Semliki River

Semliki River
Rivers of south west Uganda with the Semliki (center left).
Location
Countries	DR Congo (DRC) Uganda
Physical characteristics
Source	Lake Edward
• location	Ishango, DRC, North Kivu Province
• coordinates	00°08′25″S 29°36′04″E / 0.14028°S 29.60111°E / -0.14028; 29.60111[1]
• elevation	997 m (3,271 ft)[2]
Mouth	Lake Albert
• location	southeast of Bunia, DRC, Ituri Province
• coordinates	01°15′45″N 30°27′46″E / 1.26250°N 30.46278°E / 1.26250; 30.46278[1]
• elevation	619 m (2,031 ft)[2]
Length	140 km (87 mi)[3]
Basin features
Tributaries
• right	River Lamia, River Ndugutu, River Nyahuka, River Kirumia

Semliki River is a major river, 140 kilometres (87 mi) long,^[3] in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda in Central and East Africa. It flows north from Lake Edward in Beni Territory, Nord-Kivu, D.R.C avoiding the Rwenzori Mountains on its Right (East), emptying into Lake Albert in the Albertine Rift, Irumu Territory, Ituri Province, D.R.C overlooking the Blue Mountains to its left in the west. Its mouth is near the Village of Katolingo in Kanara subcounty, Ntoroko district, Uganda.^[4] Along its lower reaches, it meanders extensively forming part of the international border between the DRC and the western Ugandan districts of Bundibugyo and Ntoroko, near the Semuliki National Park.^[4]

Increasing snow melt from the Rwenzoris, overgrazing, and other alterations to the watershed have caused bank erosion and frequent changes to the course of the meandering lower reaches of the river.^[5] In some places, Uganda is losing up to 10 metres (33 ft) of land per year on its side of the river to erosion and silt from the Semliki is gradually filling in the southern end of Lake Albert.^[5] In other places, it is the DRC that is losing territory as the changing river course alters the apparent location of the border.^[6]