River
Ruo River
1,025 km from source to mouth · Malawi and Mozambique.
Malawi and MozambiqueFlows into Shire River1st longest in Malawi
In numbers
Length
1,025km
Average flow
560m³/s
Basin
152,131km²
Drop
1,519m
from 1,564 m to 45 m
Countries
2
The journey
From source to mouth
1,025 km of river and 9 stops on the way: 4 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 1,564 m
- 10 kmKiwira21,342 people
- 82 kmKyela47,000 people
- 667 kmLake Malawi29,544 km²
- 675 kmMangochi60,338 people
- 710 kmLake Malombe310 km²
- 746 kmLiwonde41,077 people
- 802 kmMurchison Falls
- 820 kmNkula Falls
- 868 kmKapichira Falls
- 1,025 kmShire Riverat 45 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Brook in Mozambique
At the mouth it carries 564 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 4.4 seconds. It drops from 1,564 m to 45 m, 1.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 152,131 km², about the size of BD. 14.8 million people live in it. Highest water: from March to April; lowest: from August to November. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- MangochiLargest city on its banks · 60,338 people
- Lichinga Airport (VXC)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 134 km from the cityCar hire in BlantyreDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water4 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Ruo River, month by month
Highest water: from March to April
Lowest water: from August to November. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 160 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
Ruo River: the basin in numbers
152,131 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 14.8millionpeople live in the basin
- 99/km²people per km²
- 927maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,162mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 21.7°Caverage air temperature
- 12%protected areas
- 19.6%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 37% Forest
- 14% Cropland
- 29% Pasture
- 6% 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
Ruo River: what you find on the way
- 4WeirsLiwonde Barrage and 3 more
- 5WaterfallsDaraja la Mungu - Natural bridge, Kaporogwe Waterfall, Kholobitzo Falls and 2 more
- 1Boat ramps
- 3Ferry piersItungi Port, Transfer to Mvuu and Kuthengo
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Ruo 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.
3waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
2mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (3)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Murchison Fallskm 802
- Nkula Fallskm 820
- Kapichira Fallskm 868
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lake Malawikm 667 · 704 m deep29,544km²
- Lake Malombekm 710 · 20 m deep310km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Mountains at the source (2)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Lake Ngozi7.1 km away2,622m
- Ngozi12 km away
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
Ruo River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
Shire RiverMozambique402 km600 m³/s
Zambia
NamibiaWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q35312336) · 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, Peakyas — 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
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
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
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit