Sewa River is a river in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

. Its furthest sources are the Bagbe River and Bafi River, which originates in the mountainous areas of the northeastern part of the country, near the border with Guinea. From the confluence of Bagbe and Bafi in the

Kono District Kono District is a Districts of Sierra Leone, district in the Eastern Province, Sierra Leone, Eastern Province of Sierra Leone. Its capital and largest city is Koidu, Koidu Town. Motema is the second most populous city in the district. The other m ...

Sewa flows in a south-southwestern direction and drains an area of . Close to the

Atlantic 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 an ...

coast the river joins Waanje River to form the Kittam River. Kittam River flows westwards along the coast and enters a network of lagoons and streams separated from the sea by Turner's Peninsula. By the island of Sherbro, Kittam empties into the larger

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 environm ...

Sherbro River Sherbro Island is in the Atlantic Ocean, and is included within Bonthe District, Southern Province, Sierra Leone. The island is separated from the African mainland by the Sherbro River in the north and Sherbro Strait in the east. It is long a ...

. Sewa River is navigable over shorter distances, but in the middle and upper reaches,

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade' ...

and cataracts dominate. The river has great commercial value for Sierra Leone. Sewa's upper reaches is being panned for

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...

s on a large scale. Closer to the coast

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

cultivation and the cultivation of

piassava Piassava, also piaçava (), piaçaba (), piasaba, pissaba, piassaba, and piaçá (),The piaçá form occurs mostly in Portugal and is considered less correct by some dictionaries. is a fibrous product of Brazilian palm species ''Attalea funifera'' ...

, exported for the production of

besom A besom () is a broom, a household implement used for sweeping. The term is now mostly reserved for a traditional broom constructed from a bundle of twigs tied to a stout pole. The twigs used could be broom (i.e. '' Genista'', from which comes ...

s, are important crops.

References

Rivers of Sierra Leone {{SierraLeone-geo-stub