Congo River

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Second-longest river in Africa (after the Nile), rising near the border of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (and known as the Lualaba River in the upper reaches) and flowing 4,500 km/2,800 mi to the Atlantic Ocean, running in a great curve that crosses the Equator twice, and discharging a volume of water second only to the Amazon River. The basin of the Congo occupies a vast area of 3,457,000 sq km/1,335,000 sq mi, extending to a maximum of some 1,930 km/1,200 mi from east to west, and the same distance from north to south. The chief tributaries are the Ubangi, Sangha, and Kasai.

Navigation is seriously interrupted by over 30 cataracts in the lower course and by dangerous rapids up to 160 km/100 mi long, notably from the Zambian border to Bukama; below Kongolo, where the gorge known as the Gates of Hell is located; above Kisangani, where the Boyoma Falls (Stanley Falls) are situated; and between Kinshasa and Matadi.

Boma is a large port on the estuary; Matadi is a port 80 km/50 mi from the Atlantic, for ocean-going ships; and at Malebo Pool (formerly Stanley Pool), a widening of the river 560 km/350 mi from its mouth which encloses the marshy island of Bamu, are Brazzaville on the western shore and Kinshasa on the southwestern. The Inga Dam (1976) supplies Matadi and Kinshasa with electricity.

History
The mouth of the Congo was seen by the Portuguese navigator Diego Cão in 1482, who established a settlement there. However, the vast extent of its system became known to Europeans only with the explorations of David Livingstone and Henry Stanley in the 19th century.

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