River
Orange River
2,200 km from source to mouth · South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia.
South Africa, Lesotho and NamibiaFlows into Atlantic Ocean1st longest in South Africa
In numbers
Length
2,200km
Average flow
800m³/s
Basin
973,000km²
Drop
2,655m
from 2,656 m to 1 m
Countries
3
The journey
From source to mouth
2,200 km of river and 25 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmDrakensbergat 2,656 m
- 47 kmMokhotlong Rivertributary
- 95 kmMalibamat'so Rivertributary
- 241 kmSenqunyane Rivertributary
- 309 kmPhamong8,402 people
- 333 kmQuthing33,910 people
- 506 kmKraai Rivertributary
- 511 kmAliwal North44,436 people
- 511 kmGeneral Hertzog Bridge
- 595 kmCaledon Rivertributary
- 599 kmHennie Steyn Bridge
- 663 kmGariep Reservoir294 km²
- 664 kmGariep Dam
- 668 kmColesberg Bridge
- 775 kmVanderkloof Dam Reservoir98 km²
- 775 kmVanderkloof Dam
- 943 kmVaal Rivertributary
- 1,090 kmPrieska11,236 people
- 1,194 kmBoegoeberg Dam
- 1,339 kmNuwerus NC8,531 people
- 1,339 kmUpington71,373 people
- 1,416 kmKakamas9,538 people
- 1,449 kmAugrabies Falls56 m
- 1,465 kmMolopo Rivertributary
- 1,883 kmFish Rivertributary
- 2,008 kmErnest Oppenheimer Bridge
- 2,200 kmAtlantic Oceanat 1 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Major river of southern Africa
At the mouth it carries 800 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 3.1 seconds. It drops from 2,656 m to 1 m, 1.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 973,000 km², about the size of EG. 15.1 million people live in it. Highest water: from March to April; lowest: from July to October. It is heavily dammed: reservoirs can hold 220% of a year's flow.
Where to start
- UpingtonLargest city on its banks · 71,373 people
- Upington Airport (UTN)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 5 km from the cityCar hire at UTN airport (Upington)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- On the water6 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From April to May and from September to NovemberThe best months to visit
Orange River, month by month
Highest water: from March to April
Lowest water: from July to October. Best months to visit: from April to May and from September to November.
From about 100 m³/s in the lowest month to 740 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
Orange River: the basin in numbers
884,883 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 15.1millionpeople live in the basin
- 17/km²people per km²
- 1,254maverage altitude of the basin
- 359mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 17.7°Caverage air temperature
- 6%protected areas
- 0.2%covered by lakes
- 22km³held in reservoirs
What covers the basin
- 8% Cropland
- 61% 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
Orange River: what you find on the way
- 41WeirsPolihali Weir and 40 more
- 21WaterfallsAugrabies Falls, Twin Falls, Kum-Kum Waterfall and 18 more
- 4Boat ramps
- 2Ferry piers
- 1River beachesSandbaai
From OpenStreetMap, within 3.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Orange 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
2lakes on its wayLakeyas
2beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
24mountains at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (1)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Augrabies Fallskm 1,55456m
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Lakes and reservoirs (2)
Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas
- Gariep Reservoirkm 712294km²
- Vanderkloof Dam Reservoirkm 83298km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Beaches (2)
At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya
- Homewood Harbour19 km away · cove16.8°C
- Harrison Cove16 km away · cove16.8°C
Mountains at the source (24)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Mnweni Pinnacles4.2 km away3,151m
- Ifidi Pinacles14 km away3,070m
- Outer Horn12 km away2,887m
- Inner Horn12 km away2,788m
- Scramble Kop13 km away1,638m
- Mole Hill10 km away
- Mbudini Buttress8.3 km away
- Ifidi Buttress12 km away
16 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
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
Orange River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (67)
South Africa1,120 km120 m³/sjoins at km 1,011Molopo RiverSouth Africa970 km1.0 m³/sjoins at km 1,572Fish RiverNamibia650 km24 m³/sjoins at km 2,020Caledon RiverSouth Africa480 km160 m³/sjoins at km 638Senqunyane RiverLesotho200 km15 m³/sjoins at km 259Malibamat'so RiverLesotho140 km36 m³/sjoins at km 101Makhaleng RiverLesotho113 km5.9 m³/sAlso: Auob River, Kraai River, Blesbokspruit, Mokhotlong River, Boesmanspruit, Berg River, Telle, Gaab, Gurieb, Sterkspruit, Brandwater River, Hlotse River, Gamkabrivier, Ramatlabama, Bakrivier, Bloedbekrivier, Boomrivier, Dieprivier, Dieprivier, Dieprivier, Aardoringspruit, Abiekwarivier, Bakrivier, Bamboeshoekspruit
Where these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q181475) · 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, 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.
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Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
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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