The Natural History Of The Congo River

Congo River, was born several years ago during the Pleistocene.

The formation of the Congo could lead to allopatric speciation of the bonobo and the chimpanzee in their most recent common ancestor. The bonobo is endemic in the forests of the region, such as the emblematic species like the monkey other wetlands Allen, Dryas monkey, genet water, the okapi and the Congo peacock.

As for the aquatic life, the Congo Basin has a very high species richness, and among the highest concentrations of endemic species known. To date, about 700 fish species were recorded in the Congo Basin, and much remains virtually unstudied. With this and the great ecological differences between regions of the basin, often divided into several ecoregions (instead of being treated as a single ecoregion). Among these ecoregions, Lower Congo Rapids alone has over 300 species of fish, including about 80 endemic species, while the south-west (Kasai Basin) has only about 200 species of fish, about a quarter are endemic . In dominant fish families, at least in some parts of the river are cyprinids (Cyprinidae), Mormyridae (elephantfishes) Alestidae (African tetras) Mochokidae (catfish pouet) and Cichlidae (cichlids). Among the native fish of the river is very large carnivorous giant tiger.

Two rare endemic cichlids are light (not pigmented) and a blind lethops Lamprologus, which is believed to live as deep as 160 meters (520 ft) below the surface, and multidens Heterochromis, which seems to be closely linked to the cichlids of the Americas than in other African cichlids. There are also a number of endemic frogs and snails. Several hydroelectric dams are planned river, and these can lead to the extinction of many endemic species.

Several species of turtles, and the gharial, the Nile and the dwarf crocodile is from the Congo Basin.

The Economic Importance Of The Congo River

Although Livingstone Falls prevent access from the sea, most of the easily navigable sections of the Congo, especially between Kinshasa and Kisangani. Large river steamers worked the river until recently. The Congo is still standing land without roads or railways.

See Congo River Steamers

Railways now bypass the three fall, and many exchanges in Central Africa walk along the river, including copper, palm oil (as kernels), sugar, coffee and cotton. The river is also potentially valuable for hydroelectric power and dams Inga below Pool Malebo is the first to exploit the Congo River.

 

Hydroelectric

Congo River is the most powerful river in Africa. During the rainy season more than 50,000 cubic meters of water per second flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Opportunities for the Congo River and its tributaries, to raise a huge hydroelectric power. Scientists have calculated that the entire Congo Basin Thirteen percent share of the hydroelectric potential of the world. This would provide enough power for all sub-Saharan Africa needs electricity.

Currently, about forty hydroelectric plants in the Congo Basin. More spectacular is Inga Falls, about 200 km southwest of Kinshasa. Inga influential project was launched in early 1970 to build the first dam. Four additional dams and the construction of a gigantic dam would have a capacity of 34 500 MW, which is almost three times larger than all existing plants in Belgium together. So far, only two dams were built by Inga I and Inga II, consisting of two turbines pm.

In February 2005, the South African society of public authority, Eskom, announced a proposal to increase the capacity of Inga much to improve and build a new hydroelectric dam. The project would bring the full power of the installation of 40 GW, or twice that of China Three Gorges.

It is feared that these new hydroelectric dams can lead to the extinction of many species that are endemic to river.

Congo River

The Congo River (also known as Zaire River) is a river in Africa, and is the world's deepest river, with a measured depth of 230 m beyond (750 feet). It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, but only one fifth of the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon. In addition, the total length of 4700 km (2,920 miles) makes it the longest river in the ninth.

Its catchment area covers 4014500 km square (1.55 million square miles). Congo, the discharge of his mouth varies from 23 000 cubic meters per second (810,000 cu ft / sec) 75 000 cubic meters per second (2.6 million cu ft / sec), with an average of 41 000 cubic meters per second (1.4 million cu ft / s).

The river and its tributaries across the Congo rainforest, the second largest rainforest in the world, surpassed only by the Amazon in South America. The river also flows the second largest in the world, behind the Amazon, the drainage area of ​​a third river, behind the Amazon and the Rio Plata River, and is one of the deepest rivers in the world, at depths exceeding 230 m (750 ft.) Because large parts of the river system above and below the equator, its flow is stable, because there is always at least one section of the river is experiencing a rainy season.

The Congo gets its name from the ancient kingdom of Kongo, who inhabited the land in the river mouth. Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo, two countries located along the banks of the river bearing his name. Between 1971 and 1997, the government of Zaire, known as the Zaire River.

Sources of Congo are the highlands and mountains of the East African Rift and Lake Tanganyika and Lake Mweru, which feed the river Lualaba, which then becomes the Congo below Boyoma Falls. Chambeshi River in Zambia is generally regarded as the source of the Congo, in accordance with accepted practice around the world use the longest side of the river, like the river Nile.

The Congo flows generally north of Kisangani just below the Boyoma falls, then gradually bends southwest, passing by Mbandaka, joining with the Ubangi River, and run in the Pool Malebo (Stanley Pool). Kinshasa (formerly Leopoldville) and Brazzaville are on opposite sides of the river to the pool where the river narrows and falls through a series of cataracts in deep canyons (collectively known as the Livingstone Falls), running in Matadi and Boma, and at sea in the small town of Muanda.

The Congo Basin is one of the physiographic sections of the largest province in mid-Africa, which in turn is part of the great physiographic division of the mass of Africans.