The Orange - river of diamonds

Abstract

Known as the Gariep or ‘the Great River’ by the indigenous Nama people, the Orange River when viewed for the first time, is said to be an impressive sight. At more than 2 000 kilometres long, the Orange River is the longest river in South Africa. The river is a political and geographical divide, separating Namibia from South Africa and the massive sand dunes of the lower Namib Desert from the swept-rock moonscape of northwestern Namaqualand. The Orange River basin is the largest of all the so-called international river basins in southern Africa, both in terms of physical size, and in terms of volume of water (mean annual rainfall) involved. The river has a total catchment area of about 1 000 000 square kilometres of which almost 600 000 square kilometres is inside South Africa, with the remainder in Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia. Along with its main tributary, the Vaal, the river conveys nearly 23% of the total surface water of South Africa. The Orange River catchment varies dramatically both in climate and topography from east to west.

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