<p>For the overall length of the river the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juru%C3%A1_River" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Juruá River</a> in the amazon basin seems to take the prize; it has a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinuosity#Rivers" rel="nofollow noreferrer">sinuosity index</a> of 3, over a 1000km down valley distance it covers 3000km of path distance.</p>
<p>That was the highest number I could find and confirm but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meander#Derived_quantities" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this article</a> states that sinuosity indices can run as high as 4. I think this is likely to be for shorter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_(geography)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">reaches</a> such as certain sections of the north fork of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenandoah_River" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Shenandoah River</a> in Virginia rather than over the full course length like the Juruá value above.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-07T06:52:24.297Z
Haven't heard of the term "sinuiosity index" either :-) THX for bringing it to my attention.
Hauke Reddmann
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T11:01:47.613Z
2024-08-06T11:01:47.613Z
Ash
<p>Missisippi and Amazonas are well known for meandering, but my question is a bit more large-scale. Assume that on a map, you box in the Amazonas into a smallest rectangle. (Exclude all the rivulets that contribute, or the question becomes pointless!) I did it on a Wiki pic...</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/82JzNQ2T.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/82JzNQ2T.png" alt="Amazon river" /></a></p>
<p>...and got an aspect ratio of ~8-9. Not that curvy, right?</p>
<p>Of course, the smaller a river, the easier it might &quot;run in circles&quot;. Here is an example I googled: The Doubs. Never heard of, so it doesn't count. Aspect ratio ~2-3.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JfSHLaI2.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JfSHLaI2.jpg" alt="Doubs river" /></a></p>
<p>So (arbitrarily) let's just consider rivers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_river_systems_by_length" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&gt;1000 km</a>. Which would be the most curvy with the above definition?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T07:40:27.600Z
Check out Stølum, H. H. (1996). River meandering as a self-organization process. Science, 271(5256), 1710-1713.  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.271.5256.1710.  P.S. Rivers that you have never heard of count.
gerrit
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T08:52:32.733Z
There is already a metric for this, called the sinuosity index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinuosity#Rivers No need to compute a new one.
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T10:40:56.850Z
@Jean-MariePrival Yes but the OP is asking what river has the highest index along a 1000km reach.
Ash
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T10:45:25.920Z
The problem with this question is that when a river gets REALLY twisty you get [braiding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braided_river) which makes it impossible to measure the true sinuosity of the reach. Also your terminology is unclear do you mean the windiest river that is over 1000km long in total or the 1000 windiest kms of river in the world?
Ash
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T13:01:05.870Z
@Ash I think they mean: which is the most sinuous river (overall) among rivers longer than 1000 km.
Jean-Marie Prival
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-08-06T13:07:09.597Z
@Jean-MariePrival Then see my answer.
Ash
<hydrology><rivers><potamology>
Most curvy rivers?
Hauke Reddmann
# Most curvy rivers?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-08-05)

Missisippi and Amazonas are well known for meandering, but my question is a bit more large-scale. Assume that on a map, you box in the Amazonas into a smallest rectangle. (Exclude all the rivulets that contribute, or the question becomes pointless!) I did it on a Wiki pic...

[![Amazon river](https://i.sstatic.net/82JzNQ2T.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/82JzNQ2T.png)

...and got an aspect ratio of ~8-9. Not that curvy, right?

Of course, the smaller a river, the easier it might "run in circles". Here is an example I googled: The Doubs. Never heard of, so it doesn't count. Aspect ratio ~2-3.

[![Doubs river](https://i.sstatic.net/JfSHLaI2.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/JfSHLaI2.jpg)

So (arbitrarily) let's just consider rivers [>1000 km](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_river_systems_by_length). Which would be the most curvy with the above definition?

**Tags:** hydrology, rivers, potamology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Check out Stølum, H. H. (1996). River meandering as a self-organization process. Science, 271(5256), 1710-1713.  https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.271.5256.1710.  P.S. Rivers that you have never heard of count.  
> **username_2**: There is already a metric for this, called the sinuosity index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinuosity#Rivers No need to compute a new one.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 Yes but the OP is asking what river has the highest index along a 1000km reach.  
> **username_3**: The problem with this question is that when a river gets REALLY twisty you get [braiding](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braided_river) which makes it impossible to measure the true sinuosity of the reach. Also your terminology is unclear do you mean the windiest river that is over 1000km long in total or the 1000 windiest kms of river in the world?  
> **username_2**: @username_3 I think they mean: which is the most sinuous river (overall) among rivers longer than 1000 km.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 Then see my answer.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-08-06. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

For the overall length of the river the [Juruá River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juru%C3%A1_River) in the amazon basin seems to take the prize; it has a [sinuosity index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinuosity#Rivers) of 3, over a 1000km down valley distance it covers 3000km of path distance.

That was the highest number I could find and confirm but [this article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meander#Derived_quantities) states that sinuosity indices can run as high as 4. I think this is likely to be for shorter [reaches](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reach_(geography)) such as certain sections of the north fork of the [Shenandoah River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenandoah_River) in Virginia rather than over the full course length like the Juruá value above.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Haven't heard of the term "sinuiosity index" either :-) THX for bringing it to my attention.  

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