Ubangi River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ubangi River, also spelled Oubangi, (IPA: [juˈbæŋ.gɪ] or IPA: [uˈbaŋ.gɪ]) is a major tributary of the Congo River in Central Africa. It is considered to begin at the junction of the Mbomou and Uele Rivers, flows west for about 350 km, then bends to the southwest, passes through Bangui, then flows south for another 500 km to the Congo.

Together with the Congo River, it provides an important transport artery for river boats between Bangui and Brazzaville.

From its start to 100 km below Bangui, the Ubangi defines the boundary between the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Thereafter, it forms the boundary between the DRC and the Republic of Congo until it empties into the Congo River.

In the 1960s, a plan was proposed to divert the Ubangi into Lake Chad. The copious amount of water from the Ubangi would revitalize that dying lake and provide livelihood in fishing and enhanced agriculture to tens of millions of starving central Africans and Sahelians. The cost and the technical hurdles should be very manageable, given what it can achieve in uplifting the lot of those poorest of the African poor.

[edit] Tributaries

• Uele River

[edit] External link

• Map of the Ubangi River basin at Water Resources eAtlas
• Map showing the Ubangi Subbasin at World Resources Institute