Which river forms the world's largest inland delta?

The Okavango River forms the world’s largest inland delta, the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Instead of flowing to a sea, the river spreads across the Kalahari Desert into channels, lagoons, floodplains, and wetlands.

The river runs for about 1,600 kilometres through Angola, Namibia, and Botswana. Its seasonal flood arrives in Botswana during the dry winter months, several months after rains fall in the Angolan highlands. This unusual timing transforms an otherwise arid landscape into a major wildlife refuge.

The delta is endorheic, meaning it has no permanent outlet to the ocean. Much of its water evaporates, is transpired by plants, or sinks into the sandy ground. Floodwaters typically cover between 6,000 and 15,000 square kilometres, depending on the season and year.

The Okavango Delta became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. A common mix-up is to name the delta itself as the answer, but the question asks which river forms it; that river is the Okavango, also called the Cubango in Angola and the Kavango in Namibia.