Stream
Cuanza River
965 km from source to mouth · Angola.
AngolaFlows into Atlantic Ocean2nd longest in Angola
In numbers
Length
965km
Average flow
820m³/s
Basin
152,570km²
Drop
1,389m
from 1,389 m to 0 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
965 km of river and 20 stops on the way: 3 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmChitemboat 1,389 m
- 625 kmCapanda Dam
- 654 kmCatarata Quissaquina
- 664 kmLaúca Dam
- 680 kmCaculo Cabaça Hydroelectric Power Station
- 745 kmDondo64,643 people
- 769 kmLucala Rivertributary
- 769 kmLagoa Lola0.6 km²
- 770 kmLagoa Vue0.4 km²
- 772 kmLagoa Ndolo2.9 km²
- 773 kmLagoa Camuele2.7 km²
- 782 kmLagoa Cagia Grande2.4 km²
- 783 kmLagoa Chile2.5 km²
- 786 kmLagoa Ngolome16 km²
- 802 kmMuxima8,166 people
- 813 kmLagoa Tôa3.8 km²
- 868 kmLagoa Camni1.0 km²
- 875 kmCalumbo652,270 people
- 875 kmLagoa Quilonga Grande1.2 km²
- 889 kmLagoa Soares1.5 km²
- 910 kmLagoa Catalangombe0.5 km²
- 965 kmAtlantic Oceanat 0 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in Angola
At the mouth it carries 825 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 3.0 seconds. It drops from 1,389 m to 0 m, 1.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 152,570 km², about the size of BD. 3.7 million people live in it. Highest water: from February to April; lowest: from July to October. Its dams hold back little of its water (8.5% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- CalumboLargest city on its banks · 652,270 people
- Dr. Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport (NBJ)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 14 km from the cityCar hire at LAD airport (Luanda)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water24 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- Kayak and canoe2 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Cuanza River, month by month
Highest water: from February to April
Lowest water: from July to October. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 280 m³/s in the lowest month to 4,000 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
Cuanza River: the basin in numbers
150,085 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 3.7millionpeople live in the basin
- 24/km²people per km²
- 1,200maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,191mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 20.8°Caverage air temperature
- 8%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
- 5.0km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 89% Forest
- 4% Cropland
- 50% Pasture
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
Cuanza River: what you find on the way
- 2Rapids
- 24Ferry piers
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Cuanza 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.
1waterfall on the riverCascadyas
12lakes on its wayLakeyas
1beach at the mouth or on the banksCoastya
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Catarata Quissaquinakm 769
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (12)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Lagoa Ndolokm 9072.9km²
- Lagoa Camuelekm 9092.7km²
- Lagoa Cagia Grandekm 9192.4km²
- Lagoa Chilekm 9202.5km²
- Lagoa Ngolomekm 92416km²
- Lagoa Tôakm 9563.8km²
- Lagoa Quilonga Grandekm 1,0281.2km²
- Lagoa Soareskm 1,0461.5km²
4 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (1)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Enseada de Sangano24 km away · cove27.8°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
Cuanza River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (4)
Also: Lucala River, Cutato River, Luando River, Cunhinga Stream
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q213840) · 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 | Cascadyas, 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?
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