List of Drainage Basins By Area - Basins

Basins

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Continent color key
Africa Asia Europe North America Australia South America Antarctica
Basin Type Continent Drains to Basin Area
km2		 Basin Area
mi2		 Notes
Atlantic Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 69,800,000 26,900,000
Arctic Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 23,100,000 8,900,000
Pacific Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 20,300,000 7,800,000
Indian Ocean Ocean multiple n/a 19,400,000 7,500,000
Southern Ocean Ocean Antarctica n/a 14,000,000 5,400,000
Mediterranean Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Atlantic Ocean 8,500,000 3,300,000
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Atlantic Ocean 6,200,000 2,400,000
Amazon River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 6,144,727 2,372,492
Río de la Plata Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 4,144,000 1,600,000
Congo River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 3,730,474 1,440,344
Caspian Sea Lake Asia/Europe n/a (endorheic basin) 3,626,000 1,400,000
Nile River Primary River Africa Mediterranean Sea 3,254,555 1,256,591
Mississippi-Missouri River Primary River North America Gulf of Mexico 3,202,230 1 236 388
Ob River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 2,972,497 1,147,688
Paraná River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 2,582,672 997,175
Yenisei River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 2,554,482 986,291
Lake Chad Lake Africa n/a (endorheic basin) 2,497,918 964,452
Black Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Mediterranean Sea 2,400,000 930,000
Lena River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 2,306,772 890,650
Niger River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 2,261,763 873,272
Amur River Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 1,929,981 745,170
Mackenzie River Primary River North America Arctic Ocean 1,743,058 672,998
Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 1,722,155 664,927
Baltic Sea Mediterranean sea Europe Atlantic Ocean 1,700,000 660,000
Irtysh River Tributary River Asia Ob River 1,673,470 646,130
Ganges–Brahmaputra Primary River Asia Bay of Bengal 1,621,000 626,000
Aral Sea Lake Asia n/a (endorheic basin) 1,618,750 625,000
Madeira River Tributary River South America Amazon River 1,485,218 573,446
Volga River Primary River Europe Caspian Sea 1,410,994 544,788
Persian Gulf Mediterranean sea Asia Indian Ocean 1,400,000 540,000
Zambezi River Primary River Africa Indian Ocean 1,332,574 514,510
Missouri River Tributary River North America Mississippi River 1,331,810 514,215
Paraguay River Tributary River South America Paraná River 1,168,540 451,176
Lake Eyre Basin Lake Australia n/a (endorheic basin) 1,200,000 460,000
Tarim Basin endorheic basin Asia n/a (endorheic basin) 906,500 350,000
Drainage basins of Australia Mediterranean sea multiple Pacific / Indian Oceans 1,100,000 420,000
Nelson River Primary River North America Hudson Bay 1,093,442 422,180
Indus River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 1,081,733 417,659
Murray-Darling basin Primary River Australia Southern Ocean 1,072,000 413,900
St. Lawrence River Primary River North America Atlantic Ocean 1,049,621 405,261
Ganges River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 1,016,104 392,320
Great Slave Lake Lake North America Mackenzie River 976,200 376,913
Orinoco River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 953,598 368,186
Huang He (Yellow River) Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 945,065 364,892
Orange River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 941,421 363,485
Kasai River Tributary River Africa Congo River 925,172 357,211
Yukon River Primary River North America Bering Sea 847,642 327,276
Mekong River Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 805,627 311,054
Great Lakes Lake North America St. Lawrence River 800,114 308,926
Danube River Primary River Europe Black Sea 795,686 307,216
Syr Darya Primary River Asia Aral Sea 782,669 302,190
Tigris-Euphrates Rivers Primary River Asia Persian Gulf 765,831 295,689
Tocantins River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 764,183 295,053
Okavango River/Okavango Delta Primary River Africa n/a (endorheic basin) 721,277 278,487
Rio Negro Tributary River South America Amazon River 720,114 278,038
Colorado River (U.S.) Primary River North America Gulf of California 703,132 271,481
Kolyma River Primary River Asia Arctic Ocean 679,908 262,514
Columbia River Primary River North America Pacific Ocean 657,490 253,858
Brahmaputra River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 651,334 251,481
Red Sea Mediterranean sea multiple Indian Ocean 620,000 230,000
São Francisco River Primary River South America Atlantic Ocean 617,812 238,539
Ubangi River Tributary River Africa Congo River 613,202 236,759
Rio Grande Primary River North America Gulf of Mexico 608,023 234,759
Lake Baikal Lake Asia Angara River 571,000 220,000
Chari River Primary River Africa Lake Chad 548,747 211,872
Amu Darya Primary River Asia Aral Sea 534,764 206,474
Dnieper River Primary River Europe Black Sea 531,817 205,336
Xingu River Tributary River South America Amazon River 520,292 200,886
Lake Balkhash Lake Asia n/a (endorheic basin) 512,010 197,688
Viljuj River Tributary River Asia Lena River 507,874 196,091
Kama River Tributary River Europe Volga River 507,000 195,754
Jubba River Primary River Africa Indian Ocean 497,655 192,146
Great Basin North America n/a (endorheic basin) 492,000 190,000
Ohio River Tributary River North America Mississippi River 490,603 189,423
Tapajos River Tributary River South America Amazon River 486,792 187,951
Songhua River Tributary River Asia Amur River 459,745 177,509
Don River Primary River Europe Black Sea 458,703 177,106
Arkansas River Tributary River North America Mississippi River 435,122 168,002
Saskatchewan River Tributary River North America Lake Winnipeg 435,000 168,000
Tobol River Tributary River Asia Irtysh River 426,000 164,480
Limpopo River Primary River Africa Indian Ocean 421,168 162,614
Senegal River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 419,659 162,031
Ayeyarwady River Primary River Asia Indian Ocean 413,674 159,720
Pearl River Primary River Asia Pacific Ocean 409,458 158,093
Volta River Primary River Africa Atlantic Ocean 407,093 157,179

Read more about this topic:  List Of Drainage Basins By Area