Molopo
Molopo 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
- -26.21°, 22.54°
About Molopo
The Molopo River (Afrikaans: Moloporivier) is one of the main rivers in Southern Africa. It has a length of approximately 960 kilometres and a catchment area of 367,201 km2 with Botswana, Namibia and South Africa sharing roughly about a third of the basin each.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Molopo River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Molopo in Depth
Course
Its source is in the Molopo Oog (Eye of Molopo in Afrikaans), and the river generally flows first to the west, and then to the southwest from its source. In its middle course the Molopo River forms a significant section of the border between Botswana and South Africa.
River flow is intermittent and when it flows, its water flows very slowly owing to a gradient of only 0.76 m/km. Floods are rare because the vast sandveld areas of the Kalahari Desert on the Namibian side of its basin absorb all water from the seasonal rains. In case of exceptionally heavy and continuous precipitation the flow discharges into the Orange River, which it meets downstream of Augrabies Falls National Park at 28°31′02″S 20°12′46″E. It is believed that this last occurred more than 100 years ago.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Molopo River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Molopo: Key Facts
| Length | 970 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 1 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 367,201 km² |
| Mouth | Orange River |
| Drainage system | Orange River basin |
| Tributaries | Nossob River |
Facts from Wikidata Q546793 (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
Molopo: Quick Answers
- Where is Molopo?
- Molopo is located in South Africa and Botswana, at 26.2073° S, 22.5444° E.
- Are there dams on the Molopo?
- No dam on the Molopo is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.