Orange River

Orange River

river

Origin of the watercourse	Drakensberg
Mouth of the watercourse	Atlantic Ocean
Lake for watercourse top	Vanderkloof Dam Reservoir
Drainage basin	Orange River basin
Basin country	Lesotho
Country	Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa
Coordinate location	28°53′48″S 29°1′5″E, 28°37′51″S 16°27′0″E
Heritage designation	Ramsar site

De Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: Oranjerivier) be a river insyd Southern Africa. E be de longest river insyd South Africa. Plus a total length of 2,432 km (1,511 mi), de Orange River Basin dey extend from Lesotho into South Africa den Namibia to de north. E dey rise insyd de Drakensberg mountains insyd Lesotho, dey flow westwards thru South Africa to de Atlantic Ocean. De river dey form part of de international borders between South Africa den Lesotho den between South Africa den Namibia, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa. Except for Upington, e no dey pass thru any major cities. De Orange River dey play an important role insyd de South African economy by providing water for irrigation den hydroelectric power. De river be named de Orange River in honour of de Dutch ruling family, de House of Orange, by de Dutch explorer Robert Jacob Gordon. Oda names include simply de word for river, insyd Khoekhoegowab orthography dem wrep as !Garib, wich be rendered insyd Afrikaans as Gariep River plus de intrusion of a velar fricative in place of de alveolar click, Groote River (dem derive from Kai !Garib) anaa Senqu River (dem use insyd Lesotho), dem derive from ǂNū "Black". E be known insyd isiZulu as isAngqu.

Course

De course den watershed of de Orange River, Caledon River den Vaal River (ǀHaiǃarib). Dis map dey show a conservative border for de watershed. Specifically, de Kalahari basin be excluded, as sam sources say e be endorheic. Sam oda sources wey dey use computational methods show a basin wich dey include parts of Botswana (den hence of de Kalahari).

De Orange dey rise insyd de Drakensberg mountains along de border between South Africa den Lesotho, about 193 km (120 mi) west of de Indian Ocean den at an altitude of over 3,000 m (9,800 ft). De extremity of de Orange River insyd Lesotho be known as de Senqu. Parts of de Senqu River freeze insyd winter secof de high altitude. Dis dey create droughts downstream, wich mainly dey affect goat den cattle production.

Orange River south of Rosh Pinah

Senqu River Near Ha Potomane (Cutting Camp) insyd Quthing, Lesotho

Orange River near Hopetown

De Orange River dey then run westward thru South Africa, dey form de south-western boundary of de Free State province. Insyd dis section, de river dey flow first into de Gariep Dam den later into de Vanderkloof Dam. From de border of Lesotho to below de Vanderkloof Dam, de river bed deeply be incised. Further downstream, de land be flatter, den de river be used extensively for irrigation.

Catchment den rainfall

De total catchment of de Orange River (wey dey include de Vaal) dey extend over 973,000 km2 (376,000 sq mi), i.e. equivalent to about 77% of de land area of South Africa (1,221,037 km2 (471,445 sq mi)). Around 366,000 km2 (141,000 sq mi) (38%), however, be situated outsyd de country insyd Lesotho, Botswana, den Namibia.

Tributaries

• Vaal River - 1,458 km (906 mi)
• Caledon River - 642 km (399 mi)
• Khubelu River - 144 km (89 mi)

Dams

• Armenia Dam
• Egmont Dam
• Gariep Dam
• Newberry Dam
• Vanderkloof Dam
• Welbedacht Dam

External links

• Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM) Archived 27 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
• Orange-Senqu River Awareness Kit - knowledge hub for the Orange-Senqu River basin
• Map of the Orange River basin at Water Resources eAtlas at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 August 2012)
• Map of portion of Orange River basin forming part of South Africa
• "Seeing Orange in the Kalahari", article and astronaut photo at NASA Earth Observatory, July 18, 2021
• Information on the Orange River from the South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry