facts about the congo river：Congo River

Congo River, river[1] in west-central Africa[2]. With a length of 2,900 miles (4,700 km), it is the continent’s second longest river, after the Nile[3]. It rises in the highlands of northeastern Zambia[4] between Lakes Tanganyika[5] and Nyasa[6] (Malawi) as the Chambeshi River[7] at an elevation of 5,760 feet (1,760 metres) above sea level[8] and at a distance of about 430 miles (700 km) from the Indian Ocean[9]. Its course then takes the form of a giant counterclockwise arc, flowing to the northwest, west, and southwest before draining into the Atlantic Ocean[10] at Banana[11] (Banane) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo[12]. Its drainage basin[13], covering an area of 1,335,000 square miles (3,457,000 square km), takes in almost the entire territory of that country, as well as most of the Republic of the Congo[14], the Central African Republic[15], eastern Zambia[16], and northern Angola[17] and parts of Cameroon[18] and Tanzania[19].