Semliki
Semliki 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
- 0.07°, 29.64°
About Semliki
Semliki River (French: Rivière Semliki) is a major river, 140 kilometres (87 mi) long, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda in Central and East Africa. It flows north from Lake Edward in Beni Territory, Nord-Kivu, DRC avoiding the Rwenzori Mountains on its Right (East), emptying into Lake Albert in the Albertine Rift, Irumu Territory, Ituri Province, DRC overlooking the Blue Mountains to its left in the west. Its mouth is near the Village of Katolingo in Kanara subcounty, Ntoroko district, Uganda. Along its lower reaches, it meanders extensively forming part of the international border between the DRC and the western Ugandan districts of Bundibugyo and Ntoroko, near the Semuliki National Park.
Increasing snow melt from the Rwenzoris, overgrazing, and other alterations to the watershed have caused bank erosion and frequent changes to the course of the meandering lower reaches of the river. In some places, Uganda is losing up to 10 metres (33 ft) of land per year on its side of the river to erosion and silt from the Semliki is gradually filling in the southern end of Lake Albert.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Semliki River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Semliki in Depth
Course
The Semliki begins near Ishango (DRC) at the northern end of Lake Edward and soon enters Virunga National Park, through which it flows over much of its upper course. The A-109 road between Mpondwe (Uganda) and Beni (DRC) is on the right, sometimes nearby and sometimes at a distance, as the river meanders through the park. Slightly southeast of Beni, the river passes under the A-109 road and continues north. At this point, the stream is west of Mount Baker (Kiyanja) in Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda.
Before leaving the park, the river passes under another road linking the DRC settlement of Oicha to the settlements in the Semliki Valley west of the DRC–Uganda border and the Uganda town of Bundibugyo.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Semliki River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Semliki: Key Facts
| Length | 230 km |
|---|---|
| Drainage system | Nile basin |
Facts from Wikidata Q205428 (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
Semliki: Quick Answers
- Where is Semliki?
- Semliki is located in DR Congo and Uganda, at 0.0741° N, 29.6439° E.
- Are there dams on the Semliki?
- No dam on the Semliki is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.