Rivers are generally characterized by their long, meandering courses that flow through landscapes before spilling into oceans, lakes, or bigger rivers. Nonetheless, not all rivers are long; there are some that are incredibly short, and this leads to questioning and debate as to what is a river and which one of them is the shortest in the world.
The Roe River: Long Ago Identified as the Shortest
Montana's Roe River in the USA has been known worldwide as the shortest river according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It stretches a mere 201 feet (61 meters), linking Giant Springs to the Missouri River. This was officially noted in the 1989 Guinness Book of World Records, with the Roe River uniquely described as the shortest river compared to usual rivers.
The D River and the Debate
Prior to the Roe River's designation, the name was attributed to the D River in Lincoln City, Oregon, at a length of around 440 feet (134 meters). Both rivers have suffered from different measurements over the years, which has resulted in disagreements between the residents regarding which river should retain the official title of being the shortest. Since this controversy has continued, Guinness World Records eliminated the "world's shortest river" category in 2006 in order not to keep causing controversy.
Even Shorter Rivers Around the World
Beyond the Roe and D Rivers, other rivers claim even shorter lengths. The Tamborasi River in Indonesia and the Kovasselva River in Norway have both been measured at about 65.6 feet (20 meters) long. These measurements challenge traditional perceptions of what constitutes a river, given their extremely short courses.
Defining a River
The definition of a river is broad and somewhat flexible. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a river is defined as continuous moving water in the form of a current, supplied by upland sources, and delivering water into an ocean, another river, lake, or watershed. This implies that very short waterways can be classed as rivers provided that they fulfill these conditions. They usually merge into streams and streams merge to become rivers that carry water from high altitudes to low altitudes.
Stream Order Classification
A stream and river classification system in relation to their tributaries was first used in 1952 by geoscience professor Arthur Newell Strahler, whose system is referred to as the Strahler Stream Order Classification. It classifies waterways from first to twelfth order, with first-order streams having no tributaries and successive orders designating rivers supplied by multiple tributaries.
The Mississippi River, for instance, is an eighth-order stream, and the Amazon River, the largest in volume, is a twelfth-order stream. The Roe River, given its dimensions and structure of tributaries, would be much lower in this ordering, highlighting its diminutive scale relative to large rivers.
Though the Roe River has long been acclaimed as the shortest in the world, the distinction is made problematic by other rivers such as the Tamborasi and Kovasselva Rivers, which are even shorter according to certain measurements.
The debate shows the problem in defining rivers strictly as a function of length, as hydrological properties and categories also have significant roles. Finally, these small rivers, with all their modest lengths, are interesting natural phenomena that put to test our concept of river systems and their variety throughout the world.
