Countries that do not have rivers including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and more

Nations that do not have permanent rivers have special challenges in maintaining a steady supply of water to their people. These nations are compelled to resort to innovation, using desalination, aquifers, and seasonal rivers to satisfy their needs. For all of these countries, water security is not only an issue of meeting daily consumption needs but also a long-term economic and environmental one. With the assistance of advanced technologies and water-saving methods, these countries are going the extra mile to apply efficient water management methods, which are crucial to their own survival and development in the future.
These six nations in the world lack permanent rivers, primarily because of their desert and arid climates, geographical limitations, and scarcity of freshwater resources. These nations include Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman. They depend significantly on underground aquifers, desalination plants, and seasonal rivers that only exist during infrequent rainfall. Here is the list of nations that do not have permanent rivers.


Saudi Arabia, a large country on the Arabian Peninsula, is renowned for its vast deserts, among which Rub' al Khali, or Empty Quarter, is one of the largest sand deserts in the world. Saudi Arabia lacks permanent rivers due to the extreme heat and dryness of rains. Whatever water Saudi Arabia possesses is largely in underground aquifers, which are largely thousands to millions of years old, and in desalination plants that make seawater drinkable as fresh water. Saudi Arabia must use enormous amounts of the non-replenishable forms of these because of the deserts. Seasonal rivers exist there in the form of "wadis," but these flow only after sporadic rain showers, and they dry up or are drained off within a moment due to the hot weather.

There is another country that does not have permanent rivers in the Arabian Gulf, and that is Kuwait.
The nation does not possess permanent rivers due to its hot weather as well as a minimum quantity of rainfall. Seawater desalination is the primary source of freshwater in the nation and one of the world's largest producers of desalinated water. There is also a dependence on the groundwater in Kuwait, but it is limited and will not be enough to meet the whole demand of the population. Due to the arid climate, the government has moved to prevent water shortages, including in the way of investment in water desalination technologies.

Qatar is a small desert nation with little or no rain and no permanent rivers. The water needs of the country are met by seawater desalination, and it also taps water from the underground. The underground water, however, is finite and not renewable in the long term. The use of desalinated water, while meeting the nation's freshwater needs, is energy-consuming and expensive. Like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the water issue of Qatar is aggravated by its dry climate, which does not permit the establishment of permanent rivers.

Bahrain, the Persian Gulf island nation, also lacks rivers. The country is almost flat desert and lacks natural ground to form rivers. Bahrain relies on the underground freshwater springs but are limited in number and could not fulfill the entire water needs. Bahrain spent a lot on desalination plants to fulfill its water needs, and seawater desalted water is the dominant source of drinking water there.

The UAE, located in the eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, also does not have permanent rivers.
The country is mostly desert with minimal or no rain all year round. The UAE has seasonal river beds, known as "wadis," that only contain water in rare occasions of rainfalls but are never guaranteed sources of water. As was the trend in its fellow neighbors, the UAE has utilized desalination as one of its main freshwater supplies, and it also uses the groundwater resource in meeting its needs.

Oman, which is another Gulf state, has no permanent rivers due to its arid landscape and terrain. Oman, however, has wadis or ephemeral rivers, but only when it rains, and these wither away as fast as possible. Oman is reliant on groundwater and desalinated sea water for their waters. Oman, even though they have wadis, also has the lack of delivering equal amounts of water to its populace since they do not have permanent rivers.

Malta is an island nation within the Mediterranean Sea, and there are no permanent rivers since Malta is a tiny and dry country. It has little rain and is tiny and dry to provide room for rivers, with no natural source that can supply rivers. Thus, Malta depends on imported water from surrounding countries as well as on desalination to provide it with freshwater.

Monaco, a city-state on the French Riviera, does not have rivers either. In fact, due to its limited land area and city location, there is not much room for rivers to exist. Monaco receives water primarily from France, since it relies on the water system of its surrounding country to survive.

The Vatican City, the smallest state in the world, has no rivers because its land area is extremely small and is surrounded by the city of Rome, Italy. Because it is surrounded by the city of Rome, Vatican City uses the water supply system of Italy for its needs, including the water brought from the surrounding rivers and reservoirs.

Djibouti, located in the Horn of Africa, lacks permanent rivers. There are seasonal streams during rainy weather, but the streams are not permanent and quickly dry up. Djibouti, consisting primarily of desert landscape, lacks a serious issue of access to fresh water. The country uses groundwater and imports water and desalination plants to supply its citizens with drinking water.

Nations can lack permanent rivers due to a number of reasons, most significantly their geography, climate, and natural water supply. The following is a closer examination of the main reasons:
Most nations with no permanent rivers, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar, are found in deserts or dry climates. They receive little precipitation, meaning that there is little water flow to support a permanent river system. The lack of rainfall, together with high evaporation levels as a result of extreme temperatures, does not allow rivers to be formed or supported throughout the year.
In certain areas, the topography simply is not conducive to river systems. For instance, nations located on level, dry plains or desert may not have the elevation and land shapes that are needed to produce and sustain rivers. In such places, natural drainage networks like rivers may not develop or quickly evaporate.
Countries with scarce natural freshwater resources might find it difficult to support permanent rivers. Groundwater and underground aquifers in some instances are the main sources of water for such countries, but without rivers linking these sources to the surface, there is no flowing water.
There are other countries that are likely to possess seasonal rivers, commonly referred to as "wadis" in the North African and Middle Eastern regions. These are fleeting streams that will only flow seasonally, perhaps during heavy precipitation or snow melt, but do not flow otherwise. These rivers are not as consistent or persistent as to consider them permanent rivers.
Countries without permanent rivers resort to other sources of water. Most countries, particularly those in the Middle East, spend considerable amounts on desalination technology, which converts seawater to fresh water. This enables them to obtain freshwater without depending on natural river flows.
There are instances where buried geological structures or the hydrologic nature of an area do not allow rivers to exist or stabilize. For instance, if part of an area consists of permeable rock levels, water does not have its free flow surface or accumulate sufficient volume to cause rivers to come into existence.
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