River
Limpopo River
1,750 km from source to mouth · 4 countries.
Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe and BotswanaFlows into Indian Ocean2nd longest in Mozambique
In numbers
Length
1,750km
Average flow
170m³/s
Basin
440,000km²
Drop
1,451m
from 1,451 m to 0 m
Countries
4
The journey
From source to mouth
1,750 km of river and 29 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 1,451 m
- 52 kmZeerust19,154 people
- 59 kmKlein-Maricopoortdam1.1 km²
- 169 kmMolatedi Reservoir31 km²
- 293 kmMarico Rivertributary
- 293 kmCrocodile Rivertributary
- 353 kmNotwane Rivertributary
- 363 kmMatlabas Rivertributary
- 399 kmSerorome Rivertributary
- 520 kmMokolo Rivertributary
- 550 kmPalala Rivertributary
- 621 kmLotsane Rivertributary
- 725 kmMogalakwena Rivertributary
- 756 kmMotloutse Rivertributary
- 799 kmShashe Rivertributary
- 876 kmMzingwane Rivertributary
- 881 kmAlfred Beit Road Bridge
- 883 kmBeitbridge58,574 people
- 904 kmSand Rivertributary
- 937 kmNzhelele Rivertributary
- 970 kmNwanedi Rivertributary
- 1,031 kmBubye Rivertributary
- 1,133 kmRunde Rivertributary
- 1,370 kmOlifants River (Limpopo)tributary
- 1,376 kmLago Fúcuè2.2 km²
- 1,420 kmLago Cocotiua1.8 km²
- 1,490 kmXilembene23,742 people
- 1,552 kmChangane Rivertributary
- 1,558 kmLago Dindire1.9 km²
- 1,609 kmXai-Xai154,356 people
- 1,750 kmIndian Oceanat 0 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 170 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 15 seconds. It drops from 1,451 m to 0 m, 0.8 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 440,000 km², about the size of IQ. 17.2 million people live in it. Highest water: from February to March; lowest: from July to October. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 66% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- Xai-XaiLargest city on its banks · 154,356 people
- Maputo Airport (MPM)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 145 km from the cityCar hire at MPM airport (Maputo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Limpopo River, month by month
Highest water: from February to March
Lowest water: from July to October. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 81 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,100 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
Limpopo River: the basin in numbers
407,137 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 17.2millionpeople live in the basin
- 42/km²people per km²
- 806maverage altitude of the basin
- 542mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 20.7°Caverage air temperature
- 19%protected areas
- 0.3%covered by lakes
- 6.4km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 34% Forest
- 11% Cropland
- 48% Pasture
- 2% 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
Limpopo River: what you find on the way
- 58WeirsHarry's Camp weir, Weir east of Harry's Camp, Gansies Dam and 55 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.8 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Limpopo 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.
5lakes on its wayLakeyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
Lakes and reservoirs (5)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Klein-Maricopoortdamkm 511.1km²
- Molatedi Reservoirkm 14831km²
- Lago Fúcuèkm 1,2062.2km²
- Lago Cocotiuakm 1,2451.8km²
- Lago Dindirekm 1,3661.9km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Praia Sepúlveda22 km away27.5°C
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
Limpopo River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (61)
Zimbabwe1,010 km140 m³/sjoins at km 904Olifants River (Limpopo)South Africa560 km110 m³/sjoins at km 1,200Shashe RiverZimbabwe300 km21 m³/sjoins at km 700Notwane RiverBotswana239 km5.3 m³/sjoins at km 309Also: Marico River, Crocodile River, Levubu River, Motloutse River, Runde River, Sand River, Palala River, Changane River, Mzingwane River, Lotsane River, Matlabas River, Mogalakwena River, Bonwapitse River, Shingwedzi River, Mokolo River, Nzhelele River, Hout River, Nwanedi River, Mtshabezi River, Ncema River, Serorome River, Thuli Parks and Wildlife Land, Luphephe, Nharhweni River
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Mozambique480 km110 m³/s103 km awayOlifants River (Limpopo)South Africa560 km110 m³/s147 km awayMaputo RiverMozambique300 km110 m³/s155 km awayMbabane River
Eswatini73 km7.4 m³/s270 km awayMzimene RiverEswatini191 km51 m³/s266 km awayBubye RiverZimbabwe1,010 km140 m³/s398 km awayTugela RiverSouth Africa520 km170 m³/s493 km awaySave RiverMozambique400 km910 m³/s497 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q173017) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth 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 | Lakeyas, Coastya — 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?
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