Straight Up Trivia #11: Longest Rivers

Nile, 6650 km. The two main branches of the Nile, the Blue and the longer White, converge in what city?

Amazon, 6400 km. The Amazon tribe of Greek myth is likely the origin of the name of the river. The queen of the Amazons, Hippolyte, was killed by what hero, who was trying to obtain the queen's magic belt?

Yangtze, 6300 km. The largest hydroelectric power station in the world is at what dam on the Yangtze?

Mississippi, 6275 km. The surrender of what city on the Mississippi to Union General Ulysses Grant is considered a turning point of the U.S. Civil War? It happened on July 4, 1863, the day after the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg.

Yenesei, 5539 km. The Taimyr herd of what animal migrates to winter grazing along the Yenesei? The Taimyr herd is the largest herd of these animals, numbering at times over one million.

Yellow, 5464 km. The song Yellow, released in 2000, was the breakthrough international hit of what British band? It peaked at #4 in the UK, #48 in the US, and most importantly, #1 in Iceland.

Ob, 5410. What word starting with ob- means dark or dim, not readily understood, or relatively unknown?

Parana, 4880 km. What Venetian was the first European to explore the Parana? His first name was Sebastian (or Sebastiono), and he is perhaps less well known than his father, John (Giovanni), who was the first European since the Norse/Vikings to explore the North American coast.

Congo, 4700 km. The Congo is named for the Kongo people, who speak Kikongo, a language in what linguistic group? Languages in this group descend from a common language that spread from west-central Africa throughout central, eastern, and southern African between 4,000 and 2,000 years ago.

Amur, 4444 km. The Amur flows into the Strait of Tartary, a strait in the Pacific that divides mainland Russia from what largest island in Russia?