The Fish River (Visrivier in

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 g ...

, Fischfluss in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

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 e ...

. It is 650 km long, flowing from the

Naukluft Mountains The Naukluft Mountains (Afrikaans and German: ''Naukluftberge'') are a mountain range in central Namibia. The southern part of the mountain range forms the easternmost part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The northern mountains are occupied ...

http://www.namibia-travel.net/travelguide/southern-namibia/fish-river-canyon.html 150 km to the

Hardap Dam Hardap Dam is a dam close to Mariental in the Hardap Region of central Namibia. Created in 1963 while Namibia was under South African occupation, Hardap Dam is the largest dam in the country. The reservoir dams the Fish River and is home to num ...

near Mariental. From there the flow is entirely blocked, all further flow downstream coming from tributaries downstream from the dam. The flow of the river is seasonal; in winter the river can dry up completely. Despite this, the river is the site of the spectacular

Fish River Canyon The Fish River Canyon (Afrikaans: ''Visrivier Canyon'' or'' Visrivier Kuil'', german: Fischfluss Canyon), is located in the south of Namibia. It is the largest canyon in Africa, as well as the second most visited tourist attraction in Namibia.Ma ...

, a canyon 160 km long, and at points as much as 550 m deep. The outflow of the Fish River joins the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/ Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the nort ...

at the border with

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 count ...

about 100 km from 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#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

. File:Fish River Crossing.JPG, Fish River crossing File:Fish river.jpg File:Bottom of Fish River Canyon.JPG File:Fish River Namibia anagoria.JPG File:Fish River Canyon.jpg

References

Rivers of Namibia Tributaries of the Orange River {{Namibia-river-stub