Which river carries the greatest volume of water into the ocean?

The Amazon River carries more water to the ocean than any other river, with an average discharge of about 209,000 cubic metres per second.

The Amazon drains an immense basin covering parts of several South American countries, including Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Guyana. Heavy rainfall across the basin feeds the main river and its many tributaries, producing an average discharge far above that of other major rivers.

The river flows eastward across the continent and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Its estuary is so broad that ocean tides and saltwater influence can be detected far inland. The Amazon basin also contains the world's largest tropical rainforest, although the river and the rainforest are not identical geographical features.

The Nile is traditionally described as the world's longest river, while the Amazon is clearly the world's largest by water volume. Claims about which river is longest depend on how sources and tributaries are measured, but the Amazon's discharge record is not based on that disputed measurement.