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@2093 Waterways (km)
Afghanistan
1,200 km
note: chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT (2001)
Albania
43 km
note: includes Albanian sections of Lake Scutari, Lake Ohrid, and
Lake Prespa (1990)
Algeria
none
American Samoa
none
Andorra
none
Angola
1,295 km
Anguilla
none
Antigua and Barbuda
none
Argentina
10,950 km
Armenia
NA km
Aruba
none
Ashmore and Cartier Islands
none
Australia
8,368 km (mainly used by small, shallow-draft craft)
Austria
358 km (1999)
Azerbaijan
none
Bahamas, The
none
Bahrain
none
Baker Island
none
Bangladesh
up to 8,046 km depending on season
note: includes 3,058 km main cargo routes
Barbados
none
Bassas da India
none
Belarus
NA km; note - Belarus has extensive and widely used canal
and river systems
Belgium
1,570 km (route length in regular commercial use) (2001)
Belize
825 km (river network used by shallow-draft craft; seasonally
navigable)
Benin
streams navigable along small sections, important only locally
Bermuda
none
Bhutan
none
Bolivia
10,000 km (commercially navigable)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
NA km; large sections of the Sava blocked by
downed bridges, silt, and debris
Botswana
none
Bouvet Island
none
Brazil
50,000 km
British Indian Ocean Territory
none
British Virgin Islands
none
Brunei
209 km; navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2 m
Bulgaria
470 km (1987)
Burkina Faso
none
Burma
12,800 km
note: 3,200 km navigable by large commercial vessels
Burundi
Lake Tanganyika
Cambodia
3,700 km
note: navigable all year to craft drawing 0.6 m or less; 282 km
navigable to craft drawing as much as 1.8 m
Cameroon
2,090 km (of decreasing importance) (2002)
Canada
3,000 km (including Saint Lawrence Seaway)
Cape Verde
none
Cayman Islands
none
Central African Republic
900 km
note: traditional trade carried on by means of shallow-draft
dugouts; Oubangui is the most important river, navigable all year to
craft drawing 0.6 m or less; 282 km navigable to craft drawing as
much as 1.8 m
Chad
2,000 km
Chile
725 km
China
110,000 km (1999)
Christmas Island
none
Clipperton Island
none
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
none
Colombia
18,140 km (navigable by river boats) (April 1996)
Comoros
none
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
15,000 km (including the Congo and
its tributaries, and unconnected lakes)
Congo, Republic of the
1,120 km
note: the Congo and Ubangi (Oubangui) rivers provide 1,120 km of
commercially navigable water transport; other rivers are used for
local traffic only
Cook Islands
none
Coral Sea Islands
none
Costa Rica
730 km (seasonally navigable)
Cote d'Ivoire
980 km (navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal
lagoons)
Croatia
785 km
note: (perennially navigable; large sections of Sava blocked by
downed bridges, silt, and debris)
Cuba
240 km
Cyprus
none
Czech Republic
303 km
note: the Labe (Elbe) is the principal river (2000)
Denmark
417 km
Djibouti
none
Dominica
none
Dominican Republic
none
East Timor
NA
Ecuador
1,500 km
Egypt
3,500 km
note: includes the Nile, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and
numerous smaller canals in the delta; Suez Canal (193.5 km including
approaches), used by oceangoing vessels drawing up to 16.1 m of water
El Salvador
Rio Lempa partially navigable
Equatorial Guinea
none
Eritrea
none
Estonia
320 km (perennially navigable) (2002)
Ethiopia
none
Europa Island
none
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
none
Faroe Islands
none
Fiji
203 km
note: 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton barges
Finland
6,675 km
note: includes Saimaa Canal; 3,700 km suitable for large ships
France
14,932 km (6,969 km heavily traveled)
French Guiana
3,300 km navigable by native craft
note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and
river steamers
French Polynesia
none
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
none
Gabon
1,600 km (perennially navigable)
Gambia, The
400 km
Gaza Strip
none
Georgia
none
Germany
7,500 km
note: major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an
important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea (1999)
Ghana
1,293 km
note: Volta, Ankobra, and Tano Rivers provide 168 km of perennial
navigation for launches and lighters; Lake Volta provides 1,125 km
of arterial and feeder waterways
Gibraltar
none
Glorioso Islands
none
Greece
80 km
note: system consists of three coastal canals including the Corinth
Canal (6 km) which crosses the Isthmus of Corinth connecting the
Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf and shortens the sea voyage
from the Adriatic to Peiraiefs (Piraeus) by 325 km; there are also
three unconnected rivers
Greenland
none
Grenada
none
Guadeloupe
none
Guam
none
Guatemala
990 km
note: 260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable
during highwater season
Guernsey
none
Guinea
1,295 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft)
Guinea-Bissau
several rivers are accessible to coastal shipping
Guyana
5,900 km (total length of navigable waterways)
note: Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo rivers are navigable by
oceangoing vessels for 150 km, 100 km, and 80 km, respectively
Haiti
NEGL; less than 100 km navigable
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
none
Holy See (Vatican City)
none
Honduras
465 km (navigable by small craft)
Hong Kong
none
Howland Island
none
Hungary
1,373 km (permanently navigable) (1997)
Iceland
none
India
16,180 km
note: 3,631 km navigable by large vessels
Indonesia
21,579 km total
note: Sumatra 5,471 km, Java and Madura 820 km, Kalimantan 10,460
km, Sulawesi (Celebes) 241 km, Irian Jaya 4,587 km
Iran
904 km
note: the Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for
about 130 km; channel has been dredged to 3 m and is in use
Iraq
1,015 km
note: Shatt al Arab is usually navigable by maritime traffic for
about 130 km; channel has been dredged to 3 m and is in use; Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers have navigable sections for shallow-draft
boats; Shatt al Basrah canal was navigable by shallow-draft craft
before closing in 1991 because of the Gulf war
Ireland
700 km (limited facilities for commercial traffic) (1998)
Israel
none
Italy
2,400 km
note: serves various types of commercial traffic, although of
limited overall value (2002)
Jamaica
none
Jan Mayen
none
Japan
1,770 km approximately
note: seagoing craft ply all coastal inland seas
Jarvis Island
none
Jersey
none
Johnston Atoll
none
Jordan
none
Juan de Nova Island
none
Kazakhstan
3,900 km
note: on the Syr Darya (Syrdariya) and Ertis (Irtysh) rivers
Kenya
NA
note: part of the Lake Victoria system is within the boundaries of
Kenya
Kingman Reef
none
Kiribati
5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands)
Korea, North
2,253 km
note: mostly navigable by small craft only
Korea, South
1,609 km
note: restricted to small native craft
Kuwait
none
Kyrgyzstan
600 km (1990)
Laos
4,587 km approximately
note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are
intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m
Latvia
300 km (perennially navigable)
Lebanon
none
Lesotho
none
Liberia
none
Libya
none
Liechtenstein
none
Lithuania
600 km (perennially navigable)
Luxembourg
37 km (on the Moselle)
Macau
none
Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of
note: lake transport
only, on the Greek and Albanian borders
Madagascar
of local importance only
Malawi
144 km
note: on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and Shire Riverall
Malaysia
7,296 km
note: Peninsular Malaysia 3,209 km, Sabah 1,569 km, Sarawak 2,518 km
Maldives
none
Mali
1,815 km
Malta
none
Man, Isle of
none
Marshall Islands
none
Martinique
none
Mauritania
note: ferry traffic on the Senegal River
Mauritius
none
Mayotte
none
Mexico
2,900 km
note: navigable rivers and coastal canals
Micronesia, Federated States of
none
Midway Islands
none
Moldova
424 km (1994)
Monaco
none
Mongolia
400 km (1999)
Montserrat
none
Morocco
none
Mozambique
3,750 km (navigable routes)
Namibia
none
Nauru
none
Navassa Island
none
Nepal
none
Netherlands
5,046 km (of which 3,745 km are canals)
note: 47% of total route length is usable by craft of
1,000-metric-ton capacity or larger
Netherlands Antilles
none
New Caledonia
none
New Zealand
1,609 km
note: of little importance in satisfying total transportation
requirements
Nicaragua
2,220 km (including 2 large lakes)
Niger
300 km
note: the Niger River is navigable from Niamey to Gaya on the Benin
frontier from mid-December through March
Nigeria
8,575 km
note: consisting of the Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers
and creeks
Niue
none
Norfolk Island
none
Northern Mariana Islands
none
Norway
1,577 km (along west coast)
note: navigable by 2.4 m maximum draft vessels
Oman
none
Pakistan
none
Palau
none
Palmyra Atoll
none
Panama
882 km
note: 800 km navigable by shallow draft vessels; 82 km Panama Canal
Papua New Guinea
10,940 km
Paracel Islands
none
Paraguay
3,100 km
Peru
8,808 km
note: 8,600 km of navigable tributaries of Amazon system and 208 km
of Lago Titicaca
Philippines
3,219 km
note: limited to vessels with a draft of less than 1.5 m
Pitcairn Islands
none
Poland
3,812 km (navigable rivers and canals) (1996)
Portugal
820 km
note: relatively unimportant to national economy, used by
shallow-draft craft limited to 300 metric-ton or less cargo capacity
Puerto Rico
none
Qatar
none
Reunion
none
Romania
1,724 km (1984)
Russia
95,900 km (total routes in general use)
note: routes with navigation guides serving the Russian River Fleet
- 95,900 km; routes with night navigational aids - 60,400 km;
man-made navigable routes - 16,900 km (January 1994)
Rwanda
note: Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native
craft
Saint Helena
none
Saint Kitts and Nevis
none
Saint Lucia
none
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
none
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
none
Samoa
none
San Marino
none
Sao Tome and Principe
none
Saudi Arabia
none
Senegal
897 km
note: 785 km on the Senegal river, and 112 km on the Saloum river
Serbia and Montenegro
587 km
note: the Danube River, central Europe's connection to the Black
Sea, runs through Serbia; since early 2000, a pontoon bridge,
replacing a destroyed conventional bridge, has obstructed river
traffic at Novi Sad; the obstruction is bypassed by a canal system,
but the inadequate lock size limits the size of vessels which may
pass; the pontoon bridge can be opened for large ships but has
slowed river traffic (2001)
Seychelles
none
Sierra Leone
800 km (of which 600 km is navigable year round)
Singapore
none
Slovakia
172 km (all on the Danube)
Slovenia
NA
Solomon Islands
none
Somalia
none
South Africa
NA
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
none
Spain
1,045 km (of minor economic importance)
Spratly Islands
none
Sri Lanka
430 km (navigable by shallow-draft craft)
Sudan
5,310 km
Suriname
1,200 km
note: most important means of transport; oceangoing vessels with
drafts ranging up to 7 m can navigate many of the principal waterways
Svalbard
none
Swaziland
none
Sweden
2,052 km
note: navigable to small steamers and barges
Switzerland
65 km
note: The Rhine carries heavy traffic on the Basel-Rheinfelden and
Schaffhausen-Bodensee stretches; there are also 12 navigable lakes
Syria
870 km (minimal economic importance)
Taiwan
NA
Tajikistan
none
Tanzania
note: Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Nyasa are
principal avenues of commerce between Tanzania and its neighbors on
those lakes
Thailand
4,000 km
note: 3,701 km are navigable throughout the year by boats with
drafts up to 0.9 meters; numerous minor waterways serve
shallow-draft native craft
Togo
50 km (Mono river)
Tokelau
none
Tonga
none
Trinidad and Tobago
none
Tromelin Island
none
Tunisia
none
Turkey
1,200 km (approximately)
Turkmenistan
the Amu Darya is an important inland waterway for
Turkmenistan, as is the man-made Kara Kum canal
Turks and Caicos Islands
none
Tuvalu
none
Uganda
Lake Victoria, Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, Lake George, Lake
Edward, Victoria Nile, Albert Nile
Ukraine
4,499 km
note: 1,672 km are on the Pryp'yat' and Dniester (Dnister) (1990)
United Arab Emirates
none
United Kingdom
3,200 km
United States
41,009 km
note: navigable inland channels, exclusive of the Great Lakes
Uruguay
1,600 km (used by coastal and shallow-draft river craft)
Uzbekistan
1,100 km (1990)
Vanuatu
none
Venezuela
7,100 km
note: Rio Orinoco and Lago de Maracaibo accept oceangoing vessels
Vietnam
17,702 km
note: more than 5,149 km are navigable at all times by vessels up to
1.8 m draft
Virgin Islands
none
Wake Island
none
Wallis and Futuna
none
West Bank
none
Western Sahara
none
Yemen
none
Zambia
2,250 km
note: includes Lake Tanganyika and the Zambezi and Luapula rivers
Zimbabwe
chrome ore is transported from Harare - by way of the Mazoe
River - to the Zambezi River in Mozambique