Bodies of Water
The Congo River
Also Known As Zaire River The river's name from 1971 to 1997, when the country was renamed Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko; Zaire is a Portuguese adaptation of a Kikongo word for "river." The river was known internationally as the Congo throughout.
Rivers
The Congo is the second-longest river in Africa and the world's deepest river, with soundings exceeding 220 meters in places along its lower course. It is also the only major river to cross the equator twice, a path that keeps its flow unusually steady year-round since one of its basins is always in rainy season, and its enormous discharge into the Atlantic is exceeded only by the Amazon's.
Facts
Area (sq km)Area given is the river's total drainage basin. Maximum Depth (m)220 meters is the commonly cited sounding near the Malebo Pool stretch; deeper soundings have been reported and the river's full depth profile is not completely surveyed. Elevation (m)Elevation at Boyoma Falls, the conventional head of the Congo River proper below the Lualaba-Chambeshi headwaters, per the infobox own Source hierarchy. Connections
Associated With
The Congo River is the region's central watercourse and historic transport artery.
Source Central Africa (Wikipedia)
Source Lake Tanganyika (Wikipedia)
Source Congo River (Wikipedia)
Flows Through
Source Congo River (Wikipedia)
Source Congo River (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. National Geographic Atlas of the World
National Geographic Society, 2019
2. Congo River (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox, Coordinates field
6.07500S 12.45000E
Infobox, Source elevation field (Boyoma Falls confluence)
373 m (1,224 ft)
Lead section, equator crossing sentence
It is the only major river to cross the equator twice.
Flows Through: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Course description
running by Matadi and Boma, and into the sea at Muanda
Flows Through: Republic of the Congo, Course description, Pool Malebo passage
Kinshasa (formerly Leopoldville) and Brazzaville are on opposite sides of the river at the Pool
Associated With: The Atlantic Ocean, Hydrology section, sediment transport sentence
The river transports annually 86 million tonnes of suspended sediment to the Atlantic Ocean and an additional 6% of bedload.
View the Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Central Africa (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationGeography section, Congo River associated-with edgeQuote, Geography section, Congo River associated-with edge
The Congo River basin has historically been ecologically significant to the populations of Central Africa.
Lake Tanganyika (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Lake Tanganyika, Lead sectionQuote, Associated With: Lake Tanganyika, Lead section
It drains via the Lukuga River into the Congo River system, which ultimately discharges at Banana, Democratic Republic of the Congo into the Atlantic Ocean.
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