River
Cunene River
1,207 km from source to mouth · Namibia and Angola.
Namibia and AngolaFlows into Atlantic Ocean1st longest in Namibia
In numbers
Length
1,207km
Average flow
170m³/s
Basin
109,832km²
Drop
1,660m
from 1,663 m to 3 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
1,207 km of river and 5 stops on the way: 2 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 1,663 m
- 335 kmMatala78,000 people
- 336 kmAlbufeira da Matala19 km²
- 643 kmXangongo35,000 people
- 777 kmRuacana Falls120 m
- 924 kmEpupa Falls20 m
- 1,207 kmAtlantic Oceanat 3 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Southern Africa
At the mouth it carries 174 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 14 seconds. It drops from 1,663 m to 3 m, 1.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 109,832 km², about the size of GT. 2.5 million people live in it. Highest water: March; lowest: from July to October. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (38% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- MatalaLargest city on its banks · 78,000 people
- Lubango Mukanka International Airport (SDD)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 158 km from the cityCar hire at OND airport (Ondangwa)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- Kayak and canoe310 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Cunene River, month by month
Highest water: March
Lowest water: from July to October. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 69 m³/s in the lowest month to 530 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Cunene River: the basin in numbers
108,938 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.5millionpeople live in the basin
- 23/km²people per km²
- 1,294maverage altitude of the basin
- 729mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 20.5°Caverage air temperature
- 23%protected areas
- 0.3%covered by lakes
- 2.7km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 30% Forest
- 3% Cropland
- 47% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Cunene River: what you find on the way
- 2WeirsOiwo Pool
- 13WaterfallsRuacana Falls, Epupa Falls, Quedas do Monte Negro and 10 more
- 310Rapids
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.4 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Cunene River in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
2waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
1lake on its wayLakeyas
Waterfalls (2)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Ruacana Fallskm 709120m
- Epupa Fallskm 84420m
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (1)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Albufeira da Matalakm 30719km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Cunene River in pictures
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q320649) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
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Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit