River · South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe
Limpopo
The Limpopo flows in a great arc through southern Africa. For about 640 kilometres it forms South Africa’s border with Botswana and Zimbabwe, before crossing Mozambique to the Indian Ocean.
Picture credit: Edward Middleton (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Michaelphillipr (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ton Rulkens (CC BY-SA 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Limpopo?
The river starts here: Confluence of the Marico and Crocodile rivers, South Africa–Botswana border.
It ends in the Indian Ocean near Xai-Xai, Mozambique.
Countries on the river: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.
The story behind it
The Limpopo begins where the Marico and Crocodile rivers meet on the border between South Africa and Botswana. From there it curves in a wide half-circle, first north-east and then east. In the dry winter, parts of the river shrink to a string of pools, but in summer the rains can make it flood, as in the year 2000, when big floods hit Mozambique. Hippos, Nile crocodiles and even Zambezi sharks live in its waters. Where the Shashe River joins the Limpopo, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe meet. Here, between about 900 and 1300, lay Mapungubwe, the first kingdom in southern Africa. Its people traded gold and ivory for glass beads and Chinese porcelain. In 1498, the Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama probably saw the river’s mouth. Later the writer Rudyard Kipling made it famous as “the great grey-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees”.
Questions children ask
How long is the Limpopo?
The Limpopo is about 1 750 kilometres long. Some sources say about 1 800 kilometres, because the length depends on how it is measured.
Which countries does the Limpopo flow through?
It flows through South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. For about 640 kilometres it is the border between South Africa and its neighbours Botswana and Zimbabwe.
Who was the first European to see the Limpopo?
The Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama was probably the first, in 1498. He named it Rio do Espírito Santo, the River of the Holy Spirit.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
Last checked: