The Ikelemba River is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a left tributary of the
Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
.
Location
The Ikelemba River flows in an arc from east to west.
It is navigable for from Bombimba to where it enters the Congo River.
It joins the Congo from the east just north of where the
Ruki River
The Ruki is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a left tributary of the Congo River. It may be seen as the lower reach of the Busira River, which in turn may be seen as the lower reach of the Tshuapa River.
Location
The Ruki is ...
enters the Congo River.
The
Lulonga, Ikelemba and
Busira all contribute to the Mbandaka flooded forests, which cover a permanently flooded area of .
Colonial period
The explorer
Henry Morton Stanley
Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa
Cen ...
visited the region.
He wrote that the Ikelemba entered the Congo about above the Mohindu or Buruki River (
Ruki River
The Ruki is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a left tributary of the Congo River. It may be seen as the lower reach of the Busira River, which in turn may be seen as the lower reach of the Tshuapa River.
Location
The Ruki is ...
).
He estimated it would provide of river course accessible to trade, and said it was the commercial reserve of the Bakuti tribe.
The river was about wide, and had black waters.
Stanley speculated that the Ikelemba, Lulungu (
Lulonga River
The Lulonga is a river in the Equateur province of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is about 200 km long from its beginning at the town of Basankusu. The Lopori and the Maringa join to form the Lulonga there. The Lulonga River flows in ...
) and Mohindu might be connected by a system of channels running through a low jungly forest.
The Ikelemba company was founded in the
Congo Free State
''(Work and Progress)
, national_anthem = Vers l'avenir
, capital = Vivi Boma
, currency = Congo Free State franc
, religion = Catholicism (''de facto'')
, leader1 = Leopo ...
on 29 October 1898 to exploit the Ikelemba River, with a capital of 500,000 francs.
In the first two years the comnpany harvested about 5 tonnes of rubber each month, and cleared to plant coffee, cocoa and rubber trees.
After this results were poorer, and the company suffered from the fall in rubber prices.
In 1910 all of the company's assets were transferred to the newly formed Société Equatoriale Congolaise Lulonga-Ikelemba.
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:
Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo