RIVERS OF THE WORLD A SOCIAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCEBOOK RIVERS OF THE WORLD A SOCIAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCEBOOK James R. Penn Santa Barbara, California—Denver, Colorado—Oxford, England © 2001 by James R. Penn All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Penn, James R. Rivers of the world : a social, geographical, and environmental sourcebook / James R. Penn. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index (p. ). ISBN 1-57607-042-5 (hardcover : alk. paper) — 1-57607-579-6 (ebook) 1. Rivers—Encyclopedias. I. Title. GB1201.4 .P46 2001 910'.91693—dc21 2001004556 06 05 04 03 02 01—10987654321 This book is also available on the World Wide Web as an ebook. Visit abc-clio.com for details. ABC-CLIO, Inc. 130 Cremona Drive, P.O. Box 1911 Santa Barbara, California 93116–1911 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Manufactured in the United States of America For Laura You cannot step into the same river twice. Heraclitus Rivers are more than hydrology; they have lives and souls... Louise Wagenknecht CONTENTS Preface, xiii Introduction, xv Maps, xvii RIVERS OF THE WORLD: A SOCIAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SOURCEBOOK Aare, 1 Brahmaputra, 30 Achelous, 2 Bug, Western, 31 Adda, 3 Adige, 4 Casiquiare, 33 Adonis, 5 Chambal, 34 Alpheus, 6 Chao Phraya, 35 Amazon, 7 Chari, 37 Amu Darya, 9 Chenab, 37 Amur, 11 Churchill, 38 Angara, 13 Clyde, 39 Aras, 15 Colorado, 41 Arno, 15 Columbia, 44 Assiniboine, 18 Colville, 48 Atbara, 19 Congo, 50 Atchafalaya, 19 Connecticut, 53 Balsas, 23 Dal, 57 Beas, 23 Danube, 58 Beni, 25 Darling, 61 Benue, 25 Dee, 63 Big Sioux, 26 Delaware, 63 Blue Nile, 27 Dnieper, 65 Boyne, 29 Dniester, 67 ix x CONTENTS Don, 68 Liffey, 136 Dordogne, 70 Limpopo, 137 Douro, 72 Loire, 138 Drava, 73 Mackenzie, 143 Earn, 75 Madeira, 144 Ebro, 75 Magdalena, 145 Elbe, 77 Mahaweli Ganga, 146 Essequibo, 79 Maritsa, 147 Euphrates, 80 Marne, 148 Medway, 149 Forth, 83 Mekong, 150 Fraser, 84 Menderes, 152 Meuse, 154 Gambia, 87 Mississippi, 155 Ganges, 88 Missouri, 158 Garonne, 90 Mohawk, 161 Gila, 92 Morava, 163 Glomma, 93 Moselle, 164 Green, 94 Murray, 165 Guadalquivir, 95 Murrumbidgee, 167 Hadhramaut, 99 Narmada, 169 Hooghly, 100 Negro, 170 Huang He (Yellow), 102 Niagara, 170 Hudson, 105 Niger, 173 Humber, 107 Nile, 176 Humboldt, 108 Northern Dvina, 179 Illinois, 111 Ob’,181 Indus, 113 Odra, 183 Irrawaddy, 115 Ogooué, 184 Irtysh, 117 Ohio, 185 Oka, 187 James, 119 Okavango, 188 Jhelum, 122 Omo, 189 Jordan, 122 Orange, 190 Orinoco, 191 Kabul, 125 Orontes, 193 Kennebec, 126 Ottawa, 194 Kizil Irmak, 127 Klarälven, 128 Paraguay, 197 Krishna, 129 Paraná, 198 Paranaíba, 200 La Paz, 133 Peace, 201 Lena, 134 Penobscot, 202 CONTENTS xi Plata, 204 Stikine, 267 Platte, 205 Susquehanna, 268 Po, 206 Sutlej, 271 Potomac, 209 Swan, 272 Pripet, 211 Syr Darya, 274 Ravi, 213 Tagus, 277 Red (China), 214 Tarim, 278 Red (of the North), 215 Tay, 279 Red (of the South), 216 Tennessee, 280 Rhine, 218 Thames, 282 Rhône, 221 Tiber, 285 Rhumel, 224 Tigris, 286 Rio Grande, 224 Trent, 287 Rubicon, 227 Tweed, 288 Ruhr, 229 Vaal, 291 Saar, 231 Vardar, 292 Sacramento, 232 Vistula, 293 Saint Lawrence, 235 Volga, 294 Salt, 238 Salween, 239 Wei, 297 Sambre, 241 Weser, 298 San Joaquin, 242 Western Dvina, 298 San Juan, 245 White Nile, 299 São Francisco, 246 Willamette, 301 Saône, 247 Wisconsin, 303 Saskatchewan, 248 Savannah, 249 Xi He, 307 Scheldt, 251 Seine, 252 Yalu, 311 Sénégal, 254 Yamuna, 312 Severn, 255 Yangtze, 313 Shannon, 256 Yenisey, 315 Shatt al Arab, 257 Yukon, 316 Shenandoah, 259 Snake, 261 Zambezi, 319 Somme, 264 Ziz, 321 Songhua Jiang, 266 Glossary of River Terms, 323 Bibliography, 331 Index, 339 About the Author, 357 xii PREFACE Reference works arranged in alphabetical order who was zipping by on the fast-track Internet and have been a staple of the book business for some eluding the print-bound coyote. The publisher of two and a half centuries, ever since a group of this book, ABC-CLIO, has been at the forefront of French philosophes had the audacity to try to innovations in reference books with its Historical encompass all of human understanding within the Abstracts series and interesting thematic reference bindings of volumes they chose to call encyclope- volumes, and this book is being offered as either a dias. The name stuck, and more importantly the hardcover book or an ebook. idea, including the Enlightenment belief that the This volume is a comprehensive treatment of widely disseminated printed word had a progres- the major rivers of the world in their physical, sive power and shaping influence in the world. cultural, and environmental settings. All of the Although many would consider the idea to treat all great rivers of the world—the Nile, Niger, Amazon, of human knowledge in a single set of reference Mississippi, Yangtze, and many others—are works to have reached its physical limitations with included here, as well as many lesser rivers, includ- the publication of the 11th edition of the ing some comparatively small waterways that illus- Encyclopedia Britannica (1911), the usefulness and trate important themes or represent significant commercial viability of the treatment of specific trends. This raises the question: What were my topics, of which this book is an example, have been criteria for selecting rivers to include in this demonstrated over and over again. volume? I must confess to a certain amount of No one can read the future, of course, but the arbitrariness, but I tried to consider the size of the use of the Internet for research and the reading of river and its drainage basin, the frequency with books made available as digital files or printed on which the river was referred to in historical demand at individually controlled sites are signifi- accounts, and the role it plays in the increasingly cant trends that will inevitably affect the course of decisive relationship to human activities in the book publishing. As I was writing this book, I present. For practical reasons I operated within the happened to read a provocative review of a new constraint that I didn’t want the number of entries reference book on the American West that to exceed about 200. To write as complete an acknowledged the excellence of the volume but at account as I wanted to, and to give each river an the same time questioned its need in a digital age, individual description with a personal style rather comparing the editor and authors to absurd Wile than writing in the monochromatic style of, say, a E. Coyotes in the Roadrunner cartoon series, dictionary, I needed to keep my entry list within forever missing the electronically fast desert bird bounds. Without such limits it would have taken xiii xiv PREFACE even a team of writers and editors at a large press most essential reference work, which I recommend many years to complete this project in a reasonable each reader have at hand while perusing this period of time. As it is, the research, writing, and volume. An atlas will indicate the location of the editing of this work required about three years of myriad streams, towns, and other places referred to my time and proved every bit as daunting as my in the text beyond the ones shown on my few first book. In short, I included all of the great rivers maps, and show other relevant locational and situ- of the world and then added rivers that were of ational material that the text doesn’t treat. particular significance for cultural, historical, or It is always a pleasure to acknowledge the environmental reasons, all within the constraints of numerous debts incurred in the writing of a book. I not exceeding 200 entries. would first like to thank Alicia Merritt at ABC- The famous nineteenth-century French writer CLIO, who was much more than my acquisition Jules Verne once read an account of his life and editor; she was the one who originally suggested the work that was written late in his career. He noted idea for this book and frequently offered encour- that the Italian critic Mario Turiello had failed agement along the way. Dr. H. Jesse Walker, Boyd to comprehend Verne’s purpose, which the Professor of Geography at Louisiana State Frenchman felt had been “the teaching of geogra- University, generously contributed a number of phy, the description of the earth. For each new excellent photos to illustrate this book, as he did my country I had to invent a new story. The characters first. Jesse influenced the text of the book as well, are only secondary, whatever you may think.” At especially in matters concerning coastal processes in the risk of being overly subtle and exposing myself deltas. I am grateful to Jesse for showing me articles to the charge of comparing my abilities to those of and reprints based on his long and productive Verne, I am tempted to say that my purpose isn’t career as a coastal geomorphologist with a special so much the recounting of a large quantity of interest in the Arctic. I am glad to acknowledge two geographical information as the telling of a story colleagues of mine going back to graduate school or at least opening up numerous anecdotal lines. If days, Pascal Girot and Kent Mathewson, who the author of such popular novels as Journey to the contributed information that was useful in writing Center of the Earth and Around the World in Eighty the entries respectively on the San Juan on the Days wanted to teach themes about the earth’s border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua and the regions through his spellbinding tales, I am trying Casiquiare in northern South America.