Old maps

Historical infographic maps comparing the world’s rivers and lakes

Alex

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Famous British mapmaker James Reynolds, who earlier created the magnificent world map dedicated to the distribution of human races, created another amazing map in 1850 – the Panoramic plan of the principal rivers and lakes.

Infographic map comparing the world’s rivers and lakes

Rivers

According to James Reynolds’ map, the Mississippi River is the longest in the world, coming in at 3,650 miles (5,874 km), followed by the Amazon, the Nile, and the Yangtze River. The three rivers with the lowest length are the Tay in Scotland (125 miles or 125 km), the Shannon in Ireland (200 miles or 322 km), and the Potomac in the United States (275 miles or 443 km).

Since 1850, surveying methods have evolved, and we now have satellites, GPS, and lasers to update rankings. According to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook, the Nile (4,132 miles or 6,650 km), the Amazon (3,998 miles or 6,436 km), and the Yangtze River (3,915 miles or 6,300 km) are the longest rivers on our planet.

The table demonstrates a comparison of the rivers in the map with current measurements and the general location of rivers using 1850 location names (including modern-day locations in brackets).

RiverCountry/TerritoryLength in 1850 (mi)Length in 1850 (km)Modern length (mi)Modern length (km)
MississippiUnited States3650587423403766
AmazonBrazil3350539139986434
NileEgypt and Abyssinia (Ethiopia)3325535141326650
YangtseChina3300531139156301
Hoang-hoChina3025486833955464
ObiSiberia2800450622683650
La PlataLa Plata (Argentina/Uruguay)2450394330304876
VolgaRussia2200354121933529
BurrampootaTibet2200354118002897
GangesHindostan (India)1975317815692525
EuphratesAsiatic (Turkey)1850297717402800
DanubeGermany1800289717702849
NigerNigeria1750281626004184
IndusCaubul etc (Afghanistan etc)1700273619883199
McKenzieIndian Territory (Canada)1600257510801738
SenegalSenegambia (Senegal)1450233410201642
DnieperRussia1375221313672200
OronocoColumbia1325213217002736
GambiaSenegambia (The Gambia)130020927401191
Bravo del Norta (Rio Grande)Mexico1150185119003058
St. LawrenceCanada1125181119003058
OrangeNamaqualand (Namibia/South Africa)1100177013672200
DwinaRussia1000160910201642
DonRussia975156911981928
RhineGermany85013687661233
ElbeGermany75012077241165
VistulaPoland65010466511048
OderPrussia (Germany)6251006529851
ColorandoLa Plato (United States)60096614502334
TagueSpain and Portugal5759256261007
SusquehanaUnited States575925464747
RhoneFrance550885505813
SeineFrance475764485781
PoNorth Italy450724405652
HudsonUnited States425684315507
EbroSpain400644565909
SevernEngland350563220354
DelawareUnited States325523301484
PotomacUnited States275443405652
ThamesEngland275443215346
ShannonIreland200322224360
TayScotland125201117188

Lakes

In this infographic, the Caspian Sea (118,000 sq miles or 305,619 sq km) is the largest lake, followed by the Black Sea (113,000 sq. miles or 292,669 sq km), and Lake Superior (22,400 sq miles or 58,016 sq km), the largest of the Great Lakes.

The modern surface areas of many lakes also changed a lot, because of climate change, unsustainable (called Chad/Ichad, the Aral Sea, the Dead Sea.

LakeTerritoryArea in 1850 (sq mi)Area in 1850 (sq km)Modern area (sq mi)Modern area (sq km)
Caspian SeaRussia118000305619143000370369
Black SeaTurkey113000292669168500436413
SuperiorNorth America22400580163170082103
HuronNorth America15800409222300759588
MichiganNorth America12600326342240458026
Great SlaveNorth America12000310801050027195
Aral SeaTartary (Central Eurasia)1165030173690017871
IchadAfrica11600300445901528
AzovRussia8800227921450037555
Baikal SeaSiberia8000207201224831722
WinnepegNorth America720018648941624387
MaracaiboSouth America600015540513013287
TiticacaSouth America54001398630307848
LadogaRussia520013468670017353
BalkashMongolia520013468700018130
ErieNorth America480012432991025667
OntarioNorth America445011525734019011
Great BearNorth America4000103601202831152
OregaRussia3300854737009583
AthabascaNorth America3200828830307848
NicaraguaNorth America2905752431498156
OtehenantekaneNorth America2500647525006475
WenerSweden2100543921815649
WinnepagosNorth America2000518020705361
ZaizanMongolia160041447001813
DembiaAbyssinia (Ethiopia)1300336714183673
TontingChina1200310810902823
WetterSweden94524487381911
OreboSweden9002331186482
OuroomiaPersia900233111262916
EnareLapland (Finland)870225310402694
ConstanceScotland4561181209541
GenevaSwtizerland4001036224580
Dead SeaSyria3709586051567
Lough NeaghIreland80207153396
Loch LomondScotland27702770

Do you like vintage and ancient maps? Then have a look at the following world maps:

If you liked this map, we recommend you pay attention to another similar visualization comparing rivers and mountains.

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