Africa Untold:
is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest river in the world,
Nile in Cairo, Egypt
inside river Nile map
Location
Countries Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi
Major cities Jinja, Juba, Khartoum, Cairo
Physical characteristics
Source White Nile
• coordinates 02°16′56″S 29°19′53″E
• elevation 2,400 m (7,900 ft)
2nd source Blue Nile
• location Lake Tana, Ethiopia
• coordinates 12°02′09″N 037°15′53″E
Mouth Mediterranean Sea
• location Nile Delta, Egypt
• coordinates 30°10′N 31°09′E
• elevation Sea level
Length 6,650 km (4,130 mi)[a]
Basin size 3,349,000 km2 (1,293,000 sq mi)
Width
• maximum 2.8 km (1.7 mi)
Depth
• average 8–11 m (26–36 ft)
Discharge
• location Aswan, Egypt
• average 2,633 m3/s (93,000 cu ft/s)
• minimum 530 m3/s (19,000 cu ft/s)
• maximum 7,620 m3/s (269,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location Cairo, Egypt
• average 2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s)
• minimum 500 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s)
• maximum 7,000 m3/s (250,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location Nile Delta, Egypt, Mediterranean Sea
• average 1,584 m3/s (55,900 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left White Nile
• right Blue Nile, Atbara
The Nile[b] is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest river in the world,[3][4] though this has been contested by research suggesting that the Amazon River is slightly longer.[5][6] Of the world's major rivers, the Nile is one of the smallest, as measured by annual flow in cubic metres of water.[7] About 6,650 km (4,130 mi)[a] long, its drainage basin covers eleven countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt.[9] In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan.[10] Additionally, the Nile is an important economic river, supporting agriculture and fishing.
The Nile
has two major tributaries: the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile is traditionally considered to be the headwaters stream. However, the Blue Nile is the source of most of the water of the Nile downstream, containing 80% of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region. It begins at Lake Victoria and flows through Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia[11] and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet at the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.[12]
The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Nubian Desert to Cairo and its large delta, and the river flows into the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria. Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river and its annual flooding since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of the Aswan Dam. Nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt developed and are found along river banks. The Nile is, with the Rhône and Po, one of the three Mediterranean rivers with the largest water discharge.
2. The Niger River,
principal river of western Africa. With a length of 2,600 miles (4,200 km), it is the third longest river in Africa, after the Nile and the Congo. The Niger is believed to have been named by the Greeks. Along its course it is known by several names. These include the Joliba (Malinke: “great river”) in its upper course; the Mayo Balleo and the Isa Eghirren in its central reach; and the Kwarra, Kworra, or Quorra in its lower stretch.
The Niger rises in Guinea at 9°05′ N and 10°47′ W on the eastern side of the Fouta Djallon (Guinea) highlands, only 150 miles (240 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Issuing as the Tembi from a deep ravine 2,800 feet (850 metres) above sea level, it flows due north over the first 100 miles (160 km). It then follows a northeasterly direction, during the course of which it receives its upper tributaries—the Mafou, the Niandan, the Milo, and the Sankarani on the right and the Tinkisso on the left—and enters Mali. Just below Bamako, Mali’s capital, the Sotuba Dam marks the end of the upper river. From there the Niger once dropped more than 1,000 feet (300 metres) in about 40 miles (60 km) into a valley formed by tectonic subsidence; but the rapids in this stretch have been submerged by the waters backed up by the Markala Dam, located some 150 miles (240 km) downstream of the Sotuba Dam near Sansanding. In this stretch, at Koulikoro, the river takes a more east-northeasterly direction, and its bed becomes fairly free from impediments for about 1,000 miles (1,600 km).
Fisherman setting his nets in the Bani River in Mali.
At Mopti the Niger is joined by the Bani, its largest tributary on the right, after which it enters a region of lakes, creeks, and backwaters that is often called the “internal delta” of the Niger. These lakes are chiefly on the left bank and are connected to the river by channels that undergo seasonal changes in the direction of flow. At high water most of the lakes become part of a general inundation. Largest of the lakes in this region is Lake Faguibine, which is nearly 75 miles (120 km) long, 15 miles (25 km) wide, and more than 160 feet (50 metres) deep in places.
The labyrinth of lakes, creeks, and backwaters comes to an end at Kabara, the port of Timbuktu (Tombouctou). There, the river turns almost due east, passing its most northern point at latitude 17°05′ N. Some 250 miles (400 km) downstream from Timbuktu, a rocky ridge that obstructs the course of the river is pierced by a defile (narrow gorge) more than a mile long, with an average width of about 800 feet (240 metres) and a depth of more than 100 feet (30 metres) in places. At low water the strong current there endangers navigation. A short way downstream the river turns to the southeast and widens considerably, flowing to Gao across a floodplain 3 to 6 miles (5 to 10 km) wide. This most northerly bend of the Niger flows through the southern fringe of the Sahara.
3.The Senegal River
is a 1086-kilometre-long (675 mi) river in West Africa; much of its length marks part of the border between Senegal and Mauritania. It has a drainage basin of 270000 km2 (100000 sq mi), a mean flow of 680 m3/s (24,000 cu ft/s), and an annual discharge of 21.5 km3 (5.2 cu mi). Important tributaries are the Falémé River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River. The river divides into two branches once it passes Kaédi The left branch, called the Doué, runs parallel to the main river to the north. After 200 km (120 mi) the two branches rejoin a few kilometers downstream of Podor.
The Senegal River has a drainage basin of 270000 km2 (100000 sq mi), a mean flow of 680 m3/s (24000 cu ft/s), and an annual discharge of 21.5 km3 (5.2 cu mi). Important tributaries are the Falémé River, Karakoro River, and the Gorgol River.
Downstream of Kaédi the river divides into two branches. The left branch called the Doué runs parallel to the main river to the north. After 200 km (120 mi) the two branches rejoin a few kilometres downstream of Pondor. The long strip of land between the two branches is called the Île á Morfil.
In 1972 Mali, Mauritania and Senegal founded the Organisation pour la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS) to manage the river basin. Guinea joined in 2005.
At the present time, only very limited use is made of the river for the transport of goods and passengers. The OMVS have looked at the feasibility of creating a navigable channel 55 m (180 ft) in width between the small town of Ambidédi in Mali and Saint-Louis, a distance of 905 km (562 mi). It would give landlocked Mali a direct route to the Atlantic Ocean.
The aquatic fauna in the Senegal River basin is closely associated with that of the Gambia River basin, and the two are usually combined under a single ecoregion known as the Senegal-Gambia Catchments. Although the species richness is moderately high, only three species of frogs and one fish are endemic to this ecoregion.
History
The existence of the Senegal River was known to the early Mediterranean civilizations. It or some other river was called Bambotus by Pliny the Elder (possibly from Phoenician "behemoth" for hippopotamus) and Nias by Claudius Ptolemy. It was visited by Hanno the Carthaginian around 450 BCE at his navigation from Carthage through the pillars of Herakles to Theon Ochema (Mount Cameroon) in the Gulf of Guinea. There was trade from here to the Mediterranean World, until the destruction of Carthage and its west African trade net in 146 BCE.
As the Senegal River reached into the heart of the gold-producing Ghana Empire and later the Mali Empire, Trans-Saharan traders gave the Senegal its famous nickname as the "River of Gold". The Trans-Saharan stories about the "River of Gold" reached the ears of Sub-Alpine European merchants that frequented the ports of Morocco and the lure proved irresistible. Arab historians report at least three separate Arab maritime expeditions - the last one organized by a group of eight mughrarin ("wanderers") of Lisbon (before 1147) - that tried to sail down the Atlantic coast, possibly in an effort find the mouth of the Senegal.
Drawing from Classical legend and Arab sources, the "River of Gold" found its way into European maps in the 14th century. In the Hereford Mappa Mundi (c. 1300), there is a river labelled "Nilus Fluvius" drawn parallel to the coast of Africa, albeit without communication with Atlantic (it ends in a lake). It depicts some giant ants digging up gold dust from its sands, with the note "Hic grandes formice auream serican [or servant] arenas" ("Here great ants guard gold sands"). In the mappa mundi made by Pietro Vesconte for the c. 1320 atlas of Marino Sanuto, there is an unnamed river stemming from the African interior and opening in the Atlantic ocean. The 1351 Medici-Laurentian Atlas shows both the Egyptian Nile and the western Nile stemming from the same internal mountain range, with the note that "Ilic coligitur aureaum". The portolan chart of Giovanni da Carignano (1310s-20s) has the river with the label, iste fluuis exit de nilo ubi multum aurum repperitur.
In the more accurately-drawn portolan charts, starting with the 1367 chart of Domenico and Francesco Pizzigano and carried on in the 1375 Catalan Atlas, the 1413 chart of the Catalan converso Mecia de Viladestes, etc. the "River of Gold" is depicted (if only speculatively), draining into the Atlantic Ocean somewhere just south of Cape Bojador. The legend of Cape Bojador as a terrifying obstacle, the 'cape of no return' to European sailors, emerged around the same time (possibly encouraged by Trans-Saharan traders who did not want to see their land route sidestepped by sea).
The river is frequently depicted with a great river island midway, the "Island of Gold", first mentioned by al-Masudi, and famously called "Wangara" by al-Idrisi and "Palolus" in the 1367 Pizzigani brothers chart. It is conjectured that this riverine "island" is in fact just the Bambuk-Buré goldfield district, which is practically surrounded on all sides by rivers - the Senegal river to the north, the Falémé River to the west, the Bakhoy to the east and the Niger and Tinkisso to the south.
"This river is called Wad al-Nil and also is called the River of Gold, for one can here obtain the gold of Palolus. And know that the greater part of those that live here occupy themselves collecting gold on the shores of the river which, at its mouth, is a league wide, and deep enough for the largest ship of the world."
East of Mali, the river forms a lake or "Island of Gold" shown here studded with river-washed gold nuggets (this is what the Pizzigani brothers called the island of "Palolus", and most commentators take to indicate the Bambuk-Buré goldfields). It is connected by many streams to the southerly "mountains of gold" (labelled "montanies del lor", the Futa Djallon/Bambouk Mountains and Loma Mountains of Sierra Leone). It is evident the Senegal river morphs east, unbroken, into the Niger River - the cities of "tenbuch" (Timbuktu), "geugeu" (Gao) and "mayna" (Niamey? or a misplaced Niani?) are denoted along the same single river. South of them (barely visible) are what seem like the towns of Kukiya (on the eastern shore of the Island of Gold), and east of that, probably Sokoto (called "Zogde" in the Catalan Atlas) and much further southeast, probably Kano.
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Uniquely, the Viladestes map shows another river, south of the Senegal, which it labels the "flumen gelica" (poss. angelica), which some have taken to depict the Gambia River. In the 1459 mappa mundi of Fra Mauro, drawn a half-century later, after the Portuguese had already visited the Senegal (albeit still trying to respect Classical sources), shows two parallel rivers running east to west, both of them sourced from the same great internal lake (which, Fra Mauro asserts, is also the same source as the Egyptian Nile). Mauro names the two parallel rivers differently,calling one "flumen Mas ("Mas River"), the other the "canal dal oro" ("Channel of Gold"), and makes the note that "Inne larena de questi do fiume se trova oro de paiola" ("In the sands of both these rivers gold of 'palola' may be found"), and nearer to the sea, "Qui se racoce oro" ("Here gold is collected"), and finally, on the coast, "Terra de Palmear" ("Land of Palms"). It is notable that Fra Mauro knew of the error of Henry the Navigator's captains about the Daklha inlet, which Mauro carefully labels "Reodor" ("Rio do Ouro", Western Sahara), distinctly from the "Canal del Oro" (Senegal River).
4. The Congo River,
River in west-central Africa. With a length of 2,900 miles (4,700 km), it is the continent’s second longest river, after the Nile. It rises in the highlands of northeastern Zambia between Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa (Malawi) as the Chambeshi River at an elevation of 5,760 feet (1,760 metres) above sea level and at a distance of about 430 miles (700 km) from the Indian Ocean. Its course then takes the form of a giant counterclockwise arc, flowing to the northwest, west, and southwest before draining into the Atlantic Ocean at Banana (Banane) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its drainage basin, covering an area of 1,335,000 square miles (3,457,000 square km), takes in almost the entire territory of that country, as well as most of the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, eastern Zambia, and northern Angola and parts of Cameroon and Tanzania.
With its many tributaries, the Congo forms the continent’s largest network of navigable waterways. Navigability, however, is limited by an insurmountable obstacle: a series of 32 cataracts over the river’s lower course, including the famous Inga Falls. These cataracts render the Congo unnavigable between the seaport of Matadi, at the head of the Congo estuary, and Malebo Pool, a lakelike expansion of the river. It was on opposite banks of Malebo Pool—which represents the point of departure of inland navigation—that the capitals of the former states of the French Congo and the Belgian Congo were founded: on the left bank Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville), now the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and on the right bank Brazzaville, now the capital of the Republic of the Congo.
The Amazon and the Congo are the two great rivers of the world that flow out of equatorial zones where heavy rainfall occurs throughout all or almost all of the year. Upstream from Malebo Pool, the Congo basin receives an average of about 60 inches (1,500 mm) of rain a year, of which more than one-fourth is discharged into the Atlantic. The drainage basin of the Congo is, however, only about half the size of that of the Amazon, and the Congo’s rate of flow—1,450,000 cubic feet (41,000 cubic metres) per second at its mouth—is considerably less than the Amazon’s flow of more than 6,180,000 cubic feet (175,000 cubic metres) per second.
While the Chambeshi River, as the remotest source, may form the Congo’s original main stream in terms of the river’s length, it is another tributary—the Lualaba, which rises near Musofi in southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo—that carries the greatest quantity of water and thus may be considered as forming the Congo’s original main stream in terms of water volume.
Orange River, river in southern Africa, one of the longest rivers on the continent and one of the longest south of the Tropic of Capricorn. After rising in the Lesotho Highlands, less than 125 miles (200 kilometres) from the Indian Ocean, the river flows to the Atlantic Ocean in a generally westerly direction for some 1,300 miles. The Orange traverses the veld region of South Africa, after which it defines the southern limit of the Kalahari and bisects the southern Namib before draining into the Atlantic at Alexander Bay, S.Af. Along its course the river forms the eastern boundary of the South African province of Free State, as well as the boundary between Namibia and South Africa.
5.
The Orange River
—together with the Vaal, its principal tributary—forms a drainage basin with an area of at least 330,000 square miles (855,000 square kilometres). The western part of the basin is generally dry, flat, and unamenable to cultivation without irrigation. The river itself is of vital economic importance to the region through which it flows. Two projects—the Orange River Project and the Lesotho Highland Project, both in various stages of construction—have been designed to meet the water demand for irrigation, urbanization, and economic development in the central industrial areas of South Africa.
The Orange River, known as "eGariep" to the Bushmen and "die Grootrivier" too early explorers, is a significant geographical feature of South Africa. Despite common misconceptions, its name isn't derived from its color. Instead, it was named "Oranjerivier" in 1777 by Robert Jacob Gordon, a Dutchman of Scottish descent, to honor Prince William of the Royal Dutch House of Orange.
As South Africa's longest river, the Orange River originates from the Maluti Mountains in Lesotho and travels approximately 2250km to the Atlantic Ocean, making it the world's 39th longest river. Its primary water source is the Caledon River and its tributary, the Vaal River. The river has been dammed at two locations: the Gariep Dam near Colesburg and the Vanderkloof Dam downstream.
The Gariep Dam, covering an area of 374 square kilometers, has a capacity of 6000 million cubic meters of water when full and generates 320MW of hydroelectric power. The Vanderkloof Dam holds 3000 million cubic meters of water and produces 220MW of hydroelectric power.
The Orange River forms international borders between South Africa and Namibia, South Africa and Lesotho, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa. Despite not passing through any major cities, it plays a crucial role in the South African economy by supporting agriculture, industry, and mining.
The river is home to the Augrabies Falls, one of the world's six largest waterfalls, located just below the town of Kakamas in the Northern Cape. This natural wonder, whose name means "place of great noise," is a sight to behold.
The river's course changes direction in the Richtersveld area, where it heads north before continuing westwards through the Northern Cape coastal plain and finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean between Alexander Bay and Oranjemund on the Diamond Coast of South Africa and Namibia.
The Orange River is a popular destination for River Run adventures in South Africa, offering thrilling yet safe river trails. Rapids along the stretch between Noordoewer and the Fish River Junction reach a grade of 2 to 2.5 (graded between 1 and 6, from gentle to impossible).
These river safaris, lasting 3 to 6 days and covering about 20 kilometers per day, offer a unique wilderness experience. Participants can expect to sleep under the stars, enjoy spectacular desert sunsets, stunning rose-colored mountains, unusual rock formations, and evenings around the campfire. The river is home to 276 species of birds, and lucky visitors might spot baboons, vervet monkeys, leagues, and even wild desert horses coming to drink at the water's edge.
6. The Limpopo River
Flows over a total distance of 1,750 kilometres. It starts at the confluence of the Marico and Crocodile rivers in South Africa and flows northwest of Pretoria. It is joined by the Notwane river flowing from Botswana, and then forms the border between Botswana and South Africa, and flows in a north easterly direction.
The Limpopo River (/lɪmˈpoʊpoʊ/) rises in South Africa[2] and flows generally eastward through Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers led by Hosi Rivombo who settled in the mountainous vicinity and named the area after their leader.[citation needed] The river has been called the Vhembe by local Venda communities of the area where now that name has been adopted by the South African government as its District Municipality in the north, a name that was also suggested in 2002 as a possible title for the province but was voted against. The river is approximately 1,750 km (1,090 mi) long, with a drainage basin of 415,000 km2 (160,000 sq mi) in size. The mean discharge measured over a year is 170 m3/s (6,000 cu ft/s) to 313 m3/s (11,100 cu ft/s) at its mouth.[3][1] The Limpopo is the second largest African river that drains to the Indian Ocean, after the Zambezi River.[4]
The first European to sight the river was Vasco da Gama, who anchored off its mouth in 1498 and named it Espirito Santo River. Its lower course was explored by St Vincent Whitshed Erskine in 1868–69, and Captain J F Elton travelled down its middle course in 1870.
The drainage area of Limpopo River has decreased over geological time. Up to Late Pliocene or Pleistocene times, the upper course of the Zambezi River drained into the Limpopo River.[5] The change of the drainage divide is the result of epeirogenic movement that uplifted the surface north of present-day Limpopo River, diverting waters into Zambezi River.
The waters of the Limpopo flow sluggishly, with considerable silt content. Rudyard Kipling's characterization of the river as the "great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees," where the "Bi-Coloured Python Rock-Snake" dwells[10] in the Just So Stories is apt. Rainfall is seasonal and unreliable: in dry years, the upper parts of the river flow for 40 days or less. The upper part of the drainage basin, in the Kalahari Desert, is arid but conditions become less arid further downriver. The next reaches drain the Waterberg Massif, a biome of semi-deciduous forest and low-density human population.[11] The fertile lowlands support a denser population, and about 14 million people live in the Limpopo basin. Flooding during the rainy season is an occasional problem in the lower reaches. During February 2000 heavy rainfalls during the passage of a cyclone caused the catastrophic 2000 Mozambique flood.
The highest concentration of hippopotamus in the Limpopo River is found between the Mokolo and the Mogalakwena Rivers.[12] There is a lot of mining activity in the Limpopo River basin with about 1,900 functioning mines, not counting about 1,700 abandoned mines.
7.The Zambezi River
(also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers 1,390,000 km2 (540,000 sq mi),[1][2] slightly less than half of the Nile's. The 2,574 km (1,599 mi) river rises in Zambia and flows through eastern Angola, along the north-eastern border of Namibia and the northern border of Botswana, then along the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe to Mozambique, where it crosses the country to empty into the Indian Ocean.[6][7]
The Zambezi's most noted feature is Victoria Falls. Its other falls include the Chavuma Falls[8] at the border between Zambia and Angola, and Ngonye Falls near Sioma in western Zambia.[9]
The two main sources of hydroelectric power on the river are the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique, which provides power to Mozambique and South Africa. Additionally, two smaller power stations are along the Zambezi River in Zambia, one at Victoria Falls and the other in Zengamina, near Kalene Hill in the Ikelenge District.
he river flows to the southwest into Angola for about 240 km (150 mi), then is joined by sizeable tributaries such as the Luena and the Chifumage flowing from highlands to the north-west.[14] It turns south and develops a floodplain, with extreme width variation between the dry and rainy seasons. It enters dense evergreen Cryptosepalum dry forest, though on its western side, Western Zambezian grasslands also occur. Where it re-enters Zambia, it is nearly 400 m (1,300 ft) wide in the rainy season and flows rapidly, with rapids ending in the Chavuma Falls, where the river flows through a rocky fissure. The river drops about 400 m (1,300 ft) in elevation from its source at 1,500 m (4,900 ft) to the Chavuma Falls at 1,100 m (3,600 ft), in a distance of about 400 km (250 mi). From this point to the Victoria Falls, the level of the basin is very uniform, dropping only by another 180 m (590 ft) in a distance around 800 km (500 mi).[16][circular reference]
The first of its large tributaries to enter the Zambezi is the Kabompo River in the North-Western Province of Zambia. The savanna through which the river flows gives way to a wide floodplain, studded with Borassus fan palms. A little farther south is the confluence with the Lungwebungu River. This is the beginning of the Barotse Floodplain, the most notable feature of the upper Zambezi, but this northern part does not flood so much and includes islands of higher land in the middle.[17][citation needed]
About 30 km below the confluence of the Lungwebungu, the country becomes very flat, and the typical Barotse Floodplain landscape unfolds, with the flood reaching a width of 25 km in the rainy season. For more than 200 km downstream, the annual flood cycle dominates the natural environment and human life, society, and culture. About 80 km further down, the Luanginga, which with its tributaries drains a large area to the west, joins the Zambezi. A short distance higher up on the east, the main stream is joined in the rainy season by overflow of the Luampa/Luena system.[14]
A short distance downstream of the confluence with the Luanginga is Lealui, one of the capitals of the Lozi people, who populate the Zambian region of Barotseland in the Western Province. The chief of the Lozi maintains one of his two compounds at Lealui; the other is at Limulunga, which is on high ground and serves as the capital during the rainy season. The annual move from Lealui to Limulunga is a major event, celebrated as one of Zambia's best-known festivals, the Kuomboka.
After Lealui, the river turns south-southeast. From the east, it continues to receive numerous small streams, but on the west, it is without major tributaries for 240 km. Before this, the Ngonye Falls and subsequent rapids interrupt navigation. South of Ngonye Falls, the river briefly borders Namibia's Caprivi Strip.[14] Below the junction of the Cuando River and the Zambezi, the river bends almost due east. Here, the river is broad and shallow and flows slowly, but as it flows eastward towards the border of the great central plateau of Africa, it reaches a chasm into which the Victoria Falls plunge.
Middle Zambezi
Victoria Falls, the end of the upper Zambezi and beginning of the middle Zambezi
The Victoria Falls are considered the boundary between the upper and middle Zambezi. Below them, the river continues to flow due east for about 200 km (120 mi), cutting through perpendicular walls of basalt 20 to 60 m (66 to 197 ft) apart in hills 200 to 250 m (660 to 820 ft) high. The river flows swiftly through the Batoka Gorge, the current being continually interrupted by reefs. It has been described[18][citation needed] as one of the world's most spectacular whitewater trips, a tremendous challenge for kayakers and rafters alike. Beyond the gorge are a succession of rapids that end 240 km (150 mi) below Victoria Falls. Over this distance, the river drops 250 m (820 ft).
At this point, the river enters Lake Kariba, created in 1959 following the completion of the Kariba Dam. The lake is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, and the hydroelectric power-generating facilities at the dam provide electricity to much of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Luangwa and Kafue rivers are the two largest left-hand tributaries of the Zambezi. The Kafue joins the main river in a quiet, deep stream about 180 m (590 ft) wide. From this point, the northward bend of the Zambezi is checked, and the stream continues due east. At the confluence of the Luangwa (15°37' S), it enters Mozambique.[19]
The middle Zambezi ends where the river enters Lake Cahora Bassa, formerly the site of dangerous rapids known as Kebrabassa; the lake was created in 1974 by the construction of the Cahora Bassa Dam.[20][citation needed]
Lower Zambezi
The lower Zambezi's 650 km from Cahora Bassa to the Indian Ocean is navigable, although the river is shallow in many places during the dry season. This shallowness arises as the river enters a broad valley and spreads out over a large area. Only at one point, the Lupata Gorge, 320 km from its mouth, is the river confined between high hills. Here, it is scarcely 200 m wide. Elsewhere it is from 5 to 8 km wide, flowing gently in many streams. The river bed is sandy, and the banks are low and reed-fringed. At places, however, and especially in the rainy season, the streams unite into one broad, fast-flowing river.[citation needed]
About 160 km from the sea, the Zambezi receives the drainage of Lake Malawi through the Shire River. On approaching the Indian Ocean, the river splits up into a delta.[14] Each of the primary distributaries, Kongone, Luabo, and Timbwe, is obstructed by a sand bar. A more northerly branch, called the Chinde mouth, has a minimum depth at low water of 2 m at the entrance and 4 m further in, and is the branch used for navigation. 100 km further north is a river called the Quelimane, after the town at its mouth. This stream, which is silting up, receives the overflow of the Zambezi in the rainy season.
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