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The widest waterfalls in the world. Location, description, photo

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It attracts Europeans with its unusual history, beautiful nature, originality and originality. One of the most unique natural sites located in the country is Khon Waterfall, also known as Kon.

Story

Located near the border with the state in the province of Champasak. Its seething streams originate from the Mekong River. Khon's fame came in 1920, when the scientist Khokhan explored the area around the largest water artery in Laos. Years later, the waterfall was named after the traveler who discovered it to the world.

What is a waterfall?

The Kon waterfall has a cascade-like structure. It includes several small springs falling from different heights. The Khon plateau and waterfall are a fascinating sight, because in addition to hundreds of tons of water falling from the peaks, rare flowers and herbs grow here.


The Laotian Khon waterfall drops its waters from a height of 21 m. Its width exceeds 10 km, so Khon is the widest waterfall on our planet. In addition, it is one of the most beautiful waterfalls on Earth and is under the protection of government authorities (it is part of one of the reserves) and the world community.


Source Features

Today, many tourists seek to find themselves in the Kona area. The area near the waterfall is equipped with observation platforms, making it accessible for inspection. There are convenient hiking trails. Among tourists you can often meet people with various diseases. Scientists have proven the beneficial effects of Khon waters on the human nervous and endocrine systems.


How to get there?

It is possible to get to the waterfall only by car. The coordinates will help you: 13°56′53″, 105°56′26″. If desired, you can get to the place by taxi or excursion bus.

Anyone who has seen the falls up close will agree that their beauty and majesty are almost indescribable. If even a small drop of water can be inspiring, imagine what it will feel like to see one of the largest waterfalls in the world.

This TOP 10 is based on the width of the falls, not the height or volume. Each waterfall on the list is wonderful in its own way.

10. Inga Falls, Democratic Republic of Congo

The Inga Falls are 900 meters wide and are located on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is one of a series of waterfalls and rapids that fall from a height of about 100 meters, but intermittently. However, in the main and most impressive part, the water falls from a height of about 20 meters in one breath. There are hundreds of channels on this waterfall, which are highlighted by many large rocks and small islands.

9. Niagara Falls, USA, Canada

Despite its relatively short height, Niagara Falls is undoubtedly the most famous waterfall on the planet. Every year 14-20 million people come to see the waterfall. At 1,200 meters wide, Niagara Falls is far from the largest waterfall, but it is the waterfall with the largest volume of water flowing through it. It has three distinct parts: Horseshoe Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and American Falls.

8. Stanley Falls, Democratic Republic of Congo

Stanley Falls stretches 1,400 meters across the Lualaba River, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite its width, it is not a very visually impressive waterfall.

7. Victoria Falls, South Africa

Victoria Falls is 1800 meters wide. It is located on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe. The river falls into a gorge consisting of lateral volcanic dams that were formed due to river erosion. When the water enters the gorge, the mist and spray rise more than 30 meters high, compared to the top of the falls, giving the impression that the mist is rising from a deep hole in the ground.

6. Vermilion Falls, North America

Although this waterfall does not have an impressive height, it is the sixth largest waterfall in the world in terms of width, which is 1829 meters. It is located along the Peace River, in Northern Alberta, Canada.

5. Mocona Falls, South America

The waterfall is part of the Uruguay River in Argentina. This is one of the most unique large river waterfalls. Its width is 2065 meters.

4. Iguazu Falls, South America

The waterfall straddles the border between Argentina and Brazil. It has a width of 2682 meters. Most of the river falls in an area known as the Garganta del Diablo, or Devil's Throat, but the rest spreads out across a wide, flat shelf, splitting into hundreds of individual waterfalls. This waterfall can vary greatly in volume depending on how much rain has fallen. At times it is reduced to a fraction of its normal size, but in some cases it increases to 2896 meters in width.

3. Congo Falls, West Central Africa

The waterfall is 3,200 meters wide, making it the third largest waterfall in the world. The falling water is truly an unforgettable sight, and it is located among the dense equatorial forests. The waterfall is located in the Ivindo National Park, which was created to protect biodiversity.

2. Para Falls, Venezuela

Salto Para, or Para waterfall, 5608 meters. The waterfall is located on the Caura River in the state of Bolivar, Venezuela. It is shaped like a crescent and is formed at the point where two parts of the river meet. The waterfall is surrounded by lush, green jungle.

1. Khon Waterfall, Laos

This is the widest waterfall in the world. Almost twice the size of Para Falls, it has a width of 10,783 meters. The falls are part of the Mekong River in Laos, and occur where the river splits into seven major and many other smaller channels. It consists of several different thresholds.

Kon Falls is one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world. It is registered under the protection of a national reserve and is recognized as a national treasure of the Earth. Kon Falls is located on the Mekong River. The width of its drainage area is thirteen kilometers.

Kon (Khon) Falls is the calmest of all the waterfalls. His disposition is most favorable to sick people.

The power of this waterfall is aimed at a calming effect, it has magical energy. Many people who visited the Kon waterfall were convinced of its positive effect on the human body.
Kohn was discovered in 1920 by researcher E. Khokhan and was named after him.

Kon Falls is a cascading structure; like Victoria, it includes many waterfalls flowing from different levels of the Mekong Plateau. The beauty of this waterfall comes from the vibrant colorful flowers growing along its banks.
Kon is also a well-accessible spot for observation.
Its viewing area is well landscaped. Tourists appreciate this.

Many extreme sports enthusiasts have tried to conquer the Kon waterfall, and many have succeeded. Cohn almost always favors this. But fatalities also happened there. But this happened mainly due to the little or insufficient preparation of the conquerors.

It is a series of cascades of rapids, rapids and waterfalls, 3 of which have a drop of 15 to 21 m (with a width of 0.8 to 1.7 km).

The average water consumption is 10 - 12 thousand m3/sec, the highest (in summer and autumn) up to 30 thousand m3/sec.

The widest waterfall in the world is located in Southeast Asia, in Indochina. Kon, or Khon, is located on the Mekong River 15 km from Don Khon Island on the border of Laos and Cambodia.

In the southern part of Laos, just 3.5 kilometers from the border with Cambodia, you can find a low but remarkable waterfall. It’s more likely not a waterfall, but a cascade of waterfalls and rapids called Khon. Its full name is Khonephapheng Waterfall, but in the world it is better known as Khon Falls (sometimes, however, you can find the name Kon).

Khon Falls on the map

  • Geographic coordinates 13.960612, 105.986591
  • The distance from the capital of Laos, Vientiane, is approximately 600 km in a straight line (if you use roads, the distance is 820 km)
  • The nearest Wattay airport is the same distance, since it is located in the capital
  • One very well-known website for selling airline tickets points to the airport in the city of Attapa, 180 km to the northeast, but we did not find any runway in this locality. Google Maps didn't find an airport there either.

Khon Falls is located on the Mekong River in Champasak Province. In these places, the river bed is a giant web of channels, streams and branches. Their total width sometimes reaches 10 kilometers. Plus, there are a large number of thresholds and drops. All this creates an insurmountable barrier to navigation along the river in these places.

Just above are the coordinates of the largest rapids at Khon Falls. Its height is about 21 meters. It is officially believed that the width of the cascades of the Khon Falls is about 10 km, and their length is 9.7 km. There are even opinions that this waterfall is the widest in the world. There are a number of factors in favor of this, and arguments refuting this opinion. If you consider the entire width of the river bed here, then Khon Falls is undoubtedly the widest in the world. But if we break this entire set into separate waterfalls, then the indicators are already tens and hundreds of times more modest. It all depends on the measurement technique.

An interesting feature of Khon Falls is that it is a rather calm and even peaceful waterfall, which with its uniform noise instills peace and relaxation no worse than the Japanese Shiraito Falls. Although Khon's volume is certainly superior to Shiraito's.

There is a small cafe and observation deck nearby. You can not only immerse yourself in contemplation, but also take spectacular photographs in the surrounding area or on the rocks. Just remember the basic safety rules. No photo is worth a broken leg.


If you decide to take such a photo, be careful.

It is believed that the waterfall was first discovered in 1920 by an explorer and traveler named Khokhan. Subsequently, this landmark of Laos was named after him. But we did not find any reliable information on this matter. Moreover, there is evidence that at the end of the 19th century, French colonialists tried to establish shipping in these areas, but they failed. If you have information on this matter, please let us know.

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