Bahr el Zeraf
Bahr el Zeraf is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 8.60°, 30.77°
About Bahr el Zeraf
The Bahr el Zeraf (Arabic: بَـحْـر الـزّرَاف, romanized: Baḥr ez-Zerāf, lit. 'sea / waters of giraffe'), also known as the Giraffe or Phow River in the English language, is an arm of the White Nile in the Sudd region of South Sudan. It is completely contained within the South Sudanese state of Jonglei. Its name is Arabic for "Giraffe River".
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Bahr el Zeraf (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Bahr el Zeraf in Depth
Course
The Bahr el Zeraf forms in the southern Sudd wetlands as an arm of the Bahr al Jabal ("Mountain Nile") section of the White Nile. A pair of man-made canals known as the Zeraf Cuts were dug in 1910 and 1913 to connect the two rivers at 7.768°N 30.567°E / 7.768; 30.567. These canals divert some of the Jabal's flow, more than doubling the Zeraf's volume, with the intention of accelerating the flow to Egypt and thereby reducing the water "lost" to evaporation and transpiration in the swamps.
From the Cuts the Zeraf flows north through the Ez Zeraf Game Reserve for 280 kilometres (170 mi). About 100 kilometres (62 mi) of this distance is through continuous swamp with islands, transitioning further downstream to a well-defined channel with raised banks.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Bahr el Zeraf (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Bahr el Zeraf: Key Facts
| Length | 240 km |
|---|---|
| Mouth | White Nile |
| Drainage system | Nile basin |
Facts from Wikidata Q1112393 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Bahr el Zeraf: Quick Answers
- Where is Bahr el Zeraf?
- Bahr el Zeraf is located in South Sudan, at 8.5993° N, 30.7684° E.
- Are there dams on the Bahr el Zeraf?
- No dam on the Bahr el Zeraf is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.