What is Chile’s longest river?

The Loa River is Chile’s longest river.

The Loa runs for approximately 440 kilometres through northern Chile, beginning in the Andes and flowing westward to the Pacific Ocean. Its course crosses the Atacama Desert, one of the driest regions on Earth.

Because water is scarce in northern Chile, the river has long been important to settlements, agriculture, mining, and Indigenous communities. The river’s basin includes high-altitude wetlands and desert landscapes before reaching the coast near the town of Quillagua.

The Bío Bío is one of Chile’s most important rivers and is often mentioned in geography questions, but it is shorter than the Loa. Chile’s narrow shape means many rivers are relatively short, descending from the Andes toward the Pacific.