The world’s oldest river – an incredible 340m years old and 466 miles long | World | News
The oldest river in the world has been around for 340 million years and is about 466 miles long.
Known as Larapinta by Aboriginal Australians, the River Finke charts its course through central Australia‘s Finke Gorge National Park.
According to Aboriginal legend, the river was created when a rainbow serpent emerged from Kati Thanda-Lake Erye, which is Australia’s largest salt lake.
The River Finke’s exact age is not known for sure, but it is said to be at least 300 million years old with some of its oldest reaches possibly having been around for more than 340 million years, according to Oldest.org.
It rises south of Mount Ziel in the MacDonnell Ranges in Australia’s Northern Territory then meanders through Glen Helen Gorge, Palm Valley, Missionary Plain, the Simpson Desert and on to Kati Thanda-Lake Erye.
While the river is reputed to be the world’s oldest, stretches do run dry in Australia’s scorching heat.
The river is named after William Finke, patron of the Scotsman, John McDouall Stuart, one of Australia’s great explorers who visited the watercourse in 1860.
While the Finke is recognised as the world’s oldest river, determining a river’s precise age is said to be difficult because a range of factors, such as ageing rocks and sediment, need to be considered.
Other rivers which are millions of years old include the Nile, Colorado, Susquehanna and Meuse, which is believed to be 320 million to 340 million years old.
The Meuse passes through France, Belgium and the Netherlands before meeting the North Sea at the end of its 590 mile long course.
More than 300 million years old, the 464 mile long Susquehanna River winds its way through the US states of Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York.
According to Oldest.org, there is evidence this river predates the formation of the Appalachian Mountains more than 300 million years ago.
The same publication notes that as a result the Susquehanna could either be the oldest or second oldest river on the planet.
In 2026, American Rivers put the Susquehanna at number three on its list of the United States’ most endangered rivers list due to the impacts of the Conowingo Dam and laws around pollution.
The dam altered the river’s flow, blocked fish and affected water quality, “harming” the Susquehanna and the Chesapeake Bay downstream, according to American Rivers.
Compared to the Susquehanna, the Colorado River is a spring chicken with an age estimated between six million to 70 million years. This giant of a river is a staggering 1,450 miles long.
It passes through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California in the USA as well as Baja California and Sonora in Mexico. One of the most well-known rivers in the world, the Colorado forged the breathtaking Grand Canyon.
While the Colorado is long, it is dwarfed in length by the Nile, which flows for 4,258 miles through 11 countries: Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Eritrea. The longest river in the world, the Nile is estimated to be at least 30 million years old.
