Sepik
| Sepik | |
|---|---|
Sediment plumes at the mouth of the Sepik (right) and Ramu (left) rivers | |
Sepik River watershed (Interactive map) | |
| Location | |
| Country | Papua New Guinea, Indonesia |
| Region | Sandaun, Papua, East Sepik |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Victor Emanuel Range |
| • coordinates | 5°13′S 141°49′E / 5.217°S 141.817°E |
| • elevation | 2,170 m (7,120 ft) |
| Mouth | |
• location | Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea |
• coordinates | 3°50′30″S 144°32′30″E / 3.84167°S 144.54167°E |
• elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 1,126 km (700 mi) |
| Basin size | 80,321 km2 (31,012 sq mi) |
| Width | |
| • average | 400–500 m (1,300–1,600 ft) |
| Depth | |
| • minimum | 2 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| • average | 8–14 m (26–46 ft) |
| • maximum | 35–55 m (115–180 ft) (Angoram) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Angoram |
| • average | 5,000 m3/s (180,000 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| • location | Ambunti |
| • average | 3,615 m3/s (127,700 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Progression | Bismarck Sea |
| River system | Sepik River |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Iram, Brucken, Oklip, Hauser, Horden, North, Yellow, Sanchi, Yimi, Nagam |
| • right | Hak, August, May, Seniap, Frieda, Wario, Wagamush, April, Karawari, Yuat, Keram, Bien |
The Sepik (/ˈsɛpɪk/) is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the third largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly and Mamberamo. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provinces of Sandaun (formerly West Sepik) and East Sepik, with a small section flowing through the Indonesian province of Papua.
The Sepik has a large catchment area, and landforms that include swamplands, tropical rainforests and mountains. Biologically, the river system is often said to be possibly the largest uncontaminated freshwater wetland system in the Asia-Pacific region. But, in fact, numerous fish and plant species have been introduced into the Sepik since the mid-20th century.