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River

Jubba

River

Jubba is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.

Feature Class
River
Coordinates
2.02°, 42.31°
7.0
Coordinates: 2.0246° N, 42.3083° ECountry: SomaliaOpenStreetMap ↗

About Jubba

The Jubba River or Juba River (Somali: Webiga Jubba, Italian: fiume Giuba) is a river in southern Somalia which flows through the region of Jubaland. It begins at the border with Ethiopia, where the Dawa and Ganale Dorya rivers meet, and flows directly south to the Somali Sea, where it empties at the Goobweyn juncture. The Jubba basin covers an area of 749,000 km2 (289,000 mi2). The Somali regional state of Jubaland, formerly called Trans-Juba, is named after the river.

Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Jubba River (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Jubba in Depth

History

The Jubba River was once a productive civilization and trade network conducted by the Somalis that held sway over the Jubba River.

During the Middle Ages Jubba River was under the Ajuran Empire of the Horn of Africa which utilized the Jubba River for its plantations and was the only hydraulic empire in Africa. A hydraulic empire that rose in the 13th century AD, Ajuran monopolized the water resources of the Jubba River and Shebelle. Through hydraulic engineering, it also constructed many of the limestone wells and cisterns of the state that are still operative and in use today. Its rulers developed new systems for agriculture and taxation, which continued to be used in parts of the Horn of Africa as late as the 19th century.

Overview

The Jubba basin region is primarily savanna, and is, ecologically speaking, the richest part of the country due to its fertile farmland. Native wildlife includes giraffes, cheetahs, lions, leopards, hyenas, buffalos, hippopotamus, crocodiles, oryx, gazelles, camels, ostriches, jackals, and Somali wild asses.

The Jubba River gives its name to the Somali administrative regions of Upper Juba (Gedo, Bay, Bakool), Middle Juba and Lower Juba, as well as to the larger historical region of Jubaland. Major cities which the Jubba River passes by include Dolow, Luuq, Burdhubo, Beled'hawo, Bardhere, Buale, and Goobweyn near Kismaayo.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Jubba River (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Jubba: Key Facts

Key facts about Jubba
Length1,658 km
Average discharge127 m³/s
Drainage basin497,504 km²
SourceGanale Dorya River
MouthIndian Ocean
TributariesShebelle River, Dawa River, Ganale Dorya River, Ewaso Ng'iro

Facts from Wikidata Q138491 (CC0).

Major River Dossiers

Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.

Connected Reaches

Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.

Water Bodies in the Catchment

Settlements Along the Reach

Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby

Surrounding Terrain

Jubba: Quick Answers

Where is Jubba?
Jubba is located in Somalia and Ethiopia, at 2.0246° N, 42.3083° E.
Are there dams on the Jubba?
No dam on the Jubba is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.