The Bima River is a river of

Bas-Uélé Bas-Uélé (French for "Lower Uélé") is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, Ituri, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the fo ...

province in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. It is a left tributary of the

Uele River The Uele, also known by the phonetically identical Uélé, Ouélé, or Welle River, is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Course The Uele forms at Dungu, at the confluence of the Dungu and Kibali rivers, which both originate ...

Course

The Bima flows through the Poko, Bambesa and Buta territories and enters the

near Malengweya. The Bima is among the most important of the tributaries of the Uele, the others being the

Uere River The Uere River, also spelled Were River is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It originates near the border with Sudan and flows west to join the Uele River The Uele, also known by the phonetically identical Uélé, Ouélé, or W ...

and the

Bomokandi River The Bomokandi River is a river in the Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The river originates in the southeast of Haut-Uélé province near Gombari, and flows in a ENE direction through Haut-Uélé and Bas-Uélé Bas-Uélé ...

. The Andu River is a large right tributary of the Bima. The Bana River is another tributary. In 1955 the west boundary of the

Bambesa Territory Bambesa is a territory of the province of Bas-Uele resulting from the dismemberment of the former Orientale province. Its administrative center is the town of Bambesa. Settlements include the town of Makongo on the Makongo River and Zobia on t ...

was defined in part by the Bima from its confluence with the Uele up to its confluence with the Andu, and then along the Bima to its intersection with the Bondo-

Mungbere Mungbere is a small town in Haut-Uele province, in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Transport It was served by the terminal of a now non-operational narrow gauge railway from Bumba, known as the Vicicongo line. See also * Li ...

railway. Diamonds have been found in association with gold in the upper part of the Bima.

Colonial era

Around November 1890 the Zanzibar Arab Mirambo arrived in the Uele region, starting from a point on the

Aruwimi River The Aruwimi River is a tributary of the Congo River, located to the north and east of the Congo.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , Vol. Two The Aruwimi begins as the Ituri River, which rises near Lake ...

upstream from

Yambuya Yambuya is a community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the Aruwimi River, roughly due north of Yangambi. The river is navigable as far as Yambuya, but is blocked by cataracts further upstream. Yambuya was made a base for the Emin Pash ...

. Passing the

Rubi River The Rubi River (french: Rivière Rubi) is a left tributary of the Itimbiri River, which forms where the Rubi joins the Likati River. Course The Rubi River originates in the southeast of the Bas-Uélé Bas-Uélé (French for "Lower Uélé") is ...

he went NNE through Bagbwe and Bayo territory, and installed himself on the Bima near the

Titulé Titulé is a village in the Bas-Uélé province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was the terminus of a branch of the defunct Vicicongo line, a railway. The town is the center of a health zone and has a general referral hospital. Locatio ...

post, having obtained the submission of the Bayo people, who supplied auxiliaries to attack the neighbouring people. He threatened the posts in the neighbouring state of Djabar from his base on the Bima. On 13 December 1890

Jules Alexandre Milz Jules Alexandre Milz (10 September 1861 – 1 October 1902) was a Belgian soldier who was active in exploring the northeast of the Congo Free State. He traveled extensively in Uele District, where he resolved the question of whether the Uele River ...

and Alphonse Vangèle took a position nearby. Mirambo attacked and was decisively defeated and forced to flee. In late October 1891 the Ababua chief Sikito defeated the trader Purukandu on the route from the Falls to the

Makongo River The Makongo River (french: Rivière Makongo) is a river of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a left tributary of the Bomokandi River, which in turn is a tributary of the Uele River. Course The Makongo flows through the province of Bas-U ...

. According to Gustave Gustin the meeting must have taken place on the upper Bima in mountainous terrain.

Citations

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT: Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo