River
Komati River
480 km from source to mouth · Mozambique, Eswatini and South Africa.
Mozambique, Eswatini and South AfricaFlows into Indian Ocean3rd longest in Mozambique
In numbers
Length
480km
Average flow
110m³/s
Basin
50,000km²
Drop
1,625m
from 1,625 m to 0 m
Countries
3
The journey
From source to mouth
480 km of river and 16 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 1,625 m
- 19 kmNooitgedachtdam7.2 km²
- 19 kmNooitgedacht Dam
- 76 kmVygeboom Dam
- 100 kmTjakastad12,711 people
- 268 kmKomatipoort20,508 people
- 269 kmCrocodile Rivertributary
- 271 kmRessano Garcia110,000 people
- 293 kmMoamba14,940 people
- 319 kmSabie Rivertributary
- 328 kmLagoa Mandjaringa1.3 km²
- 333 kmLago Unua0.5 km²
- 344 kmLagoa Conjanine0.3 km²
- 363 kmMagude12,419 people
- 389 kmLago Pambene94 km²
- 425 kmManhiça65,240 people
- 463 kmMarracuene13,051 people
- 480 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 Eswatini
At the mouth it carries 111 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 23 seconds. It drops from 1,625 m to 0 m, 3.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 50,000 km², about the size of CR. 2.4 million people live in it. Highest water: from January to March; lowest: from June to September. Dams and reservoirs hold back a large share of its water (43% of a year's flow).
Where to start
- Ressano GarciaLargest city on its banks · 110,000 people
- Skukuza Airport (SZK)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 67 km from the cityCar hire at MPM airport (Maputo)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- From May to SeptemberThe best months to visit
Komati River, month by month
Highest water: from January to March
Lowest water: from June to September. Best months to visit: from May to September.
From about 63 m³/s in the lowest month to 480 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
Komati River: the basin in numbers
46,725 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.4millionpeople live in the basin
- 51/km²people per km²
- 597maverage altitude of the basin
- 792mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 20.5°Caverage air temperature
- 26%protected areas
- 0.6%covered by lakes
- 2.2km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 75% Forest
- 7% Cropland
- 57% Pasture
- 3% 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
Komati River: what you find on the way
- 26Weirs
- 7WaterfallsThe Gap and 6 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.2 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Komati 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
6beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
2islands off the mouthIslandyas
Lakes and reservoirs (5)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Nooitgedachtdamkm 287.2km²
- Lagoa Mandjaringakm 4771.3km²
- Lago Unuakm 4840.5km²
- Lagoa Conjaninekm 5000.3km²
- Lago Pambenekm 56694km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (6)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Praia da Costa do Sol19 km away27.5°C
- Praia Mar21 km away27.5°C
- Praia do Mira Mar23 km away27.5°C
- Praia de Macanetakm 68027.5°C
- Costa do Sol18 km away27.5°C
- Praia Matezinana10 km away27.5°C
Islands off the mouth (2)
Within 30 km of the mouth, by Islandyas
- Xefina island7.9 km away6.2km²
- Island of the Portuguese29 km away
Islandyas is coming soonOpen Islandyas ↗
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
Komati River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (5)
Also: Crocodile River, Sabie River, Lomati River, Nwanedzi, Teespruit
Nearby
Rivers nearby
Mozambique1,750 km170 m³/s103 km awayMaputo RiverMozambique300 km110 m³/s65 km awayOlifants River (Limpopo)South Africa560 km110 m³/s184 km awayMbabane RiverEswatini73 km7.4 m³/s169 km awayMzimene RiverEswatini191 km51 m³/s163 km awayTugela RiverSouth Africa520 km170 m³/s403 km awayBubye River
Zimbabwe1,010 km140 m³/s415 km awayRunde RiverZimbabwe418 km140 m³/s497 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q1635625) · 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, Islandyas — 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