The CIA World Factbook Edition 2005 Transportation

Waterways In 35 editions of 36.

Waterways was published in 35 editions of the CIA World Factbook, from 1990 to 2024. The 2005 edition carries it in 121 entries, in its Transportation section. Every entry is shown as that edition published it.

entries in the 2005 edition
121
the first edition with it
1990
the latest edition with it
2024

Published as “Waterways” (1996 to 2024) and “Inland waterways” (1990 to 1995).

the entry has the field in that editionnot in that editionthe open editionEach entry below ends in its editions with Waterways, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down; choose one in a row to read that edition’s text there.

Entries with Waterways in each edition

19902000201020202025

Select a bar to open that edition.

World

1 entry

World

671,886 km (2004)

Africa

32 entries

Angola

1,300 km (2004)

Benin

  • 150 km (on River Niger along northern border) (2004)

Burundi

  • mainly on Lake Tanganyika (2004)

Cameroon

  • navigation mainly on Benue River; limited during rainy season (2004)

Central African Republic

  • 2,800 km (primarily on the Oubangui and Sangha rivers) (2004)

Chad

  • Chari and Legone rivers are navigable only in wet season (2002)

Congo, Democratic Republic of the now Democratic Republic of the Congo

  • 15,000 km (navigation on the Congo curtailed by fighting) (2004)

Congo, Republic of the now Republic of the Congo

  • 4,385 km (on Congo and Oubanqui rivers) (2004)

Cote d'Ivoire

  • 980 km (navigable rivers, canals, and numerous coastal lagoons) (2003)

Egypt

3,500 km

note: includes Nile River, Lake Nasser, Alexandria-Cairo Waterway, and numerous smaller canals in delta; Suez Canal (193.5 km including approaches) navigable by oceangoing vessels drawing up to 17.68 m (2004)

Gabon

  • 1,600 km (310 km on Ogooue River) (2003)

Gambia, The now The Gambia

  • 390 km (on River Gambia; small ocean-going vessels can reach 190 km) (2004)

Ghana

1,293 km

note: 168 km for launches and lighters on Volta, Ankobra, and Tano rivers; 1,125 km of arterial and feeder waterways on Lake Volta (2003)

Guinea

  • 1,295 km (navigable by shallow-draft native craft) (2003)

Guinea-Bissau

4 largest rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior (2004)

Kenya

  • part of Lake Victoria system is within boundaries of Kenya (2004)

Madagascar

600 km (2004)

Malawi

700 km

note: on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) and Shire River (2003)

Mali

1,815 km (2004)

Mauritania

  • some ferry traffic on Senegal River (2004)

Mozambique

  • 460 km (Zambezi River navigable to Tete and along Cahora Bassa Lake) (2004)

Niger

300 km

note: Niger River is navigable to Gaya between September and March (2004)

Nigeria

  • 8,600 km (Niger and Benue rivers and smaller rivers and creeks) (2004)

Rwanda

  • Lac Kivu navigable by shallow-draft barges and native craft (2004)

Senegal

  • 1,000 km (primarily on Senegal, Saloum, and Casamance rivers) (2003)

Sierra Leone

800 km (2003)

Sudan

  • 4,068 km (1,723 km open year round on White and Blue Nile rivers) (2004)

Tanzania

Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Nyasa principal avenues of commerce with neighboring countries; rivers not navigable (2004)

Togo

  • 50 km (seasonally on Mono River depending on rainfall) (2003)

Uganda

300 km (on Lake Victoria, 200 km on Lake Albert, Lake Kyoga, and parts of Albert Nile) (2004 est.)

Zambia

2,250 km

note: includes Lake Tanganyika and the Zambezi and Luapula rivers (2003)

Zimbabwe

  • on Lake Kariba, length small (2003)

Asia

15 entries

Afghanistan

1,200 km

note: chiefly Amu Darya, which handles vessels up to 500 DWT (2004)

Bangladesh

8,372 km

note: includes 2,575 km main cargo routes (2004)

China

121,557 km (2002)

India

14,500 km

note: 5,200 km on major rivers and 485 km on canals suitable for mechanized vessels (2004)

Japan

  • 1,770 km (seagoing vessels use inland seas) (2004)

Kazakhstan

4,000 km

note: on the Syr Darya (Syrdariya) and Ertis (Irtysh) rivers (2004)

Korea, North now North Korea

2,250 km

note: most navigable only by small craft (2004)

Korea, South now South Korea

1,608 km

note: most navigable only by small craft (2004)

Kyrgyzstan

600 km (2004)

Mongolia

580 km

note: only waterway in operation is Lake Khovsgol (135 km); Selenge River (270 km) and Orkhon River (175 km) are navigable but carry little traffic; lakes and rivers freeze in winter, are open from May to September (2004)

Russia

96,000 km

note: 72,000 km system in European Russia links Baltic Sea, White Sea, Caspian Sea, Sea of Azov, and Black Sea (2004)

Sri Lanka

  • 160 km (primarily on rivers in southwest) (2004)

Tajikistan

  • 200 km (along Vakhsh River) (2003)

Turkmenistan

  • 1,300 km (Amu Darya and Kara Kum canal important inland waterways) (2003)

Uzbekistan

1,100 km (2004)

Central America and the Caribbean

8 entries

Belize

  • 825 km (navigable only by small craft) (2004)

Costa Rica

  • 730 km (seasonally navigable by small craft) (2004)

Cuba

240 km (2004)

El Salvador

  • Rio Lempa partially navigable (2004)

Guatemala

990 km

note: 260 km navigable year round; additional 730 km navigable during high-water season (2004)

Honduras

  • 465 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2004)

Nicaragua

  • 2,220 km (including lakes Managua and Nicaragua) (1997)

Panama

  • 800 km (includes 82 km Panama Canal) (2004)

Europe

33 entries

Albania

43 km (2004)

Austria

358 km (2003)

Belarus

2,500 km (use limited by location on perimeter of country and by shallowness) (2003)

Belgium

  • 2,043 km (1,528 km in regular commercial use) (2003)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Sava River (northern border) open to shipping but use limited because of no agreement with neighboring countries (2004)

Bulgaria

470 km (2004)

Croatia

785 km (2004)

Czech Republic now Czechia

  • 664 km (on Elbe, Vltava, and Oder rivers) (2004)

Denmark

417 km (2001)

Estonia

500 km (2003)

European Union

53,512 km

Finland

7,842 km

note: includes Saimaa Canal system of 3,577 km; southern part leased from Russia (2004)

France

  • 8,500 km (1,686 km accessible to craft of 3,000 metric tons) (2000)

Germany

7,300 km

note: Rhine River carries most goods; Main-Danube Canal links North Sea and Black Sea (2004)

Greece

6 km

note: Corinth Canal (6 km) crosses the Isthmus of Corinth; shortens sea voyage by 325 km (2004)

Hungary

  • 1,622 km (most on Danube River) (2004)

Ireland

  • 753 km (pleasure craft only) (2004)

Italy

2,400 km

note: used for commercial traffic; of limited overall value compared to road and rail (2004)

Latvia

300 km (2004)

Liechtenstein

28 km (2004)

Lithuania

600 km (2004)

Luxembourg

  • 37 km (on Moselle River) (2003)

Moldova

424 km (2004)

Netherlands

  • 5,046 km (navigable for ships of 50 tons) (2004)

Poland

  • 3,997 km (navigable rivers and canals) (2003)

Portugal

  • 210 km (on Douro River from Porto) (2003)

Romania

1,731 km (2004)

Serbia and Montenegro

587 km

note: Danube River traffic delayed by pontoon bridge at Novi Sad; plan to replace by summer of 2005 (2004)

Slovakia

  • 172 km (on Danube River) (2004)

Spain

1,045 km (2003)

Switzerland

65 km

note: Rhine River between Basel-Rheinfelden and Schaffhausen-Bodensee, some canals, and 12 navigable lakes (2003)

Ukraine

  • 1,672 km (most on Dnieper River) (2004)

United Kingdom

  • 3,200 km (620 km used for commerce) (2004)

Middle East

4 entries

Iran

  • 850 km (on Karun River and Lake Urmia) (2004)

Iraq

5,275 km (not all navigable)

note: Euphrates River (2,815 km), Tigris River (1,895 km), and Third River (565 km) are principal waterways (2004)

Syria

  • 900 km (not economically significant) (2002)

Turkey now Turkiye

1,200 km (2003)

North America

3 entries

Canada

631 km

note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with United States (2003)

Mexico

2,900 km

note: navigable rivers and coastal canals (2004)

United States

41,009 km (19,312 km used for commerce)

note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with Canada (2004)

Oceania

4 entries

Australia

2,000 km (mainly used for recreation on Murray and Murray-Darling river systems) (2004)

Fiji

203 km

note: 122 km navigable by motorized craft and 200-metric-ton barges (2004)

Kiribati

  • 5 km (small network of canals in Line Islands) (2003)

Papua New Guinea

10,940 km (2003)

South America

12 entries

Argentina

11,000 km (2004)

Bolivia

  • 10,000 km (commercially navigable) (2004)

Brazil

  • 50,000 km (most in areas remote from industry and population) (2004)

Colombia

9,187 km (2004)

Ecuador

  • 1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2003)

French Guiana

3,760 km

note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2004)

Guyana

1,077 km

note: Berbice, Demerara, and Essequibo rivers are navigable by oceangoing vessels for 150 km, 100 km, and 80 km respectively (2004)

Paraguay

3,100 km (2004)

Peru

8,808 km

note: 8,600 km of navigable tributaries of Amazon system and 208 km of Lago Titicaca (2004)

Suriname

  • 1,200 km (most navigable by ships with drafts up to 7 m) (2003)

Uruguay

1,600 km (2002)

Venezuela

7,100 km

note: Orinoco River and Lake de Maracaibo navigable by oceangoing vessels, Orinoco for 400 km (2004)

Southeast Asia

9 entries

Brunei

  • 209 km (navigable by craft drawing less than 1.2 m) (2004)

Burma now Burma (Myanmar)

12,800 km (2004)

Cambodia

  • 2,400 km (mainly on Mekong River) (2004)

Indonesia

21,579 km

note: Sumatra 5,471 km, Java and Madura 820 km, Kalimantan 10,460 km, Sulawesi (Celebes) 241 km, Irian Jaya 4,587 km (2004)

Laos

4,600 km

note: primarily Mekong and tributaries; 2,897 additional km are intermittently navigable by craft drawing less than 0.5 m (2003)

Malaysia

7,200 km

note: Peninsular Malaysia 3,200 km, Sabah 1,500 km, Sarawak 2,500 km (2004)

Philippines

3,219 km

note: limited to vessels with draft less than 1.5 m (2004)

Thailand

4,000 km

note: 3,701 km navigable by boats with drafts up to 0.9 m (2003)

Vietnam

  • 17,702 km (5,000 km navigable by vessels up to 1.8 m draft) (2004)

Cite this page

Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2005, “Waterways”, all entries. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/fields/waterways/2005.

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