The
Rufiji River lies entirely within the
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
n nation of
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...
. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 km (375 mi) long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
at a point between
Mafia IslandMafia Island is part of the Tanzanian Spice Islands, together with Unguja and Pemba. As one of the six districts of the Pwani Region, Mafia Island is governed from the mainland, not from the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, of which it has never been considered to be a part.According to the...
called
Mafia ChannelMafia Channel is a stretch of water between the Rufiji River estuary and Mafia Island in Tanzania, Africa. The deltas at the mouth of the Rufiji River extrude towards the island and water is forced through causing constant erosion of the deltas and the island itself....
. Its principal tributary is the
Great Ruaha RiverThe Great Ruaha River is a river in south-central Tanzania that flows through the Usangu wetlands and the Ruaha National Park east into the Rufiji River...
. It is navigable for about 100 km (60 mi).
The Rufiji is about 200 km (120 mi) south of Dar-es-Salaam.
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The
Rufiji River lies entirely within the
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
n nation of
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...
. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 km (375 mi) long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the
Indian OceanThe Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by South Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean...
at a point between
Mafia IslandMafia Island is part of the Tanzanian Spice Islands, together with Unguja and Pemba. As one of the six districts of the Pwani Region, Mafia Island is governed from the mainland, not from the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, of which it has never been considered to be a part.According to the...
called
Mafia ChannelMafia Channel is a stretch of water between the Rufiji River estuary and Mafia Island in Tanzania, Africa. The deltas at the mouth of the Rufiji River extrude towards the island and water is forced through causing constant erosion of the deltas and the island itself....
. Its principal tributary is the
Great Ruaha RiverThe Great Ruaha River is a river in south-central Tanzania that flows through the Usangu wetlands and the Ruaha National Park east into the Rufiji River...
. It is navigable for about 100 km (60 mi).
The Rufiji is about 200 km (120 mi) south of Dar-es-Salaam. The river's delta contains the largest mangrove forest in the world.
A branch of ancient sea routes led down the East African coast called "Azania" by the Greeks and Romans in the 1st century CE as described in the
Periplus of the Erythraean SeaThe Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is a Greek periplus, describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and India...
(and, very probably, 澤散
Zesan in the 3rd century by the Chinese),
at least as far as the port known to the Romans as
RhaptaRhapta was a marketplace on the coast of eastern Africa, which first rose to prominence in the first century CE. Its location has not yet been firmly identified, although there are a number of plausible candidate sites....
, which was probably located in the delta of the Rufiji River in modern
TanzaniaThe United Republic of Tanzania is a country in central East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.The United...
.
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