LIMPOPO or Crocodile, a river of S.E. Africa over ',coo m. in length, next to the Zambezi the largest river of Africa entering the Indian ocean. Its head streams rise on the northern slopes of the Witwatersrand less than 30o m. due W. of the sea, but the river makes a great semicircular sweep across the high plateau. For a great part of its course the Limpopo forms the north-west and north frontiers of the Transvaal. Its banks are well wooded and present many picturesque views. In descending the escarp ment of the plateau the river passes through rocky ravines, pierc ing the Zoutpansberg near the north-east corner of the Transvaal at the Toli Azime falls. In the low country it receives on the right bank its chief affluent, the Olifants river (45o m. long), which shares with the main river the distinction of having cut back across the eastern escarpment, and of draining parts of the in terior plateau. The Limpopo enters the ocean in 25° 15' S. The mouth, about 1,000 ft. wide, is obstructed by sand-banks. In the rainy season the Limpopo loses a good deal of its water in the swampy region along its lower course. High-water level is 24 ft. above low-water level, when the depth in the shallowest part does not exceed 3 ft. The river is navigable all the year round by shallow-draught vessels from its mouth for about i oo m., to a spot known as Gungunyana's Ford. In flood time there is water communication south with the river Komati (q.v.). At this season stretches of the Limpopo above Gungunyana's Ford are navigable.
The river valley is generally unhealthy.
The basin of the Limpopo includes the northern part of the Transvaal, the eastern portion of Bechuanaland, southern Mata beleland and a large area of Portuguese territory north of Delagoa bay. Its chief tributary, the Olifants, has been mentioned. Of its many other affluents, the Macloutsie, the Shashi and the Tuli are the most distant north-west feeders. Among the streams which, flowing north through the Transvaal, join the Limpopo is the Nylstroom, so named by Boers trekking from the south in the belief that they had reached the river Nile. In the coast region the river has one considerable affluent from the north, the Chen gane, which is navigable for some distance.
The Limpopo is a river of many names. In its upper course called the Crocodile that name is also applied to the whole river. Though claiming the territory through which it ran the Portuguese made no attempt to trace the river. This was first done by Captain J. F. Elton, who in 1870 travelling from the Tati gold fields sought to open a road to the sea via the Limpopo. He voyaged down the river from the Shashi confluence to the Toli Azime falls, which he discovered, following the stream thence on foot to the low country. The lower course of the river had been explored 1868-1869 by another British traveller—St. Vincent Whitshed Erskine.