The Congo River

The Congo river is also known as the Zaire river.It is 4700 km long, making it the second longest river in Africa and the eight longest river in the world. Its basin is the democratic republic of the Congo and it flows through republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Rwanda, Burindi and the African Republic. The mouth of the Congo river is the Atlantic Ocean, and its source is the junction of Lualaba and the rivers of Lualaba.

Every year the Congo river gets up 90 inches of rainfall. It also has withins its banks, thousands of islands and thirty waterfalls. The river flows mostly near the Equator and because of these the area around it is very hot. Most of the surrounding land is tropical rain forest, except for some of the land which is full of long grass. Many people live along the river and they also fish in it. The river is also used as a means of transport for people and goods, such as barges carrying fuel, wood, or crops up or down the river. Many people use the river as irrigation so they can water their tobacco, peanut, cotton or sugarcane crops.

The Congo river is home to many animals such as tortoises, manatees, crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, elephants, zebras, water snakes, pigs and many diferent types of fish.

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