World Rivers Day 2023: Theme, History & Celebration

Every year the last Sunday of September month is celebrated as World Rivers Day. In the year 2023, the World Rivers Day is being observed on September 25. The day aims to raise awareness towards the many values of rivers, how it is degraded by the actions of human and the need to take corrective measures to fix this.

Mark Angelo was the one to propose the observation of this day and the first World Rivers Day was celebrated in 2005.

World Rivers Day 2023 Date

Check below the date for World Rivers Day in 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027:

World Rivers Day 2023 Overview

Interesting Facts about Rivers

Here on this World Rivers Day, here are 10 interesting facts related to the rivers of the world:

1. The Amazon is considered the world’s largest river by volume and disputed largest in length.
2. The Congo River is the world’s deepest recorded river at 720 feet (220 meters) deep.
3. Rio Negro is a tributary of Amazon River and the largest black water river in the world.
4. Known as “the river that ran away from paradise,” the Caño Cristales is considered the most beautiful river in the world.
5. The Amazon currently holds the Guinness World Record for the widest river in the world.
6. The River Thames flowing through London is the cleanest river in the world.
7. The Citarum River in Indonesia is the most polluted river of the world.
8. There are around 19 countries in the world without any river.
9. Bangladesh has the highest number of rivers (about 700) and is known as the ‘land of rivers’.
10. The Nile River passes through the maximum number of 11 countries.

See: Important Days in September

World Rivers Day Significance

World Rivers Day 2023 is being celebrated with the aim to increase public awareness about the values of rivers and work together towards their protection. Rivers flowing through almost every country are possessing threat of one kind or another. Pollution and drying of the rivers are the pretty common ones. The World Rivers Day provides an opportunity to improve stewardship of all rivers around the world. World Rivers Day also invites sponsorship organizations to provide financial assistance for celebration of this day.

History of World Rivers Day observation

In the words of Mark Angelo “Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense.” Having this in mind, he organized a major cleanup of the Thompson River in British Columbia in September 1980. This event came to be known as BC Rivers Day. Following the success of the event, in 2005, Angelo proposed the celebration of World River Day.

The UN adopted Angelo’s proposal and launched the first World Rivers Day in 2005. World Rivers Day is now an annual event observed on the last Sunday in September.

Who is Mark Angelo?

Mark Angelo, the founder of World Rivers Day, is a river conservationist, speaker, writer, teacher and paddler. He is known for his involvement in numerous river conservation and restoration initiatives.

Angelo was also the host of National Geographic program, ‘Riverworld; a personal journey to the world’s wildest rivers’ and its follow-up program ‘Wild Water, Wild Earth’.

World Rivers Day 2023 Celebration

More than a million people in over 100 countries will take part in the celebration of World Rivers Day 2023. Many organizations have hold stewardship programs and many groups and communities organize events to celebrate their own local World Rivers Day events. You can participate in these events to learn more about this day.

For more fun, you can organize events of your own in celebration of World Rivers Day. These events can include activities like visiting a local river, cleaning up the creeks, paddling and rowing games, etc.

Invite your family members, friends, neighbors or even the locals to participate in these activities. You can also promote your event by contact a local newspaper and asking them if they would do a story on your event. Your activities could even be included in the World Rivers Day event updates. All you need to do is send them an email including details of the event location, details and contact information.

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