Rivers are one of the most important features of any area as they help to spread water out, prevent flooding, and generally keep the water cycle moving. Of course, rivers have been around since water and land formed on the Earth, but just because a river is there today doesn’t mean it will always be.

The planet is constantly changing, and that change will often create new rivers or cause old ones to shift or dry up. So, what is the oldest river in the world?

This is a very difficult question to answer accurately, but scientists do have a pretty good idea. Most experts agree that the oldest active river on Earth is the Finke River, which is called the Larapinta by the Indigenous communities living in the region where it flows.

The Finke River is located in Australia and begins in the MacDonnell Ranges, which are in the Northern Territory of the country.

It flows for about 600-750 kilometers (372-466 miles) until it empties out into Lake Eyre.

While this is considered the oldest active river in the world, most people would say that it is not very active at all. In fact, it is mostly a dry riverbed throughout the year. The only exception is when there is heavy rainfall.

When it rains a lot, the river will begin flowing strongly again, allowing it to hold on to its title as the oldest active river.

Measuring the age of a river is quite difficult because they are always changing. Researchers look at things like surrounding ecological features to estimate the age. In addition, they can analyze riverbed sediment and how much the river has cut through things like mountain ranges to narrow things down.

At the end of the day, however, the best that scientists can do is to provide an estimate of their age. In this case, they think that the Finke River is between 350 and 400 million years old.

The second-oldest river in the world is thought to be in North America, according to one study. It is, oddly, named New River, and it begins in the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. The New River travels about 547 kilometers (340 miles) until it meets up with the Kanawha River.

The New River is estimated to be 10-360 million years old. Needless to say, that is a huge range. If it really is on the more extreme end of that estimate, it would likely be the second-oldest river in the world.

If, on the other hand, it is on the younger side, then many other rivers would be much older.

At the end of the day, the age of rivers is little more than an interesting scientific note. For most people, rivers are beautiful and useful additions to the overall landscape, regardless of their age.

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