Everything about The Congo River totally explained
The
Congo River (for a time known as
Zaire River) is the largest
river in Western Central
Africa. Its overall length of 4,700
km (2,922
miles) makes it the second longest in Africa (after the
Nile). The river and its
tributaries flow through the second largest
rain forest area in the world, second only to the
Amazon Rainforest in South America. The river also has the second-largest flow in the world, behind the
Amazon, and the second-largest
watershed of any river, again trailing the Amazon; its watershed is slightly larger than that of the
Mississippi River. Because large sections of the river basin lie above and below the
equator, its flow is stable, as there's always at least one river experiencing a rainy season.
The Congo gets its name from the ancient
Kingdom of Kongo which inhabited the lands at the mouth of the river. The
Democratic Republic of the Congo and the
Republic of the Congo, both countries lying along the river's banks, are named after it. Between
1971 and
1997 the government of then-
Zaire called it the
Zaire River.
The sources of the Congo are in the
highlands and
mountains of the
East African Rift, as well as
Lake Tanganyika and
Lake Mweru, which feed the
Lualaba River, which then becomes the Congo below
Boyoma Falls. The
Chambeshi River in Zambia is generally taken as the source of the Congo in line with the accepted practice worldwide of using the longest tributary, as with the
Nile River.
The Congo flows generally west from
Kisangani just below the falls, then gradually bends southwest, passing by
Mbandaka, joining with the
Ubangi River, and running into the
Pool Malebo (Stanley Pool).
Kinshasa (formerly
Léopoldville) and
Brazzaville are on opposite sides of the river at the Pool, where the river narrows and falls through a number of
cataracts in deep canyons (collectively known as the
Livingstone Falls), running by
Matadi and
Boma, and into the sea at the small town of
Muanda.
The Congo River Basin is one of the distinct physiographic sections of the larger Mid-African province, which in turn is part of the larger
African massive physiographic division.
Economic importance
Although the Livingstone Falls prevent access from the sea, nearly the entire Congo is readily
navigable in sections, especially between Kinshasa and Kisangani.
Railways now bypass the three major falls, and much of the trade of central Africa passes along the river, including
copper,
palm oil (as kernels),
sugar,
coffee, and
cotton. The river is also potentially valuable for
hydroelectric power, and the
Inga Dams below Pool Malebo are first to exploit the river.
In February
2005,
South Africa's
state-owned power company,
Eskom, announced a proposal to increase the capacity of the Inga dramatically through improvements and the construction of a new
hydroelectric dam. The project would bring the maximum output of the facility to 40 GW, twice that of
China's
Three Gorges Dam.
Geological history
In the
Mesozoic before
continental drift opened the
South Atlantic Ocean, the Congo was the upper part of a river roughly 12,000 km (7,500 miles) long which flowed west across the parts of
Gondwanaland which are now
Africa and
South America: see
Longest rivers.
Tributaries
Sorted in order from the mouth heading upstream.
Literature
Although not explicitly cited, the Congo River is the location of
Joseph Conrad's novel "
Heart of Darkness" (published: 1902).
The Congo river is featured in a chapter of Michael Crichton's novel "
Congo" (published in 1980), as well as the
feature film of the same name, though it isn't mentioned by name in the film.
The Congo is also mentioned in
Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"
Further Information
Get more info on 'Congo River'.
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