Lofa
Source1 locationMacenta Prefecture in Guinea
Mouth locationAtlantic Ocean south of Robertsport at
Mouth coordinates6°34′26″N 11°3′38″W
CountriesGuinea and Liberia
Length410 km
Source1 elevation940 m (3,080 ft)
Mouth elevation0 m (0 ft)
Discharge1 locationNear mouth
Discharge1 avg(Period: 1979–2015) 18.63 km3/year[1]
Basin size10,446 km²

The Lofa or Loffa is a river whose headwaters originate in eastern Guinea northeast of Macenta. The river runs southwest through northeastern Liberia before draining into the North Atlantic Ocean.[2] Historically it has also been known as the Little Cape Mount River.[3] The Lawa River enters the Lofa River in Liberia's Lofa County.[2]

Indigenous species include the pygmy hippopotamus.[4] Several diamond mining concessions along the Lofa River were granted in the late 1950s and early 1960s.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ "River Basins"
  2. ^ (1) "Liberia Physical Map". Worldometers. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020..
    (2) "Liberia Political Map". OnTheWorldMap. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020..
  3. ^ Sims, James L.; Seymour, George L.; Anderson, Benjamin J. K.; Fairhead, James (2003). African-American Exploration in West Africa: Four Nineteenth-century Diaries. Indiana University Press. p. 375. ISBN 0-253-34194-9.
  4. ^ "At last New York has a pair of pygmy hippos" (PDF). The New York Times. July 14, 1912. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  5. ^ Greenhalgh, Peter (1985). West African Diamonds. Manchester University Press. pp. 72–73. ISBN 0-7190-1763-7.