Prelims ask
Equator twice. Atlantic. Deepest. Two countries named Congo.
Africa
Congo
Second by discharge after the Amazon. Deepest river on Earth.
- Source
- Lualaba headwaters on the Zambia–DRC plateau. Lake Tanganyika can overflow to the Lualaba via the Lukuga, but the exam source is the highland headstream, not the lake as a simple origin.
- Countries
- Main stem: Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. The basin also takes Angola, Zambia and the Central African Republic.
- Direction
- A great bend: north, west, then southwest.
- Mouth
- Atlantic Ocean.
- Length
- About 4,700 km.
- Major tributaries
- Ubangi, Kasai, Lualaba.
- Delta or estuary
- Estuary with a submarine canyon. Not a large surface delta.
- Basin
- Second-largest rainforest basin. Inga is the great hydropower site.
- One exam fact
- The only major river that crosses the equator twice.
Mains use
Equatorial discharge giant. Use against the Nile when the question is volume, gradient or equator.