Interesting Facts About the Victoria Falls

The Victoria Falls have been billed as the Greatest Falling Curtain of Water on this Planet, making it one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

• The Victoria Falls is considered to be the largest waterfall in the world.They are not the widest waterfall or the highest waterfall but with all dimensions taken into account, including almost the largest flow rate, they are considered to be the biggest curtain of falling water in the world.
  
  
  

•  The Victoria Falls are 1700m wide and are made up of five different “falls”. Four of these are in Zimbabwe and one is in Zambia. They are known as The Devil’s Cataract, Main Falls, Rainbow Falls and Horseshoe Falls in Zimbabwe and the Eastern Cataract in Zambia
  
  
  

• At its highest point, in March/April, it is estimated that 500 million litres of water per minute flow over the Victoria Falls. During the dry season, it can be as low as 10 million litres. The 1958 flood of the Zambezi saw the Falls reach record volumes of over 770 million litres per minute. Only the Iguazu Falls rivals the Victoria Falls in these terms (its record being only slightly less, at 750 million litres per minute) but a dam has decreased this, although the Boyoma Falls (formerly Stanley Falls) in Congo (formerly Zaire) has a higher total annual flow. 
• The spray created from the plunging waters, forced up and out from the gorge, rises some 400m to 800m into the air, and can be seen from 30 to over 60 kilometres away, and is best witnessed in the cool hours of the early morning. As the water droplets condense they fall as localised rain, creating rainbows and supporting the rainforest on the opposite side of the gorge, which is especially well developed opposite the Main Falls on the Zimbabwe side.