Zambezi km from the sea the Zambezi receives the drainage of Lake Malawi through the Shire River. On approaching the Indian Ocean, the river splits up into a delta. Each of the four primary distributaries, Kongone, Luabo and Timbwe, is obstructed by a sand bar. A more northerly branch, called the Chinde mouth, has a minimum depth at low water of 2 m at the entrance and 4 m further in, and is the branch used for navigation. 100 km further north is a river called the Quelimane, after the town at its mouth. This stream, which is silting up, receives
Zambezi 1,378,000 km, 3424 m/s, measured at Marromeu Total Zambezi river basin: 1,390,000 km, 3424 m/s discharged into delta "Source: Beilfuss & Dos Santos (2001)" The Okavango Basin is not included in the figures because it only occasionally overflows to any extent into the Zambezi. Due to the rainfall distribution, northern tributaries contribute much more water than southern ones, for example: the Northern Highlands catchment of the upper Zambezi contributes 25%, Kafue 8%, Luangwa and Shire Rivers 16% each, total 65% of Zambezi discharge. The large Cuando basin in the south-west on the other hand contributes only about 2 m/s because