Faraway river, alternatively island, with no company (7)

I believe the answer is:

orinoco

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'faraway river' is the definition.
'orinoco' can be an answer for 'river' (Orinoco is an example). I am not sure about the 'faraway' bit.

'alternatively island with no company' is the wordplay.
'alternatively' becomes 'or'.
'island' becomes 'i' (geographical abbreviation).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'or'+'i'+'no'+'co'='ORINOCO'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for orinoco that I've seen before include "Womble; S. Amer. river" , "Great river in the north of S America, flows through Venezuela" , "Colombia/Venezuela river" , "banker" , "Common character" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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