The Digul River (Dutch: Digoel) is a major river in South Papua province, Indonesia, on the island of New Guinea. It is the fourth longest river in New Guinea after the Sepik River, Mamberamo River, and Fly River. With a total length of 853 km (530 mi) and a drainage basin of 45,900 km² (17,700 sq mi).^[6]

Quick Facts Sungai Digul Oewamba Rivier, Digoel-rivier, Oewimboe, Digoel Oewimboe, Digoel-Kian, Uwimbu, Digul, Location ...

Sungai Digul Oewamba Rivier, Digoel-rivier, Oewimboe, Digoel Oewimboe, Digoel-Kian, Uwimbu, Digul
NASA Landsat image (enhanced) of the Digul Estuary, looking roughly east. Dolak can be seen towards the south.
Location of river mouth Show map of Indonesia Digul (South Papua) Show map of South Papua
Location
Country	Indonesia
Province	Papua
Physical characteristics
Source	Maoke Mountains
• coordinates	4°53′33.4068″S 140°23′52.9512″E
• elevation	3,700 m (12,100 ft)
Mouth
• location	Arafura Sea
• coordinates	7°7′S 138°42′E
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	853 km (530 mi)
Basin size	42,142.6 km2 (16,271.3 sq mi)[1] to 44,953.98 km2 (17,356.83 sq mi)[2]
Width
• average	300 m (980 ft)–900 m (3,000 ft) (Lower Digul)[3]
Depth
• minimum	6 m (20 ft) (Lower Digul)[3]
• maximum	28 m (92 ft) (Lower Digul)[3]
Discharge
• location	Digul Delta, Arafura Sea
• average	3,867.2 m3/s (136,570 cu ft/s)[4] (Period: 2015–2019)3,027.89 m3/s (106,929 cu ft/s)[2] (Period: 1971–2000)3,332.7 m3/s (117,690 cu ft/s)[1]
• minimum	1,766.9 m3/s (62,400 cu ft/s)[4]
• maximum	5,304 m3/s (187,300 cu ft/s)[4] 10,600 m3/s (370,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Before delta (Basin size: 25,597.9 km2 (9,883.4 sq mi)[1]
• average	(Period: 1979–2015)69.42 km3/a (2,200 m3/s)[5] (Period: 1971–2000)2,443.9 m3/s (86,310 cu ft/s)[1]
Discharge
• location	Tanah Merah (320 km upstream of mouth; Basin size: 9,188.8 km2 (3,547.8 sq mi)[1]
• average	(Period: 1971–2000)1,140.7 m3/s (40,280 cu ft/s)[1]
Basin features
River system	Digul River
Tributaries
• left	Digul Timur, Takum, Murup, Anggarap, Mandobo, Uwimmerah
• right	Arup, Kia, Ederah, Mappi, Uwamba

Close

The swamplands upstream were known by the name "Boven-Digoel" (Above the Digul, in Dutch) and hosted a penal colony at Tanahmerah (Red Earth) in the early 20th century, when Indonesia was a colony of Holland. As a result of the abortive 1926 revolt by the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), the Dutch exiled 823 of the most troublesome revolutionaries here.^[7]

Rising on the southern slopes of the Maoke Mountains, the Digul flows first south and then west to empty into the Arafura Sea. For much of its length, it travels across a low region of extensive swamps and creates a delta near Dolak (Yos Sudarso Island, formerly Frederik Hendrik) Island. The river has a length of 853 km (530 mi) and is navigable as far as Tanahmerah.

The river flows in the southern area of Papua with predominantly tropical monsoon climate (designated as Am in the Köppen-Geiger climate classification).^[9] The annual average temperature in the area is 22 °C. The warmest month is April, when the average temperature is around 24 °C, and the coldest is June, at 20 °C.^[8] The average annual rainfall is 3,072 mm. The wettest month is January, with an average of 464 mm rainfall, and the driest is July, with 28 mm rainfall.^[10] The average rainfall for the whole catchment area between 2002 and 2011 was 3,522 mm.^[11]

The main tributaries from the mouth:^[1][3]

^*Period: 1971–2000

• List of drainage basins of Indonesia
• List of rivers of Indonesia