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Tugela River

The 828th longest river in the world

520 km

The Tugela River (Zulu: Thukela, Afrikaans: Tugelarivier) is the largest river in KwaZulu, South Africa. With a total length of 560 km (350 mi), and a drop of 1 370 metres in the lower 480 km, it is one of the most important rivers of the country. The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of two other major South African rivers, the Orange and the Caledon River. From the Drakensberg range, the Tugela follows a 560 km (350 mi) route through the KwaZulu-Natal midlands before flowing into the Indian Ocean. The total catchment area is approximately 29,100 km2 (11, 200 mi2). Land uses in the catchment are mainly rural subsistence farming and commercial forestry.

Flows through: South Africa.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.

Other major rivers

  1. Amazon6,992 km
  2. Nile6,650 km
  3. Yangtze River6,300 km
  4. Bian River5,806 km
  5. Yellow River5,464 km
  6. Paraná River4,880 km
  7. River Congo4,700 km
  8. Mekong River4,350 km