What is the direction of the Congo River? Her mode and description

The answer to the question, in which direction the Congo River flows, should be sought in the center of the African continent. This watercourse is the first on the mainland in terms of fullness and second in length. In the world, there is only a larger drain in the Amazon. Congo was discovered by the seafarer from Portugal D. Can in 1482. This unique river differs from other great watercourses in that it crosses the equator line twice.

Direction of flow

What is the direction of the Congo River? Starting from the source, it rushes towards the north. The middle course of the river has a western direction. The last section of the route of the largest watercourse of Africa lies in the direction of the south-west.

The source of the river. Congo is located on a high plateau located in the south of the African continent. The river flows in the direction of the north until it reaches the equator. This section of the river natives named Lualaba. In the Congo equatorial region in the form of 7 waterfalls, Stanley descends from a height of 40 meters. This point is the beginning of the middle course of the river, already known as the Congo. Among the rainforests the watercourse describes a huge arc, gradually changing direction: north-west, west, south-west.

Description of the river

To answer the question, in which direction the Congo River flows, is unequivocally impossible. It is necessary to clarify a specific area or list several areas of the world. The length of the watercourse is 4700 km. The basin of the river covers an area of 3.68 million km ² . The Congo is located on the territory of two countries, and ends in the Atlantic Ocean.

1600 km of watercourse from the confluence into the ocean are passable for ships. The discharge of water in the estuary varies from 23 to 75 thousand m ³ / sec. In this place the width of the river is maximal and is 11 km, and the depth is up to 300 m.

River Regime

The regime of the Congo River is uniform, which distinguishes it from other rivers of the tropics. The reason lies in the fact that rains fall out in different parts of the basin not simultaneously. At a time when there is a drought in the northern hemisphere, heavy rain in the southern hemisphere, and vice versa. They balance the flow of water into the channel, because the Congo is on both sides of the equator. Throughout the course there are many waterfalls and rapids.

River flow

After the confluence of Chumbesi and Lualaba, the watercourse takes a calm appearance up to the town of Congolo. Passing the city, the channel passes through the rocks along the gorge, where it abounds with waterfalls and rapids. The river passes from the savanna into the rain forest. After the city of Kindu, the Congo reaches a width of 1.5 km, the current flow is quiet. The amphibious tributaries form sandbanks in the channel.

Gradually, the Congo River reaches the edge of the plateau and falls down a cascade of Stanley waterfalls. There are seven of them on the 150 km section. The most picturesque is the last one, which is divided into two parts by the island. Its height is about 3 m, however it produces a lot of foam, passing at a frenzied speed along narrow crevices between the shores and the island.

In the hollow the direction of the Congo River smoothly changes, resembling an arc. The flow becomes uniform, but strong. After entering the flat territory, the river looks like a cascade of lakes. In fact, this is a chain of pools (extensions). The width varies from 4 to 15 km. Moving lower down the flow of the Congo, you can see that the banks become more flat.

On both sides of the river there are marshy places that are flooded even with a slight increase in the water level. Starting from the town of Bolobo, the banks are getting higher, and the Congo goes to the savannah territory. The valley of the river becomes deeper and narrower. Soon the watercourse forms the system of waterfalls of Livingston. On the way to the ocean this waterway awaits a few more transformations. Answering the question, in which direction the Congo River flows, it is possible to list several of its sections indicating the sides of the world to which it carries its waters.