The Okavango River in southwest Africa is the fourth-longest river system in southern Africa, running southeastward for 1,600 km (1,000 miles). It begins in Angola, where it is known as the Cubango River. Further south it forms part of the border between Angola and Namibia, and then flows into Botswana, draining into the Moremi Game Reserve.
Before it enters Botswana, the river drops 4 meters, across the full 1.2 km-width of the river, in a series of rapids known as Popa Falls, visible when the river is low during the dry season.
The Okavango does not have an outlet to the sea, it empties into a swamp in the Kalahari Desert known as the Okavango Delta or Okavango Alluvial Fan. In the rainy season there is an outflow to the Boteti River which in turn seasonally discharges to the Makgadikgadi Pans, which features an expansive area of rainy season wetlands where tens of thousands of flamingos congregate each summer. Part of the river's flow fills Lake Ngami. Noted for its wildlife, the Okavango area contains Botswana's Moremi Game Reserve.
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