River (Civ6)

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A River is a type of terrain feature in Civilization VI. It exists almost everywhere in the world, and runs between tiles. It always ends in a body of Water.

• Yields: Nothing
• Movement needed: 3 Movement MPs to cross
• Defense provided: +5 bonus against melee attacks coming from across the river (Ranged attacks are unaffected)
• Additional traits:
  • Provides Fresh Water to nearby tiles
  • Can provide Fresh Water via an Aqueduct
  • Cities near it can construct the Water Mill building
  • The Lumber Mill Improvement receives a +1 Production bonus if next to a River
  • +1 Appeal to nearby tiles
  • Provides +2 Adjacency bonus to Commercial Hub Districts
  • River Goddess Pantheon: +1 Amenities Amenity for cities which have a Holy Site District near a River.

Strategy

Rivers are invaluable for city settlement, as they supply fresh water and enable the Water Mill (and various wonders) to be built. With it, any city may get a good start at growing and producing as early as the Ancient Era! An Aqueduct built next to it will also supply a nearby city with Fresh Water for Housing Housing purposes.

But rivers do more than that. They provide a bulwark against invasions for any commander that knows how to use them; they turn Deserts into paradise by enabling the Floodplains feature; elsewhere they allow improved farming with the Civil Engineering Civic; they improve commerce thanks to the additional transport opportunities they provide for merchants.

Finally, you may use a River as means of finding the nearest sea in your early exploration. Every river flows from its source to either another river, or to a large body of water - just follow the flow direction.

River Names

Gathering Storm introduced a new mechanic in which Rivers can have different names based on the first civilization that finds them. Below is the list of the names and civilization of origin.

River	Civilization	Notes
Amur River	China	The tenth longest river in the world. It flows through China and Russia.
Okavango River	Kongo	A river in southwest Africa that begins in Angola where it has the Portuguese name Rio Cubango and flows into Botswana.
Thames River	England	Thames is a river that flows through the south of England. It is the second longest river in the UK.