Great Fish River

Great Fish River
The Great Fish River in the Eastern Cape in the Great Fish River Nature Reserve.
Map
Great Fish River is located in South Africa
Great Fish River
Location of the Great Fish River mouth
Location
CountrySouth Africa
ProvinceEastern Cape
Physical characteristics
MouthIndian Ocean
 • location
Near Seafield
 • coordinates
33°29′34″S 27°07′52″E / 33.49278°S 27.13111°E / -33.49278; 27.13111
 • elevation
3 m (9.8 ft)
Length730 km (450 mi)
Basin size30,366 km2 (11,724 sq mi)
Landscape near the middle course of the Great Fish River

The Great Fish River (called great to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) (Afrikaans: Groot-Visrivier)[1] is a river running 644 kilometres (400 mi) through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish River mouth is known as the Sunshine Coast. The Great Fish River was originally named Rio do Infante, after João Infante, the captain of one of the caravels of Bartolomeu Dias. Infante visited the river in the late 1480s.[2]

The name Great Fish is a misnomer, since it is a translation of the Dutch Groot Visch Rivier, which was the name of a tributary in the vicinity of Cradock,[3] which at its confluence with the Little Fish (Klein Visch Rivier) forms what is properly called the (Eastern Cape) Fish River.

  1. ^ "Riviere van Suid-Afrika". Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
  2. ^ Raper, Peter Edmund (1987). Dictionary of Southern African Place Names. Johannesburg: Human Science Research Council. (public domain)
  3. ^ Toit, Chris Marais and Julienne du (11 October 2023). "Cradock II: The Fish, the Show, the Ghosts & the Trekbokke". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 31 January 2024.