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The basin of the deepest river in the world provides food, water, medicines and transportation to about 75 million people, according to Yale University’s Global Forest Atlas.
Index
- Where does the Congo river flow through?
- How deep and how long is the Congo river?
- What are the environmental threats in the Congo river basin?
1 . Where does the Congo river flow through?
The Congo is the deepest river in the world. Its headwaters are in the north-east of Zambia, between Lake Tanganyika and Lake Nyasa (Malawi), 1760 metres above sea level; it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Congo river flows through the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, western Zambia, northern Angola, Cameroon and Tanzania. The lower course of the Congo river has large gorges and falls, which makes it one of the most dangerous rivers.
2 . How deep and how long is the Congo river?
The Congo river, formerly known as the Zaire, is the deepest river in the world: at some points the water can be up to 220 metres deep; the basin has a surface area of 3,457,000 square kilometres.
The Congo river is 4,700 kilometres long, which makes it the second longest river in Africa, the tenth longest river in the world and the second largest river by discharge volume in the world, only after the Amazon.
3 . What are the environmental threats in the Congo river basin?
One of the main threats in the Congo river basin is deforestation to accommodate modern agricultural practices; moreover, industrial logging accelerates the rate of deforestation.
The other major threat is food demand due to rapid population growth in the region, which leads to excessive hunting of wild animals such as bats, monkeys, rats and snakes.
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