Lawa (Suriname)
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Lawa Aoua |
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 The border river Lawa |
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| Data | ||
| location | Suriname / French Guiana border | |
| River system | Chestnuts | |
| Drain over | Chestnuts → Atlantic | |
| origin | Confluence of the Litani and Marouini rivers 3 ° 17 ′ 45 ″ N , 54 ° 4 ′ 4 ″ W. |
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| confluence | at the river island Stoelmanseiland with the Tapanahony to the Maroni (Marowijne) coordinates: 4 ° 21 ′ 49 ″ N , 54 ° 26 ′ 7 ″ W, 4 ° 21 ′ 49 ″ N , 54 ° 26 ′ 7 ″ W
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 The Lawa at Maripasoula |
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The Lawa (also Aoua) is a border river between Suriname and French Guiana .
The source rivers of the Lawa are the Litani and the Marouini (also Marowini). The Lawa and the Tapanahony flow together on the river island Stoelmanseiland to the Marowijne .
There are many gold mines in the middle of the river. As early as 1902, under Governor Cornelis Lely of Suriname, it was decided to build a narrow-gauge railway , the Lawa Railway , from Paramaribo to develop these gold deposits. Because of the disappointing gold sales, only the first half of the track was laid. At the end of the 1980s, railway operations came to a complete standstill.
After heavy rains, in May 2006 there was severe inland flooding.