Hello,

I am doing some research for a new wildlife series all about the incredible wildlife and ecosystem of the Andes. We aim to shine a light on the animals and landscapes which make this part of the world so special including how important its rivers are!

I read on the UN Academy website that “According to the United States Geological Survey, there are over three million rivers in the world. However, this number includes all streams, creeks, and brooks, not just rivers.”

We’re trying to find an estimate for how many rivers there are across the entire Andes range. It has been rightly pointed out that I should define my parameters for “what is a river?” and “what is the area of the Andes range” so I’ve tried to do so below!

“River” - It seems logical to use HydroSheds parameters for a “river” – “HydroRivers and HydroATLAS applications “represent a vectorized line network of all global rivers that have a catchment area of at least 10 km² or an average river flow of at least 0.1 m³/sec, or both.”

“Andes mountains” – We’re after the best estimate we can get, so happy to go along with a more accurate definition if you use different parameters but we’ve been working off the following basis. “the Andes mountains range about 4,500 miles (7,242 kilometers) long. The mountain range spans seven countries — Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina — and can be found between 10 degrees north and 57 degrees south latitudes and 70 degrees to 80 degrees west longitude. It is up to 500 miles (804 km) wide.”

We’d also be happy to get an estimate for the Andes using the same parameters as the “over three million rivers in the world” stat i.e. including all streams, creeks and brooks, not just river, as mentioned above.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can offer and look forward to hearing from you!

Kind regards,
Stephen