Over 107 people have died following a whaleboat fire on the Congo River recently.<\/span><\/p>\n
About Congo River<\/b><\/h2>\n
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The Congo River, or <\/span>Zaire River<\/b>, is a river in <\/span>west-central Africa.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n
With a length of<\/span> 2,900 miles (4,700 km)<\/b>, it is the <\/span>continent\u2019s second longest river, after<\/b> the <\/span>Nile<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
It is also the <\/span>world\u2019s second-largest river by discharge volume after <\/b>the <\/span>Amazon <\/b>River.<\/span><\/li>\n
It is also the <\/span>world\u2019s deepest river, <\/b>with a maximum depth of 720 feet (220m), too deep for light to penetrate.<\/span><\/li>\n
It is the <\/span>only major river<\/b> that <\/span>crosses the Equator twice.<\/b><\/li>\n
Course<\/b>:<\/span>\n
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Origin<\/b>: It rises in the <\/span>highlands of northeastern Zambia between Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa (Malawi) as <\/b>the <\/span>Chambeshi River <\/b>at an elevation of 5,760 feet (1,760 metres) above sea level.<\/span><\/li>\n
Its course then takes the form of a giant counterclockwise arc, flowing to the northwest, west, and southwest before <\/span>draining into the Atlantic Ocean<\/b> at Banana<\/b> (Banane) <\/span>in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/b><\/li>\n
It also <\/span>empties water<\/b> and sediment into<\/span> one of the largest carbon sinks in the world, the Congo Plume in the Atlantic.<\/b><\/li>\n
The <\/span>riverbed continues offshore<\/b> with an <\/span>800 km-long submarine canyon<\/b> that reaches a depth of 1,220 m.<\/span><\/li>\n
The Congo River system <\/span>runs through the Republic of the Congo<\/b>, the <\/span>Democratic Republic of the Congo,<\/b> the <\/span>Central African Republic<\/b>, western <\/span>Zambia<\/b>, <\/span>northern Angola,<\/b> and parts of <\/span>Cameroon and Tanzania.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
Its drainage basin covers an area of 1,335,000 square miles (3,457,000 square km). It\u2019s the <\/span>world\u2019s second-largest river basin, after the Amazon <\/b>River Basin.<\/span><\/li>\n
The basin is <\/span>bordered by<\/b> the <\/span>Sahara Desert to the north,<\/b> the <\/span>Atlantic Ocean<\/b> to the south and west, and the <\/span>East African lake<\/b>s region to the east.<\/span><\/li>\n
Because the river\u2019s<\/span> many large tributaries<\/b> (including the <\/span>Lomami, Kasai, Lulonga, Ubangi, Aruwimi, Itimbiri, and Mongala<\/b> rivers) <\/span>drain areas with rainy seasons <\/b>that <\/span>alternate on either side of the equato<\/b>r, the <\/span>Congo <\/b>has a <\/span>fairly constant flow of water throughout the year.\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n
The <\/span>mix of equatorial climate and massive water sourc<\/b>e provided by the river provides the perfect ingredients for the s<\/span>econd-largest tropical rainforest in the world<\/b>, the <\/span>Congo Basin rainforest. <\/b><\/li>\n
The Congo is easily navigable for most of its length,<\/b> and much of the trade of Central Africa passes along it.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n