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The Orange River (from
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
/
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in
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 is the longest river in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and
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 ...
to the north. It rises in the
Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within t ...
mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The river forms part of the international borders between South Africa and Lesotho and between South Africa and Namibia, as well as several provincial borders within South Africa. Except for
Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...
, it does not pass through any major cities. The Orange River plays an important role in the South African economy by providing water for irrigation and hydroelectric power. The river was named the Orange River in honour of the Dutch ruling family, the
House of Orange The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands ...
, by the Dutch explorer
Robert Jacob Gordon Robert Jacob Gordon (29 September 1743, in Doesburg, Gelderland – 25 October 1795, in Cape Town) was a Dutch explorer, soldier, artist, naturalist and linguist of Scottish descent. Life Robert Jacob Gordon was the son of Maj. General Jacob ...
. Other names include simply the word for river, in
Khoekhoegowab The Khoekhoe language (), also known by the ethnic terms Nama (''Namagowab'') , Damara (''ǂNūkhoegowab''), or Nama/Damara and formerly as Hottentot, is the most widespread of the non-Bantu languages of Southern Africa that make heavy use o ...
orthography written as !Garib, which is rendered in Afrikaans as Gariep River with the intrusion of a
velar fricative A velar fricative is a fricative consonant produced at the velar place of articulation. It is possible to distinguish the following kinds of velar fricatives: *Voiced velar fricative, a consonant sound written as in the International Phonetic Alph ...
in place of the
alveolar click The alveolar or postalveolar clicks are a family of click consonants found only in Africa and in the Damin ritual jargon of Australia. The tongue is more or less concave (depending on the language), and is pulled down rather than back as in ...
, Groote River (derived from Kai !Garib) or Senqu River (used in Lesotho), derived from ǂNū "Black". It is known in isiZulu as isAngqu


Course

The Orange rises in the Drakensberg mountains along the border between South Africa and Lesotho, about west of the Indian Ocean and at an altitude of over . The extremity of the Orange River inside Lesotho is known as the Senqu. Parts of the Senqu River freeze in winter because of the high altitude. This creates droughts downstream, which mainly affect goat and cattle production. The Orange River then runs westward through South Africa, forming the south-western boundary of the
Free State province The Free State, known as Orange Free State until the 28th of June 1995 when its name was changed, is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Boer ...
. In this section, the river flows first into the
Gariep Dam The Gariep Dam is located in South Africa, near the town of Norvalspont, bordering the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces. Its primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use as well as for power generation. Name The Gariep D ...
and later into the Vanderkloof Dam. From the border of Lesotho to below the Vanderkloof Dam, the river bed is deeply incised. Further downstream, the land is flatter, and the river is used extensively for irrigation. At the western point of the Free State, southwest of Kimberley, the Orange meets with its main tributary, the
Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...
, which forms much of the northern border of the province. From here, the river flows further westward through the arid wilderness of the southern
Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa extending for , covering much of Botswana, and parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coasta ...
region and
Namaqualand Namaqualand (khoekhoe: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoe people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into ...
in the Northern Cape province to meet with Namibia at 20°E longitude. From here, it flows westward for , forming the international border between the province and Namibia's
ǁKaras Region The ǁKaras Region (pronounced , with a lateral click) is the southernmost and least densely populated of the 14 regions of Namibia; its capital is Keetmanshoop. The name assigned to the region reflects the prominence of the Karas mountain ra ...
. On the border, the river passes the town of
Vioolsdrif Vioolsdrif is a village on the Orange River in the north-western Namaqualand area of South Africa. Origin of name The name in Afrikaans means 'the ford (shallow river crossing) of the violin'. It is reportedly named after Jan Viool ("John Violi ...
, the main
border post A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders ofte ...
between South Africa and Namibia. In the last of its course, the Orange receives many intermittent streams, and several large
wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...
s lead into it. In this section, the
Namib The Namib ( ; pt, Namibe) is a coastal desert in Southern Africa. The name is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means "vast place". According to the broadest definition, the Namib stretches for more than along the Atlantic coasts of Angola, Nami ...
Desert terminates on the north bank of the river, so under normal circumstances, the volume of water added by these tributaries is negligible. Here, the bed of the river is once again deeply incised. The
Augrabies Falls The Augrabies Falls is a waterfall on the Orange River, the largest river in South Africa. Since 1966 the waterfall, set in a desolate and rugged milieu, is enclosed by the Augrabies Falls National Park. The falls are around in height. Some s ...
are located on this section of the Orange, where the river descends in a course of . The Orange empties into the Atlantic Ocean between the small towns of
Oranjemund Oranjemund (German for ''"Mouth of Orange"'') is a diamond mining town of 4,000 inhabitants situated in the ǁKaras Region of the extreme southwest of Namibia, on the northern bank of the Orange River mouth at the border to South Africa. Histo ...
(meaning "Orange mouth") in Namibia and Alexander Bay in South Africa, about equidistant between
Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The ci ...
and
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
. Some from its mouth, it is obstructed by rapids and sand bars and is generally not
navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against di ...
for long stretches. The river has a total length of .


Catchment and rainfall

In the
dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...
, the volume of the water in the river is considerably reduced because of the rapid run-off and evaporation. At the
source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute o ...
of the Orange, the rainfall is about per annum, but precipitation decreases as the river flows westward; at its mouth, the rainfall is less than per year. The factors that support evaporation, though, tend to increase in a westerly direction. In the
wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...
(summer), the Orange river becomes a brown colored torrent. The huge mass of
sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sa ...
carried constitutes a long-term threat to engineering projects on the river. The total catchment of the Orange River (including the Vaal) extends over , i.e. equivalent to about 77% of the land area of South Africa (). Around (38%), however, are situated outside the country in Lesotho, Botswana, and Namibia.


Tributaries

*
Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...
- * Caledon River - *
Khubelu River Khubelu is a community council located in the Mokhotlong District of Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the high ...
-


Dams

* Armenia Dam * Egmont Dam *
Gariep Dam The Gariep Dam is located in South Africa, near the town of Norvalspont, bordering the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces. Its primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use as well as for power generation. Name The Gariep D ...
*
Newberry Dam Newbury Dam is a dam in South Africa. See also *List of reservoirs and dams in South Africa The following is a partial list of dams in South Africa. __NOTOC__ In South African English (as well as Afrikaans), a dam refers to both the wall ...
* Vanderkloof Dam * Welbedacht Dam


History


Etymology

Some of the earliest precolonial inhabitants called the river ''ǂNūǃarib'', referring to its black colour, or sometimes just ''Kai !Arib'' ("Great River"), from which is derived the Afrikaans version ''Gariep'', and translation "Groote Rivier".Earle, Anton et al. (2005)
A preliminary basin profile of the Orange/Senqu River (pdf)
''African Centre for Water Research'', retrieved 30 June 2007
The early Dutch name for the river was just that translation, Groote Rivier, meaning "Great River". The river was named the Orange River by Colonel Robert Gordon, commander of the United East India Company (VOC) garrison at Cape Town, on a trip to the interior in 1779. Gordon named the river in honor of
William V William V may refer to: * William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030) *William V of Montpellier (1075–1121) * William V, Marquess of Montferrat (1191) * William V, Count of Nevers (before 11751181) *William V, Duke of Jülich (1299–1361) * Willia ...
of
Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
. A popular but incorrect belief is that the river was named after the supposedly orange color of its water, as opposed to the color of its tributary, the
Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...
, which name is derived from the name ǀHaiǃarib "pale river" (''vaal'' being
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...
for pale or grey). Since the end of
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
, the name "Gariep" has had greater favour in official correspondence in South Africa, although the name "Orange" has greater international recognition. In Lesotho, where the river rises, it is known as the Senqu River, derived from the original
Khoemana ǃOrakobab or ''Khoemana'', also known as Korana, ǃOra, or Griqua, is a moribund Khoe language of South Africa. Names "Khoemana" (from ''khoe'' 'person' + ''mana'' 'language') is more commonly known as either Korana (also ǃOrakobab, ǃOra, ...
name. The Eastern Cape Geographical Names Committee has advertised its intention to consider a name change from the colonial name, for that portion of the river that forms the border between the Eastern Cape and the Free State, with suggestions being IGqili or Senqu.Statement by Afriforum on proposed name change of Orange River
/ref> The advertisement placed in the ''Aliwal Weekblad'' newspaper states that the "present name is perceived to have a strong association with the history of colonial subjugation and has therefore no place under the current democratic dispensation."


The Grootslang

In South African folklore, the Orange River is often associated with the
Grootslang The Grootslang or Grote Slang (Afrikaans and Dutch for "big snake") is a legendary creature that is reputed to dwell in a deep cave in the Richtersveld, South Africa. Legend The Grootslang is said to be a huge elephant-sized serpent that dwells ...
, a mythical being resembling a giant serpent, which is often connected to the river's alluvial diamonds. The Grootslang is described as living in a gem-filled cave connected to the Orange River by a natural pipe through which the diamonds gradually enter the river. Other sites said to be lairs of the creature include the pool beneath the King George Cataract at
Aughrabies Falls The Augrabies Falls is a waterfall on the Orange River, the largest river in South Africa. Since 1966 the waterfall, set in a desolate and rugged milieu, is enclosed by the Augrabies Falls National Park. The falls are around in height. Some so ...
, which is also said to be a source of diamonds, and a large rock in the middle of the river itself. In this version of the legend, the Grootslang is also said to prey on cattle from the river's banks.


Economy

As the collection point for the majority of South Africa's water, the Orange River plays a major role in supporting agriculture, industry, and mining. To assist in this, two large water schemes have been created, the Orange River Project and the
Lesotho Highlands Water Project The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels thr ...
. Historically, the river played an important role in the South African
diamond rush A diamond rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area where diamonds were newly discovered. Major diamond rushes took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in South Africa and South-West Africa. Diamond rushes by chrono ...
, with the first diamonds in the country being discovered in
alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. All ...
deposits on the Orange. Today, several commercial diamond mines operate along the final stretch of the Orange River and around its mouth. Because of the lack of dangerous animals and high water levels during summer, the river is used for recreational canoeing and
rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...
. Orange River rafting has become very popular with many companies using their camps along the river from which to operate. The most popular trips are four-day and six-day river trips that take place either along the gorge below the
Augrabies Falls The Augrabies Falls is a waterfall on the Orange River, the largest river in South Africa. Since 1966 the waterfall, set in a desolate and rugged milieu, is enclosed by the Augrabies Falls National Park. The falls are around in height. Some s ...
or along the Richtersveld area.


Orange River Project

The Orange River Project (ORP) was one of the largest and most imaginative projects of its kind in South Africa. It was constructed by
Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of '' Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...
's government at the height of the apartheid era. The ORP was built to exploit the waters of the Orange River—which, without the Vaal River, represents some 14.1% of the total runoff in South Africa—and in the process, to satisfy an increasing demand for water. The main objectives of the project were: * to stabilise river flow, * the generation and transmission of
hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
, * to provide a reliable water supply for users in the Orange River basin, and * to give a new lease on life to water-deficient areas in the Eastern Cape, such as the
Great Fish The Great Fish River (called ''great'' to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) ( af, Groot-Visrivier) is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish Riv ...
and
Sundays River The !Khukaǁgamma or Sundaysriver ( af, Sondagsrivier) is a river in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is said to be the fastest flowing river in the country. The Inqua Khoi people, who historically were the wealthiest group in Sou ...
valleys. The
Gariep Dam The Gariep Dam is located in South Africa, near the town of Norvalspont, bordering the Free State and Eastern Cape provinces. Its primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use as well as for power generation. Name The Gariep D ...
near
Colesberg Colesberg is a town with 17,354 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, located on the main N1 road from Cape Town to Johannesburg. In a sheep-farming area spread over half-a-million hectares, greater Colesberg breeds many ...
is the main storage structure within the Orange River. From here, the water is supplied in two directions, westward along the Orange River (via hydroelectric power generators) to the Vanderkloof Dam and southward through the Orange-Fish Tunnel to the Eastern Cape.


Hydroelectricity

Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...
operates hydroelectric power stations at both the Gariep Dam and the Vanderkloof Dam. The hydroelectric power station at the Vanderkloof Dam was the first power-generation station in South Africa situated entirely underground. The towns
Oviston Oviston is a settlement in Walter Sisulu Local Municipality in Joe Gqabi District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Township 8 km north of Venterstad, on the southern bank of the Gariep Dam The Gariep Dam is loca ...
and Oranjekrag were established to facilitate the construction and operation of the new infrastructure.


Irrigation

Irrigation in the vast area downstream of the Vanderkloof Dam, which has turned thousands of hectares of arid
veld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Bot ...
into highly productive agricultural land, was made possible by the construction of the Gariep and Vanderkloof Dams. Old established irrigation schemes such as those at Buchuberg,
Upington Upington ( Nama: //Khara hais) is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of ...
,
Kakamas Kakamas is a town founded in 1898 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. Originated as at a place where the Orange River could be relatively easily crossed. The spot was first known as Basso ...
, and
Vioolsdrif Vioolsdrif is a village on the Orange River in the north-western Namaqualand area of South Africa. Origin of name The name in Afrikaans means 'the ford (shallow river crossing) of the violin'. It is reportedly named after Jan Viool ("John Violi ...
have also benefitted because regulation of the flow is now possible. On the Namibian side of the river, Aussenkehr produces grapes with the help of water from the Orange. In recent years, the wine-producing areas along the Orange River have grown in importance. Irrigation in the Eastern Cape has also received a tremendous boost, not only from the additional water being made available, but also owing to improvement in water quality. Without this improvement, the citrus farmers along the Lower Sundays River would almost certainly have continued to suffer losses of productivity.


Lesotho Highlands Water Project

The
Lesotho Highlands Water Project The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) is an ongoing water supply project with a hydropower component, developed in partnership between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa. It comprises a system of several large dams and tunnels thr ...
was conceived to supplement the water supply in the Vaal River System. Water is delivered to South Africa by means of the delivery tunnel which passes under the Lesotho South Africa border at the Caledon River, and then under the Little Caledon River south of Clarens in the Free State, and discharges into the Ash River about further to the north. The scheme became viable when water demands in
Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...
reached levels that could no longer be supported economically by alternative schemes such as the Tugela River-Vaal River pumped storage scheme, which used the
Sterkfontein Dam The Sterkfontein Dam, located just outside the town of Harrismith, in the Free State, province of South Africa, is part of the Tugela-Vaal Water Project and the Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme, and located on the Nuwejaarspruit, a tributary of ...
, located near
Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. It is situated by the Wilge River, alongside the N3 highway, ab ...
in the Free State.


Alluvial diamonds

In 1867, the first diamond discovered in South Africa, the Eureka Diamond, was found near
Hopetown Hopetown is a town which lies at the edge of the Great Karoo in South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is situated on an arid slope leading down to the Orange River. The first diamond discovered in South Africa, the Eureka Diamond, was fo ...
on the Orange River. Two years later, a much larger diamond known as the Star of South Africa was found in the same area, causing a diamond rush. This was soon eclipsed by the diamond rush to mine diamonds directly from
kimberlite Kimberlite is an igneous rock and a rare variant of peridotite. It is most commonly known to be the main host matrix for diamonds. It is named after the town of Kimberley in South Africa, where the discovery of an diamond called the Star of S ...
at Kimberley in 1871, although alluvial diamonds continued to be found in the Orange. Today, several commercial diamond mines operate on the last stretch of the river, as well as the beaches around its mouth. Diamond mines also operate on the middle stretch of the river.


Rafting and canoeing

During the temperate months of March and April, given good rains and the sluices of the dams being open, a canoeist (or rafter) can easily travel per day. The lower reaches of the river are most popular, because of the spectacular topography. Commercial tours are available, and these expeditions depart from the border town of
Vioolsdrif Vioolsdrif is a village on the Orange River in the north-western Namaqualand area of South Africa. Origin of name The name in Afrikaans means 'the ford (shallow river crossing) of the violin'. It is reportedly named after Jan Viool ("John Violi ...
.


Wildlife

The Orange River has no large animals. It lies outside the range of the
Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern, ...
, and although
hippopotami The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
were once abundant, they were hunted to extermination in the 19th century. The Orange River has a relative paucity of species diversity. A 2011 survey of 13,762 fish found only 16 species of fish present. Three of these, the common carp, the
Mozambique tilapia The Mozambique tilapia (''Oreochromis mossambicus'') is an oreochromine cichlid fish native to southeastern Africa. Dull colored, the Mozambique tilapia often lives up to a decade in its native habitats. It is a popular fish for aquaculture. Due ...
, and the western mosquitofish are not indigenous. Another exotic species, rainbow trout, is found in the river headwaters in Lesotho. Seven species are
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to the Vaal-Orange River system: *
Rock-catfish The rock-catfish, ''Austroglanis sclateri'', is a species of catfish in the family Austroglanididae. This freshwater fish is endemic to the Vaal River in South Africa. It is also found in Lesotho and Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the R ...
(''Austroglanis sclateri'') *
Maluti redfin The Maluti redfin (''Pseudobarbus quathlambae'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is colloquially called the Maluti minnow, but it is not a true minnow. It is Lesotho's only endemic freshwater fish, and threatened by the ...
or Maloti minnow (''Pseudobarbus quathlambae'') * Namaquab barb (''Barbus hospes'') *
River sardine The river sardine (''Engraulicypris brevianalis''Riddin, M.A., Bills, I.R. & Villet, M.H. (2016)Phylogeographic, morphometric and taxonomic re-evaluation of the river sardine, ''Mesobola brevianalis'' (Boulenger, 1908) (Teleostei, Cyprinidae, Che ...
(''Mesobola brevianalis'') *
Smallmouth yellowfish The smallmouth yellowfish (''Labeobarbus aeneus'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Labeobarbus''. It has become an invasive species in rivers of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, such as the Mbhashe River. Introduction The Orange-V ...
(''Labeobarbus aeneus'') *
Largemouth yellowfish The largemouth yellowfish or Vaal-Orange largemouth yellowfish (''Labeobarbus kimberleyensis'') is a ray-finned fish species in the family Cyprinidae. This large freshwater barb is found in southern Africa.Impson & Swarz (2007) It has long been ...
(''Labeobarbus kimberlyensis'') * Orange River Mudfish (''Labeo capensis'')


See also

*
List of rivers in South Africa A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of international border rivers This is a List of international river borders. Rivers that form any portion of the border between two countries minimum: By region Africa 300px, Countries in Africa The following rivers form borders of countries in Africa: * Akanyaru River: ...
*
List of crossings of the Orange River This is a list of bridges and other crossings of the Orange River. Locations are listed with the left bank (moving downriver) listed first. Crossings

{{GeoGroupTemplate Lists of bridges, Orange Orange River ...


References


Further reading

*


External links


Orange-Senqu River Commission (ORASECOM)

Orange-Senqu River Awareness Kit - knowledge hub for the Orange-Senqu River basin
*

* ttps://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148587/seeing-orange-in-the-kalahari "Seeing Orange in the Kalahari" article and astronaut photo at NASA
Earth Observatory NASA Earth Observatory is an online publishing outlet for NASA which was created in 1999. It is the principal source of satellite imagery and other scientific information pertaining to the climate and the environment which are being provided by NA ...
, July 18, 2021
Information on the Orange River from the South African Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
{{Authority control Geography of ǁKaras Region Internal borders of South Africa International rivers of Africa Karoo Lesotho–South Africa border Namibia–South Africa border Ramsar sites in Namibia Ramsar sites in South Africa Rivers of Lesotho Rivers of Namibia Rivers of the Eastern Cape Rivers of the Free State (province) Rivers of the Northern Cape Vaal River