, Italy, is inscribed, "Here is born the
Po". The
United States Geological Survey (USGS) states that a river's "length may be considered to be the distance from the mouth to the most distant headwater source (irrespective of stream name), or from the mouth to the headwaters of the stream commonly known as the source stream". As an example of the second definition above, the USGS at times considers the
Missouri River as a tributary of the
Mississippi River. But it also follows the first definition above (along with virtually all other geographic authorities and publications) in using the combined Missouri–lower Mississippi length figure in lists of lengths of rivers around the world. Most rivers have numerous tributaries and change names often; it is customary to regard the longest tributary or stem as the source, regardless of what name that watercourse may carry on local maps and in local usage. This most commonly identified definition of a river source specifically uses the most distant point (along watercourses from the
river mouth) in the
drainage basin from which water runs year-around (
perennially), or, alternatively, as the furthest point from which water could possibly flow
ephemerally. The latter definition includes sometimes-dry channels and removes any possible definitions that would have the river source "move around" from month to month depending on precipitation or ground water levels. This definition, from geographer Andrew Johnston of the
Smithsonian Institution, is also used by the
National Geographic Society when pinpointing the source of rivers such as the
Amazon or
Nile. A definition given by the state of
Montana agrees, stating that a river source is never a
confluence but is "in a location that is the farthest, along water miles, from where that river ends." Under this definition, neither a lake (excepting lakes with no inflows) nor a confluence of tributaries can be a true river source, though both often provide the starting point for the portion of a river carrying a single name. For example, National Geographic and virtually every other geographic authority and atlas define the source of the Nile River not as
Lake Victoria's outlet where the name "Nile" first appears, which would reduce the Nile's length by over (dropping it to fourth or fifth on the list of world's rivers), but instead use the source of the largest river flowing
into the lake, the
Kagera River. Likewise, the source of the Amazon River has been determined this way, even though the river changes names numerous times along its course. However, the source of the
Thames in England is traditionally reckoned according to the named river Thames rather than its longer tributary, the
Churn — although not without contention. When not listing river lengths, however, alternative definitions may be used. The Missouri River's source is named by some USGS and other federal and state agency sources, following
Lewis and Clark's naming convention, as the confluence of the
Madison and
Jefferson rivers, rather than the source of its longest tributary (the Jefferson). which is, according to a
US Army Corps of Engineers official on a USGS site, that "[geographers] generally follow the longest tributary to identify the source of rivers and streams." In the case of the Missouri River, this would have the source be well upstream from Lewis and Clark's confluence, "following the Jefferson River to the
Beaverhead River to
Red Rock River, then Red Rock Creek to
Hell Roaring Creek." ==Characteristics==