River · Timor-Leste
Loes
Loes is the longest river of Timor-Leste, a small island country in South-East Asia. Over roughly 123 kilometres it runs down from the central mountains to the Ombai Strait in the Banda Sea.
Picture credit: Colin Trainor (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Colin Trainor (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Colin Trainor (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Loes?
The river starts here: Mountains of central Timor-Leste.
It ends in the Ombai Strait, Banda Sea.
Countries on the river: Timor-Leste.
The story behind it
The Loes gathers rain in steep mountains covered with coffee bushes and tall eucalyptus trees. Its bed is unusually wide and full of pale stones, because in the wet season the water races down and pushes gravel along. In the dry months the same bed can look almost empty, with only thin ribbons of water between the boulders, and children walk across where boats could float a few weeks earlier. Buffalo cool themselves in the shallow pools and crocodiles are sometimes seen near the mouth, so people are careful at the water's edge. Bridges here must be strong, since a sudden flood can cut the road along the north coast. Maps do not all agree on the exact length of the Loes, because it is fed by many short mountain streams with different names.
Questions children ask
How long is the Loes?
The Loes is about 123 kilometres long. On an island that is not very big, this is enough to make it the longest river of the country.
Which country does the Loes flow through?
The Loes flows through Timor-Leste only. It crosses the northern half of the island, from the high interior down to the coastal plain.
Where does the Loes end?
The Loes empties into the Ombai Strait, which belongs to the Banda Sea. At the mouth the fresh water pushes a fan of grey gravel far out into the shallows.
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.
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