Pamela Statler, age 13, of Nashville, Tenn., for her question:

WHERE IS THE ORANGE RIVER?

The Orange River is the longest river in South Africa. It was named for the prince and noblemen of the Dutch House of Orange.

The Orange River rises in the high eastern mountains of Lesotho, less than 200 miles west of the Indian Ocean. But then it follows a winding course westward for about 1,300 miles as it cuts across the continent to empty into the South Atlantic Ocean.

Steep banks border the Orange River. For the last 200 miles of its course, the river flows through country that is almost desert. All along the way it has many rapids and falls.

At King George's Falls, the waters drop nearly 400 feet into a deep canyon in solid rock. These rapids and a large sand bar at the mouth of the stream, which is one mile wide, make shipping on the river impossible. But the waters above the Great Falls are used for many irrigation projects.

In the 1960s, the South African government announced a long range development plan for the Orange River. The $630 million project includes 12 hydroelectric dams and will irrigate 720,000 acres of land.