The Saint John River is one of the six main

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 wate ...

s in the

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

n nation of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. With its headwaters in neighboring

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

, the river flows generally southwest through Liberia and empties into 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 ...

at Bassa Cove near

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use for ...

Grand Bassa County Grand Bassa is a county in the west-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has eight districts. Buchanan serves as the capital with ...

. The river has 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, t ...

covering .

Course

The

headwater The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

s of the river are in the

Nimba Range The Nimba Range forms part of the southern extent of the Guinea Highlands. The highest peak is Mount Richard-Molard on the border of Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea, at 1,752 m (5,750 ft). "Mount Nimba" may refer either to Mount Richard-Mola ...

of the

Guinea Highlands The Guinea Highlands is a densely forested mountainous plateau extending from central Guinea through northern Sierra Leone and Liberia to western Ivory Coast. The highlands include a number of mountains, ranges and plateaus, including the Fouta ...

in the country of

and flow south towards the border with Liberia.Saint John River.
(2008). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved on September 24, 2008. Near Yalata, Guinea it begins to form the border between Guinea and

Bong County Bong is a county in the north-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has twelve districts. Gbarnga serves as the capital. The area of th ...

in Liberia. Flowing generally south, it forms the international boundary for around 6 miles. At Niatande, Liberia, it meets the

Mani River Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshina ...

and enters Liberia, forming the boundary between Bong and Nimba counties. The river then flows to the southwest for approximately before turning to the southeast for a stretch. Near Zahn it takes a small river, and turns southwest again. After about it begins to form the boundary between Bong and

Grand Bassa Grand Bassa is a Counties of Liberia, county in the west-central portion of the West African nation of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the Administrative division, first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has eight Distr ...

counties and turns west for about 10 miles. The river then continues to the southwest, and after approximately it enters Grand Bassa County. After around it turns south for eight miles (13 km) and then flows back to the southwest for approximately 10 miles. Near Shoigabli it turns due south for about where it passes

Mount Finley The Prince Olav Mountains is a mountain range of the Queen Maud Mountains in Antarctica stretching from Shackleton Glacier to Liv Glacier at the head of the Ross Ice Shelf. Discovered in 1911 by Roald Amundsen on the way to the South Pole, and nam ...

and turns more westerly and flows generally southwest for another 9 miles. Between Zoblum and Alfabli the Saint John widens and flows to the northwest for around before heading west for a mile to Hartford. The river then dives to the southwest for its final 6.5 miles. Here it receives the Mechlin and Benson rivers as it empties into the Atlantic Ocean near

and

Buchanan Buchanan may refer to: People * Buchanan (surname) Places Africa * Buchanan, Liberia, a large coastal town Antarctica * Buchanan Point, Laurie Island Australia * Buchanan, New South Wales * Buchanan, Northern Territory, a locality * Buchanan ...

Details

The river's drainage basin covers over both Liberia and Guinea.First State of the Environment Report for Liberia – 2006.
United Nations Development Programme. 2006, p. 37. Retrieved on October 19, 2008. At in length, it is one of the six main or major rivers of Liberia. There are only 16 rivers in the country total. The average annual discharge of the St. John is as measured at the inland station of Baila. During the wet season in October, flows average , while in February during the dry season the flows average at the same location. The mouth of the river is approximately south and east of the

Saint Paul River The Saint Paul River is a river of western Africa. Its headwaters are in southeastern Guinea. Its upper portion in Guinea is known as the Diani River or Niandi River, and forms part of the boundary between Guinea and Liberia. It is known local ...

’s mouth near

Monrovia Monrovia () is the capital city of the West African country of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic coast and as of the 2008 census had 1,010,970 residents, home to 29% of Liberia’s total population. As the ...

.Stockwell, G. S., and J. W. Lugenbeel
''The Republic of Liberia: Its Geography, Climate, Soil and Productions With a History of Its Early Settlement''.
Barnes, 1868, p. 12. Flowing generally southwest from its source to the ocean it contains occasional rapids and a

waterfall A waterfall is a point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several wa ...

. Near the ocean the river reaches its widest point of about across and is the location of Factory Island, the largest of the many islands in the river. The river received its name from

Portuguese explorers Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...

in the 15th Century who spotted the mouth on St. John's feast day.

Aquatic life

The Saint John River has a variety of aquatic life in and along the shores over the length to the river. Species include the

Slender-snouted Crocodile ''Mecistops'' is a genus of crocodiles, the slender-snouted crocodiles, native to sub-Saharan Africa. Taxonomy and etymology Traditionally placed in ''Crocodylus'', recent studies in DNA and morphology have shown that it is in fact basal to '' ...

on inland portions of the waterway.Kofron, Christopher P
Status and Habitats of the Three African Crocodiles in Liberia
''Journal of Tropical Ecology'', Vol. 8, No. 3 (Aug., 1992), pp. 265–273. Cambridge University Press There are at least 65 species of fish in the river, including species of

Mastacembelidae The Mastacembelidae are a family of fishes, known as the spiny eels. The Mastacembelids are part of the Order Synbranchiformes, the swamp eels, which are part of the Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes). In an evaluation of the family in 2004, the ...

, Barbus eburneensis, Chrysichthys johnelsi,

Killifish A killifish is any of various oviparous (egg-laying) cyprinodontiform fish (including families Aplocheilidae, Cyprinodontidae, Fundulidae, Profundulidae and Valenciidae). All together, there are 1,270 species of killifish, the biggest family ...

Electric catfish Electric catfish or Malapteruridae is a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes). This family includes two genera, '' Malapterurus'' and ''Paradoxoglanis'', with 21 species. Several species of this family have the ability to generate electricity ...

Nile perch The Nile perch (''Lates niloticus''), also known as the African snook, Goliath perch, African barramundi , Goliath barramundi, Giant lates or the Victoria perch, is a species of freshwater fish in family Latidae of order Perciformes. It is wid ...

, and

Tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

among others.Fish Species in Saint John.
Fishbase.org. Retrieved October 27, 2008. Birds also use the riverbanks and islands as nesting grounds, including the Three-cusped Pangolin, Palaearctic,

Sandpipers Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. ...

, Greenshanks, Little Ringed Plover, and Water Chevrotain in the Kpatawee Wetlands area in Bong County.Liberia names four new Ramsar sites.
Ramsar. Retrieved on October 27, 2008.

References

{{Coord, 5, 55, 30, N, 10, 04, 15, W, type:landmark, display=title Rivers of Liberia Rivers of Guinea Grand Bassa County International rivers of Africa Guinea–Liberia border Border rivers