The Cunene (Portuguese spelling) or Kunene (common

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

n spelling) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...

. It flows from the

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

highlands south to the border with

. It then flows west along the border until it reaches the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. It is one of the few

perennial river A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the abse ...

s in the region. It is about long, with a

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

in area. Its mean annual discharge is 174 m³/s (6,145 cfs) at its mouth. The

Epupa Falls Epupa Falls (also known as Monte Negro Falls in Angola) is a series of large waterfalls formed by the Cunene River on the border of Angola and Namibia, in the Kaokoland area of the Kunene Region. The river is about wide in this area and drops in ...

lie on the river.

Olushandja Dam Olushandja Dam is a dam on the Etaka River outside of Oshakati in the Oshana Region of Namibia. The dam was completed in 1990. Its lake has a maximum capacity of 42.331 million cubic metres, and stores water from the Calueque Dam on the Cunene R ...

dams a tributary of the river, the Etaka, and helps provide the

Ruacana Power Station The Ruacana Hydroelectric Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant near Ruacana in northwest Namibia, close to the Angolan border. Commissioned in 1978, it is by far the largest power station in Namibia. Its operator is NamPower, the Namibia ...

with water.

Dam controversies

The Namibian government proposed in the late 1990s to build the Epupa Dam, a controversial hydroelectric dam on the Cunene. In 2012 the Governments of Namibia and Angola announced plans to jointly build the Orokawe dam in the

Baynes Mountains The Baynes Mountains are a mountain range in Namibia. Description The Baynes Mountains form an escarpment plateau in Kunene Region in northwest Namibia, near the border with Angola (formed here by the Kunene River). The mountains range in altitud ...

. According to the indigenous Himba who would have been most affected by the construction of the dam, the dam threatens the local ecosystem and therefore the economic basis of the Himba. During February 2012, traditional Himba chiefs issued a declaration to the African Union and to the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...

of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, titled "Declaration of the most affected Ovahimba, Ovatwa, Ovatjimba and Ovazemba against the Orokawe Dam in the Baynes Mountains," which outlines the fierce objections against the dam from the traditional Himba chiefs and communities that reside near the Kunene River. In September 2012, the United Nations special rapporteur on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

visited the Himba, and heard their concerns. On November 23, 2012, hundreds of Himba and Zemba from Omuhonga and Epupa region protested in Okanguati against Namibia's plans to construct a dam in the Kunene River in the Baynes Mountains, against increasing mining operations on their traditional land and human rights violations against them. On March 25, 2013, over a thousand Himba and Zemba people marched in Opuwo to protest again against Namibia's plans to build the Orokawe dam in the Baynes Mountains at the Cunene River without consulting with the indigenous peoples that do not consent to the construction plans.

Attraction

Tourists frequent campsites or lodges in Epupa which offer water sports on the river including rafting and canoeing. There are ancient baobab trees alongside the gorge, and there is an attractive and well-kept viewpoint high above the village and falls, but both are spoiled by broken bottles and abundant garbage.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * Google eBook.

External links

Images near Kunene River

Map of the Cunene River basin at Water Resources eAtlas
{{Authority control Rivers of Angola Rivers of Namibia International rivers of Africa Huambo Province Geography of Kunene Region Angola–Namibia border African drainage basins of the Atlantic Ocean Border rivers