Musi River (Indonesia)


The Musi River is located in southern Sumatra, Indonesia.
The river roughly flows from south-west to north-east, from Barisan Mountains range that formed the backbone of Sumatra, in Kepahiang, Bengkulu, to the Bangka Strait that formed the extension of South China Sea. It is about 750 kilometers long, and drains most of South Sumatra province. After flowing through Palembang, the provincial capital, it joins with the several other rivers, including the Banyuasin River, to form a delta near the city of Sungsang. The river, dredged to a depth of about 6.5 meters, is navigable by large ships as far as Palembang, which is the site of major port facilities used primarily for the export of petroleum, rubber and palm-oil.
This river system, especially around the city of Palembang, was the heart of eponymous 7th to 13th century Srivijayan empire.
The river mouth was the site of the SilkAir Flight 185 plane crash which killed all 104 passengers and crew on board in December 1997.

Geography

The river flows in the southern area of Sumatra with predominantly tropical rainforest climate. The annual average temperature in the area is 24 °C. The warmest month is July, when the average temperature is around 26 °C, and the coldest is February, at 22 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2579 mm. The wettest month is April, with an average of 344 mm rainfall, and the driest is September, with 99 mm rainfall.

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