Tugela River
| Tugela Thukela | |
|---|---|
The Tugela River with the Amphitheatre in the background | |
The course of the Tugela river, from the west to the east border of KwaZulu-Natal. | |
| Native name | Thukela |
| Location | |
| Country | South Africa |
| Province | KwaZulu-Natal |
| Towns | Bergville, Colenso |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Drakensberg |
| • coordinates | 28°45′00″S 28°53′45″E / 28.75000°S 28.89583°E |
| Mouth | Indian Ocean |
• coordinates | 29°13′26″S 31°30′0″E / 29.22389°S 31.50000°E |
| Length | 560 km (350 mi) |
| Basin size | 29,100 km2 (11,200 sq mi) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | |
| • right | |
The Tugela River (Zulu: Thukela; Afrikaans: Tugelarivier) is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. With a total length of 560 km (350 mi), and a drop of 1 370 metres in the lower 480 km, it is one of the most important rivers of the country.
The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the Drakensberg Mountains at an elevation of 3 282 metres and plunges in five distinct free-leaping falls 947 metres down the Tugela Falls. The Mont-aux-Sources is also the origin of tributaries of two other major South African rivers, the Orange and the Caledon River. From the Drakensberg range, the Tugela follows a 560 km (350 mi) route through the KwaZulu-Natal midlands before flowing into the Indian Ocean. The total catchment area is approximately 29,100 km2 (11,200 sq mi). Land uses in the catchment are mainly rural subsistence farming and commercial forestry.