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Tana River
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Tana River, Kenya
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Tana River, Kenya
Tana River, Kenya

Tana River

river, Kenya
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Tana River, river, Kenya, flowing 440 miles (708 km) from its headwaters in the Aberdare Range and Mount Kenya to the Indian Ocean. Taking a northeasterly course at first, the river plunges over the Kitaru (Seven Forks) Falls (440 feet [134 metres]) into a semidesert landscape that constitutes its middle course. Describing a wide arc, the Tana then veers south and opens into a wide valley, where it meanders through a floodplain subject to inundations. Kenya’s longest river, it reaches the Indian Ocean at Formosa Bay, Kipini, but a former outlet lies 20 miles (32 km) southwest.

The river is navigable by small craft for about 150 miles (240 km) upstream, often with difficulty. In the upper catchment, Sasumua Dam provides water for Nairobi. Kindaruma, at Seven Forks, is the site of a hydroelectric project, and an irrigation project at Embu provides water for rice cultivation.

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