the Columbia River
White River (Vermont)United States92Tributary of the Connecticut River
White River (South Dakota)United States900Tributary of the Missouri River
White River (Colorado)United States253Tributary of the Green River
White River (Indiana)United States566Tributary of the Wabash River
Withlacoochee RiverUnited States264Main river
Wolf RiverUnited States285Tributary of the Fox River
Wood RiverUnited States137Tributary of the Big Wood River basin
Wallowa RiverUnited States89Tributary of the Grande Ronde River
Walla Walla RiverUnited States61Tributary of the Columbia River
Willapa RiverUnited States74Main river
Wynoochee RiverUnited States103Tributary of the Chehalis River

Descriptions

Wabash River
A historic Midwestern river forming much of the Indiana–Illinois border before joining the Ohio River; once a vital transport route for early settlers.
Waal
The busiest of the Rhine’s Dutch branches, carrying most of the river’s flow toward Rotterdam and the North Sea.
Waikato River
New Zealand’s longest river, flowing from Lake Taupo to the Tasman Sea and supplying much of the North Island’s hydroelectric power.
Wairau River
A braided river draining the Marlborough region, known for its wine-country valley and gravel floodplain.
Whanganui River
A culturally significant river with legal personhood status, winding through dense forest gorges on the North Island.
Warta
Poland’s third-longest river, flowing through Poznań before joining the Oder near the German border.
Wear
Flows through Durham and Sunderland to the North Sea, shaping the historic city of Durham’s dramatic peninsula.
Weser
Formed by the union of the Werra and Fulda, it flows north through Bremen to the North Sea.
Werra
Joins the Fulda at Hann. Münden to create the Weser; much of its course once traced the former East-West German border.
Wey
A gentle Surrey river that was among the first in England made navigable by locks in the 17th century.
Wharfe
A scenic Yorkshire Dales river known for the notorious rock formation called the Strid.
White Nile
One of the Nile’s two main sources, rising from the African Great Lakes region and joining the Blue Nile at Khartoum.
White Volta
Rises in Burkina Faso and merges with the Black Volta to form the Volta River in Ghana.
Willamette River
Flows north through Oregon’s most populous valley, including Portland, before joining the Columbia.
Wisconsin River
The longest river entirely within Wisconsin, carving the scenic Wisconsin Dells on its way to the Mississippi.
Witham
A Lincolnshire river that flows through the cathedral city of Lincoln on its way to the Wash.
Wupper
Gave its name to Wuppertal, home to the famous suspended monorail that runs above the river valley.
Wye
One of the UK’s most scenic rivers, forming part of the England-Wales border and inspiring Romantic-era poetry.
Windrush
A quiet Cotswolds river that gives its name to the “Windrush Generation” of Caribbean migrants who settled nearby.
Waveney
Forms part of the Norfolk-Suffolk border and feeds the Broads before reaching the North Sea.
Wandle
A short south London river that once powered dozens of mills during the Industrial Revolution.
Wissey
A chalk stream flowing through the Norfolk Breckland, prized by anglers for its clear water.
Wylye
A small Wiltshire chalk stream running through a valley of the same name.
Welland
Flows through the East Midlands and Lincolnshire fens to drain into the Wash.
Wensum
A designated chalk river flowing through the city of Norwich.
Wyre
A Lancashire river reaching the Irish Sea near the seaside town of Fleetwood.
Weaver
A Cheshire river historically used to transport salt from the county’s mining towns.
Winooski River
Flows through Vermont’s capital, Montpelier, and Burlington before emptying into Lake Champlain.
Wind River
Rises in Wyoming’s Wind River Range and becomes the Bighorn River after passing through a dramatic canyon.
Wichita River
A North Texas river that gave its name to the city of Wichita Falls.
White River
Flows from the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas through Missouri, known for trout fishing below its dams.
Wabasca River
An Alberta river flowing through boreal wilderness toward the Peace-Athabasca delta region.
Wapiti River
Flows from British Columbia into Alberta, joining the Smoky River near Grande Prairie.
Winnipeg River
Drains Lake of the Woods into Lake Winnipeg, historically a key fur-trade canoe route.
Winisk River
A remote Ontario river flowing north into Hudson Bay through largely untouched wilderness.
Waterton River
Flows out of Waterton Lakes National Park in the Canadian Rockies.
Waini River
A coastal river in northern Guyana that flows through dense rainforest to the Caribbean Sea.
Wouri River
Empties into the Gulf of Guinea at Douala, Cameroon’s largest port city and economic hub.
Wei River
The largest tributary of the Yellow River, flowing through the ancient capital region of Xi’an.
Wu River
Also called the Wujiang, this southwestern China river is heavily dammed for hydroelectric power.
Wuding River
Flows through the Loess Plateau, carrying large amounts of silt into the Yellow River.
Wardha River
Flows through Maharashtra and joins the Wainganga to eventually reach the Godavari River.
Wainganga River
A central Indian river that merges with the Wardha before continuing toward the Godavari basin.
West Rapti River
Flows through the Terai lowlands of Nepal, feeding into the larger Rapti-Ganges river system.
Warrego River
An intermittent Outback river that only flows strongly after heavy rain in Queensland and New South Wales.
Wimmera River
A Victorian river that terminates in a series of inland lakes rather than reaching the sea.
Weld River
A short but wild Tasmanian river flowing through protected temperate rainforest.
Wollondilly River
Feeds the Warragamba Dam, which supplies much of Sydney’s drinking water.
Wingecarribee River
A New South Wales river dammed to form the Wingecarribee Reservoir.
Werribee River
Flows through Melbourne’s western suburbs to Port Phillip Bay, passing the historic Werribee Park estate.
Waipa River
A North Island river that joins the Waikato near the town of Ngaruawahia.
Waimakariri River
A braided river north of Christchurch, prone to dramatic flooding across its wide gravel bed.
Waitaki River
A major South Island hydroelectric river fed by glacial lakes including Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo.
Waihou River
Flows through the Hauraki Plains, once a major route for logging kauri timber.
Wateree River
A South Carolina river formed below Lake Wateree dam, eventually joining the Santee.
Waccamaw River
A blackwater river flowing from North Carolina through the Carolina coastal plain to Winyah Bay.
Wando River
A tidal South Carolina river bordering Mount Pleasant near Charleston.
Wapsipinicon River
An Iowa river nicknamed “the Wapsi,” popular for canoeing through limestone bluff country.
Washita River
Flows across Oklahoma, feeding several reservoirs before joining the Red River.
Weber River
A Utah river flowing through a popular whitewater canyon before reaching the Great Salt Lake basin.
Wenatchee River
A Washington State river renowned for whitewater rafting through its namesake valley.
White River (Vermont)
A Vermont river valley river that flows into the Connecticut near White River Junction.
White River (South Dakota)
Carves the eroded Badlands landscape of South Dakota on its way to the Missouri River.
White River (Colorado)
Flows from Colorado’s Rocky Mountains into Utah, joining the Green River.
White River (Indiana)
Indiana’s own White River flows through Indianapolis before joining the Wabash.
Withlacoochee River
A Georgia-Florida border river winding through cypress swamps to the Suwannee River basin.
Wolf River
A Wisconsin river valued for its whitewater sections and sturgeon spawning runs.
Wood River
An Idaho river flowing through the Sun Valley resort area in the Sawtooth foothills.
Wallowa River
Flows through Oregon’s rugged Wallowa Mountains, feeding the Grande Ronde River.
Walla Walla River
Runs through the wine country of southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.
Willapa River
A short coastal Washington river emptying into Willapa Bay, known for oyster farming.
Wynoochee River
Drains the Olympic Mountains rainforest before joining the Chehalis River.
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