Ogooué River
Ogooué | |
---|---|
![]() The Ogooué watershed | |
Location | |
Country | Gabon, Republic of the Congo |
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Kengue, Republic of the Congo |
• elevation | 840 m (2,760 ft) |
Mouth | Atlantic Ocean |
• location | Port Gentil, Gabon |
• coordinates | 1°01′38″S 8°53′05″E / 1.0272°S 8.8848°E |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
Length | 1,200 km (750 mi)[1] |
Basin size | 223,856 km2 (86,431 sq mi)[1] |
Discharge | |
• location | Ogowe Delta, Atlantic Ocean, Gabon |
• average | (Period: 1971–2000)5,147.75 m3/s (181,791 cu ft/s)[3] 4,795 m3/s (169,300 cu ft/s) to 186 km3/a (5,900 m3/s)[4] |
• minimum | 1,950 m3/s (69,000 cu ft/s)[2] |
• maximum | 7,340 m3/s (259,000 cu ft/s) (13,500 m3/s (480,000 cu ft/s)[2] |
Discharge | |
• location | Lambaréné, Gabon (183 km upstream of mouth; Basin size: 205,082.57 km2 (79,182.82 sq mi)) |
• average | (Period of data: 1999–2015)4,935.2 m3/s (174,280 cu ft/s)[6] (Period of data: 1940–1999)4,750 m3/s (168,000 cu ft/s)[1] (Period: 1971–2000)4,485.4 m3/s (158,400 cu ft/s)[3] |
• minimum | 1,610 m3/s (57,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
• maximum | 9,440 m3/s (333,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
Discharge | |
• location | Ndjolé, Gabon (Basin size: 158,100 km2 (61,000 sq mi)) |
• average | (Period: 1971–2000)3,194.8 m3/s (112,820 cu ft/s)[3] |
• minimum | 1,200 m3/s (42,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
• maximum | 6,600 m3/s (230,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
Discharge | |
• location | Lastoursville, Gabon (Basin size: 47,700 km2 (18,400 sq mi)) |
• average | 1,304.6 m3/s (46,070 cu ft/s)[7] |
• minimum | 650 m3/s (23,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
• maximum | 2,800 m3/s (99,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
Discharge | |
• location | Franceville, Gabon (Basin size: 8,670 km2 (3,350 sq mi)) |
• average | (Period of data: 1953–1981)253 m3/s (8,900 cu ft/s)[5] |
• minimum | 122 m3/s (4,300 cu ft/s)[5] |
• maximum | 520 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s)[5] |
Basin features | |
River system | Ogooué River |
Tributaries | |
• left | Letili, Lebombi, Lekedi, Leyou, Lolo, Offoue, Ngounié |
• right | Mpassa, Léconi, Sebe, Lassio, Dilo, Ivindo, Nké, Okano, Abanga |
The Ogooué (or Ogowe), also known as the Nazareth River, some 1,200 km (750 mi) long, is the principal river of Gabon in west-central Africa and the fourth largest river in Africa by volume of discharge, trailing only the Congo, Kasai and Niger. Its watershed drains nearly the entire country of Gabon, with some tributaries reaching into the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.[8]
Course
[edit]The source of the Ogooué River was discovered in 1894 by Mary Kingsley, an English explorer who travelled up the banks by steamboat and canoe.[citation needed] The river rises in the northwest of the Bateke Plateaux near Kengue, Republic of Congo.[8] It runs northwest, and enters Gabon near Boumango. Poubara Falls are near Maulongo. From Lastoursville up to Ndjole, the Ogooué is non-navigable due to rapids. From the latter city, it runs west, and enters the Gulf of Guinea near Ozouri, south of Port Gentil. The Ogowe Delta is quite large, about 100 km long and 100 km wide.
Basin
[edit]The Ogooué Basin is 223,856 km2 (86,431 sq mi), of which 173,000 km2 (67,000 sq mi) or 73 percent lies within Gabon. It mostly consists of undisturbed rainforest with some savanna grassland where the mid-year dry season is longest. It is home to a high biodiversity. All three species of African crocodile, for instance, occur in the river: the Nile crocodile, the dwarf crocodile, and the slender-snouted crocodile. It is also the type locality for the catfish Synodontis acanthoperca.[9]
The Mpassa River is a tributary of the Ogooué River. The Ndjoumou River is the main tributary of Mpassa River.
Distance from river mouth[10]
Station | (km) | Altitude (m) |
---|---|---|
Lambaréné | 183 | 12 |
Ngounié* | 196 | 13 |
Abanga* | 242 | 20 |
Ndjolé | 280 | 25 |
Okano* | 314 | 40 |
N'golo* | 359 | 72 |
Offoué* | 424 | 142 |
Booué | 451 | 161 |
Ivindo * | 481 | 180 |
Dilo* | 503 | 182 |
Lolo* | 512 | 186 |
Lassio* | 535 | 200 |
Lastoursville | 616 | 226 |
Sébé* | 685 | 242 |
Leyou* | 696 | 243 |
Léconi* | 714 | 248 |
Lékabi* | 725 | 249 |
Lébombi* | 774 | 270 |
Mpassa* | 802 | 280 |
Baniaka* | 871 | 426 |
*River in confluence
Economy
[edit]The Ogooué is navigable from Ndjole to the sea. It is used to bring wood to the Port Gentil Harbour.
The Ogowe Basin includes several major conservation reserves, including Lope National Park.
The catchment area has an average population density of 4 people per km². Towns along the river include Ayem, Adané, Loanda, Lambaréné, Ndjole, Booué, Kankan, Maulongo, Mboungou-Mbadouma, Ndoro, Lastoursville, Moanda, and Franceville near the Congo border.
Towns in Congo include Zanaga.
The first European explorer to trace the river to its source was Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, who traveled in the area in the 1870s.[8]
Tributaries
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Fan_women_and_child%2C_banks_of_the_Ogoway.jpg/220px-Fan_women_and_child%2C_banks_of_the_Ogoway.jpg)
The Ogowe River receives water of numerous tributaries including:
- Abanga, which rises in the Cristal Mountains, near Medouneu
- Baniaka
- Dilo
- Iyinda, the most important tributary
- Letili
- Lassio
- Lebombi
- Lekabi
- Lekedi
- Lekoni, which flows across Akieni and Leconi
- Letili
- Leyou
- Lolo
- Mbine
- Ngolo
- Ngounie
- Nke
- Offoue
- Okano, whose main tributary is the Lara River
- Mpassa, which flows across Franceville
- Sebe, which flows past Okondja
- Wagny
List of major tributaries
[edit]The main river and tributaries are (sorted in order from the mouth heading upstream):
Left tributary | Right tributary | Length (km) | Basin size (km²) | Average discharge (m3/s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nkomi | 170 | 8,900 | 275 | |
Ngounié | 680 | 33,100 | 1,002.4 | |
Biné | 21 | |||
M'boumi | 35.1 | |||
Abanga | 226 | 7,800 | 190.3 | |
Okano | 280 | 10,900 | 192.9 | |
Ngolo | 14.6 | |||
Mingoué | 21.2 | |||
Leledi | 33.2 | |||
Offoué | 235 | 7,300 | 129.3 | |
Nké | 1,600 | 26 | ||
Ivindo | 570 | 62,700 | 1,057.8 | |
Dilo | 160 | 54.3 | ||
Lolo | 240 | 9,700 | 219.4 | |
Lassio | 160 | 4,000 | 114.4 | |
Sébé | 232 | 11,900 | 237 | |
Leyou | 1,900 | 45.5 | ||
Lékoni | 160 | 7,600 | 242.2 | |
Lékabi | 2,100 | 46.7 | ||
Lekedi | 800 | 34.6 | ||
Lébombi | 3,400 | 106.9 | ||
Mpassa | 136 | 6,400 | 226.3 | |
Baniaka | 21.4 | |||
Letili | 43.5 | |||
Loua | 11 | |||
Djoulou | 12.7 | |||
Loungou | 11.4 | |||
Léfou | 8.9 | |||
Léouké | 23.3 | |||
Nsiele | 14.1 |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "FAO".
- ^ a b "Source book for the inland fishery resources of Africa Vol. 2".
- ^ a b c "Central West Coast".
- ^ Aiguio, Dai; Kevin E., Trenberth (2003). "New Estimates of Continental Discharge and Oceanic Freshwater Transport" (PDF).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Evaluation Hidrologique de l'Afrique Sub-Saharienne Pays de Afrique l'Ouest" (PDF). 1992.
- ^ "Modeling the Ogooué river discharge based on multi-missions altimetry data". 2018.
- ^ a b "Rivers Network".
- ^ a b c Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. p. 275. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2013). "Synodontis acanthoperca" in FishBase. March 2013 version.
- ^ a b "Prospection hydro-électrique générale des bassins de l'ogooué et de la nyanga" (PDF). 1962.
- Perusset André. 1983. Oro-Hydrographie (Le Relief) in Geographie et Cartographie du Gabon, Atlas Illustré led by The Ministère de l'Education Nationale de la Republique Gabonaise. Pg 10-13. Paris, France: Edicef.
- Petringa, Maria. Brazza, A Life for Africa. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2006. ISBN 9781-4259-11980. Describes Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza's extensive explorations of the Ogoué River basin.
- National Geographic. 2003. African Adventure Atlas Pg 24,72. led by Sean Fraser.
- Gardinier David. 1994. Historical Dictionary of Gabon 2nd Edition. USA: The Scarercrow Press, Inc.
- Direction General de L'Environnement.1999. Stratégie nationale et Plan D'action sur la biodiversité biologique du Gabon.
- The Atlas of Africa. Pg 201. by Regine Van Chi-Bonnardel. Jeune Afrique Editions.
- Lerique Jacques. 1983. Hydrographie-Hydrologie. in Geographie et Cartographie du Gabon, Atlas Illustré led by The Ministère de l'Education Nationale de la Republique Gabonaise. Pg 14-15. Paris, France: Edicef.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png)