Sundays River
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Sundays River Zondagsrivier |
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 View of Graaff-Reinet with the Sundays River in front of the city |
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| Data | ||
| location | South Africa | |
| River system | Sundays River | |
| source | near the Kompasberg 31 ° 45 ′ 44 ″ S , 24 ° 32 ′ 14 ″ E |
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| Source height | approx. 2200 m | |
| muzzle |
Indian Ocean Coordinates: 33 ° 43 ′ 1 ″ S , 25 ° 51 ′ 0 ″ E 33 ° 43 ′ 1 ″ S , 25 ° 51 ′ 0 ″ E |
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| Mouth height | 0 m | |
| Height difference | approx. 2200 m | |
| Bottom slope | approx. 8.8 ‰ | |
| length | 250 km | |
| Reservoirs flowed through | Nqweba Dam, Darlington Dam | |
The Sundays River ( Afrikaans : Sondagsrivier, isiXhosa : Nqweba , for the Khoisan : Nukakamma ) is a river in the South African province of Eastern Cape .
River course
The 250 kilometer long Sundays River rises on the southern slope of the 2504 meter high Kompasberg in the Sneeuberge , the highest mountain in the former Cape Province . It flows roughly south-southeast and flows south of Colchester , around 40 kilometers east of Port Elizabeth , into Algoa Bay in the Indian Ocean. The name is said to come from the fact that a commando unit under the Boer Andries Pretorius is said to have camped there on Sunday, December 8th, 1838. In the Khoisan language , the river is called Nukakamma, which means “grassy water” in German, as the banks of the river are densely overgrown despite the semi-arid climate.
The city of Graaff-Reinet lies on the river , in the area of which the Sundays River is dammed up as the Nqweba Dam . Further south is Darlington Dam, built in 1922 . The lower reaches runs through the community of Sundays River Valley and flows through the Addo Elephant National Park . The estuary lies in the middle of a mighty sandbank . The Sundays River is considered to be the fastest flowing river in South Africa.
Today's meaning
The Sundays River is connected to both the Oranje and Port Elizabeth by pipelines and the Orange-Fish River Tunnel , so that water can be directed from the Oranje to Port Elizabeth.
In the Sundays River Valley community, citrus fruits are grown using artificial irrigation .
history
At the turn of the 19th century until the Fourth Border War , the Sundays River was the border between the Cape Colony and the areas of the Xhosa . The area east of it, the Zuurveld, was at times a buffer zone .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Sundays River at cacadu.co.za ( Memento from July 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- ↑ a b Name meanings at cyberserv.co.za ( Memento from August 29, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on July 8, 2013
- ^ Map of the water supply in the Eastern Cape Province , accessed July 8, 2013
- ↑ Sundays River Citrus Company website , accessed July 8, 2013