Ganges
River
The holy river of India.
The Ganges begins at a glacier in the Himalayas and flows about 2,500 kilometres across the north of India to the Bay of Bengal. Hundreds of millions of people depend on its water.
For Hindus the river is a goddess, Ganga. In the city of Varanasi people walk down wide stone steps every morning to bathe in it, and many travel far to do so once in their lives.
- long
- 2,500 km
- countries: India and Bangladesh
- 2
- years the city of Varanasi has stood on its bank
- 3,000
- 1
Where it meets the sea, together with another great river, it forms the largest delta in the world.
- 2
In that delta lies a huge forest of mangroves where tigers swim between the islands.
- 3
A rare dolphin lives in the Ganges. It is almost blind and finds its way by sound.
Question 1 of 2
Where does the Ganges begin?
- Mount EverestThe highest point on Earth, on the border of Nepal and China.
- Taj MahalA white marble tomb an emperor built for the wife he loved.
- BaganA plain in Myanmar with more than two thousand temples, as far as you can see.
- SigiriyaA rock two hundred metres high in Sri Lanka, with a king's palace on top.
It is in India.
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