The Knysna River (in ) is a river flowing in the

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It has its source in the

Outeniqua Mountains The Outeniqua Mountains, named after the Outeniqua Khoikhoi who lived there, is a mountain range that runs a parallel to the southern coast of South Africa, and forms a continuous range with the Langeberg to the west and the Tsitsikamma Mountains ...

, in the district of Eden, then it goes towards the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, in which it opens with a large

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, where is located the town of

Knysna Knysna () is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. and is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It lies at 34° 2' 6.3168'' S and 23° 2' 47. ...

, which takes its name from the river. Its course, 40 km long, is navigable only in its final part. The mouth of the river is called The Heads. The name Knysna has appeared in various spellings since around the 1770s. It was referred as 'Nysna' in one of the first letters of James Callander, a Scottish seamaster, sent by the colonial government of the Cape in 1798 to survey and report on the forests, bays and rivers of the region. He builds for himself a house at The Heads. He draws the first map of the Knysna River "Chart of the Knysna, An Arm of the Sea, Seven Leagues to the Westward of Plettenberg's Bay" and expresses his opinion that the Knysna is far superior to Plettenberg Bay as an outlet for the shipment of timber.

References

{{coord, -34.0822, 23.0604, format=dms, display=title, region:ZA_type:river Rivers of South Africa