Shari River: description and photo

Africa is an amazing continent. It contains many secrets and dangers. Scientists from all over the world come here to study his riddles. Tourists visit the Black Continent to enjoy its unique flora and fauna. Nature collected all the most-most: in Africa live the highest animals on earth - giraffes, the largest animals on the planet - elephants, the world's largest birds - ostriches.

Africa has its own geographic features. The climate is mostly very hot, the relief is flat. Special attention should be paid to the inland waters of the continent, in particular to the rivers.

In this article, we will talk about where the Shari River is located and provide full information about this water flow.

Description

Shari is a river that flows in Central Africa. From the local language, "shari" is translated as "flow". The reservoir is wayward. Over the past 30 years, he then filled with water, then completely dried up.

Flow flows through the Central African Republic (CAR), touches the south of the country of Chad, flows along its border with Cameroon and flows from the south to Lake Chad.

The length of the water flow is 1400 kilometers, the area occupies 650 thousand square meters. Km, and 1159 m ³ / s is an indicator of water flow. The Shari River, as was noted, is the base of Lake Chad, as it brings 80-90% of the total water into it. When the rainy season comes, the stream does not just fill the lake, but can greatly flood the area inhabited by people.

The Shari River (Africa) begins its flow from the southeast to the northwest. A large number of tributaries flow into the river. The main (left) is Logon, 1000 km long, others smaller - Bahr-Auk, Bahr-Salamat, Bahr-Keita, Bahr-Sarh.

The source of the Shari River is located at the confluence of the northern rivers - Ouam, Baminga and Gribingi.

A bit of history

Shari was discovered in 1823. It was discovered by Europeans. This period came at a time when explorers from Britain Hugh Clapperton, Walter Oudney and Dixon Denham studied Lake Chad, where the river flows into. At that moment, it dried once more, but along the north-eastern side of the ancient Precambrian platform, scientists noticed a trace of the passing channel. It was from this discovery that the study of Shari began.

Value of the river

Most of the places inhabited by people, including the city of Sarh and the capital of Chad, N'Djamena, are concentrated in the area of the Shari River. It is the most important drinking source, it is widely used for transport purposes and is the basis for irrigation of the nearest agricultural lands. The Shari River is a local center for the development of the fishing industry. Nile perch is the most valuable fish that lives in the river. Its reserves are still considerable.

Such intensive use has led to the fact that every year there is a critical decrease in the volume of water coming from the river to Lake Chad.

The need to build a dam

Due to the fact that the water level in the Shari River decreases every year, scientists are considering the implementation of a project that will be aimed at building a dam near the Livingston Falls. It should all the water streams that flow into the deep river of the Congo, unite. Thanks to this, the Shari River, and, accordingly, Lake Chad, will be fully saturated with water. Also, this project will help increase their area, which will bring economic benefits to the region.

Also, scientists want to conduct from Lake Chad to the Mediterranean an artificial canal called New Nile that will breathe life into the desert African lands.

These projects have been considered since the 70s of the 20th century, but so far no final decision has been made. Ecologists do not give consent to the construction of the dam and the canal, indicating that this can destroy the natural ecosystem of the area.

Population

The Shari River is of interest to the tribes living on its shores. For example, the unusual people of sir. In their tradition it is included to insert the plates on the lips of women. According to the men of the tribe, a woman with such a lip is a real beauty. When the Europeans came here, it seemed to them very ugly that they saved the girls from slavery.

One can not ignore the Sao people who lived in the river valley from the 5th century BC. BC. E. In the XVII century. It was they in the basin of the lower reaches of the Shari built cities from mud houses. Their main occupation was the production of household items and jewelry made of clay, including original sculptures and statues.