CONGO
RIVER - GEOGRAPHY
News: Hundreds dead as Congo River basin submerged by generational floods
What's in the news?
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The Congo River has risen
to its highest level in more than 60
years, causing flooding throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
and Congo Republic that has killed more than 300 people over the past months,
according to authorities.
Congo river:
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The Congo River, also
referred to as the Zaire River, is
situated in west-central Africa.
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Spanning a length of
2,900 miles (4,700 km), it holds the position of the continent's second-longest
river, following the Nile, and ranks as the ninth-longest globally.
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The river derives its
name from the ancient Kongo Kingdom near its mouth.
Basin Countries:
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The expansive Congo River
system traverses the Republic of the
Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic,
western Zambia, northern Angola, and sections of Cameroon and Tanzania.
Course of River:
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In terms of its course,
the river originates in the highlands of northeastern Zambia between Lakes
Tanganyika and Nyasa (Malawi) as the Chambeshi River, starting at an elevation
of 5,760 feet (1,760 meters).
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It then follows a vast
counterclockwise arc, flowing northwest, west, and southwest, ultimately
emptying into the Atlantic Ocean at Banana (Banane) in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo.
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The river's trajectory
through the rainforest leads it to cross
the equator twice.
Features:
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Distinguished as the world's deepest river, the Congo River
reaches depths exceeding 750 feet (230 meters).
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It possesses the second-largest flow globally, discharging
1.5 million cubic feet of water per second, second only to the Amazon.
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The river boasts the second-largest watershed of any river, draining
an extensive area of 3.7 million square kilometers (1.4 million square miles)
known as the Congo Basin.
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The Congo Basin
encompasses diverse landscapes, including rich tropical rainforests and swamps,
constituting the majority of Central Africa's rainforest.
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This region, totaling 178
million hectares as of 2005, represents the world's second-largest rainforest,
trailing only the Amazon Rainforest in South America.
Tributaries:
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Key tributaries of the
Congo River include the Ubangi, Sangha,
and Kasai.