Limpopo River

Infobox_River
river_name = Limpopo

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caption = Limpopo River in Mozambique
origin =
mouth = Indian Ocean
basin_countries = South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique
length_km = 1750
length_mi = 1087
elevation =
discharge_m3/s = 174.288
discharge_cuft/s = 6155
watershed_km2 = 415000
watershed_sqmi = 160200

The Limpopo River rises in central southern Africa, and flows generally eastwards to the Indian Ocean. It is around convert|1750|km|mi|0 long, with a drainage basin convert|415000|km2|sqmi|-2 in size. Its mean annual discharge is 174.288 m³/s (6,155 cu ft/s) at its mouth. [cite book |last= Nakayama |first= Mikiyasu |title= International Waters in Southern Africa |year= 2003 |publisher= United Nations University Press |isbn= 9280810774 |pages= p. 9; online at [http://books.google.com/books?id=Ittv1oAJ37sC Google Books] ] The Limpopo is the second largest river in Africa that drains to the Indian Ocean, after the Zambezi River.

Course

The Limpopo river flows in a great arc, first zigzagging north and then northeast, then turning east and finally southeast. Then it serves as a border for about convert|640|km|mi|0, separating South Africa to the southeast from Botswana to the northwest and Zimbabwe to the north. There are several rapids as the river falls off Southern Africa's inland escarpment.

The Limpopo's main tributary is the Olifants River (Elephant River), contributing around 1,233 Mm³ per year)Görgens, A.H.M. and Boroto, R.A. 1997. Limpopo River: flow balance anomalies, surprises and implications for integrated water resources management. In: Proceedings of the 8th South African National Hydrology Symposium, Pretoria, South Africa.] . Other major tributaries include the Shashe River, Mzingwane River, Crocodile River, Mwenezi River and Luvuhu River.

The port town of Xai-xai, Mozambique is on the river near the mouth. Below the Olifants, the river is permanently navigable to the sea, though a sandbar prevents access by large ships, except at high tide.

At the north-eastern corner of South Africa the river borders Kruger National Park. Tributaries such as the Oliphants River flow through the park.

Basin characteristics

The waters of the Limpopo are sluggish and silty. 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 is arid, in the Kalahari Desert, but becomes less arid further down the river. The next reaches drain the Waterberg massif, a biome of semi-deciduous forest and low density human population.C.Michael Hogan, Mark L. Cooke and Helen Murray, "The Waterberg Biosphere", Lumina Technologies, May 22, 2006. [http://www.luminatechnologies.org/lumaw.html] ] The lower reaches are fertile and heavily populated. Floods after the rainy season are an occasional problem in the lower reaches, most notably the catastrophic floods in February 2000, which was caused by heavy rainfall due to a cyclone.

The Limpopo basin is home to about 14 million people.

History

Vasco da Gama was probably the first European to sight the river, when his first expedition anchored off the mouth in 1498. However, there has been human habitation in the region since time immemorial - sites in the Makapans Valley near Mokopane contain Australopithecus fossils from 3.5 million years ago.

The Limpopo was immortalized in the short story "The Elephant's Child" by British author Rudyard Kipling, in the "Just So Stories," where it is described as "the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees," where the "Bi-Coloured Python Rock-Snake" dwells. [ [http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/elephant.htm The Elephant's Child, Rudyard Kipling] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.waterandnature.org/eatlas/html/af11.html Map of the Limpopo River basin at Water Resources eAtlas]