The Ubangi River (), also spelled Oubangui, is the largest right-bank

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

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 ...

in the region of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...

. It begins at the confluence of the

Mbomou :''Mbomou'' can also refer to the Mbomou River The Mbomou River or Bomu (also spelled M'bomou in French) forms part of the boundary between the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Mbomou merges wit ...

(mean annual discharge 1,350 m³/s) and

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 ...

s (mean annual discharge 1,550 m³/s) and flows west, forming the border between

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...

(CAR) and

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 ...

. Subsequently, the Ubangi bends to the southwest and passes through

Bangui Bangui () (or Bangî in Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the capital and largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a French outpost in 1889 and named after its location on the northern bank of the Ubangi ...

, the capital of the CAR, after which it flows southforming the border between Democratic Republic of the Congo and

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

. The Ubangi finally joins the Congo River at Liranga. The Ubangi's length is about . Its total length with the Uele, its longest tributary, is . The Ubangi's

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

is about
Mean annual discharge at mouth 5,936 m³/s
Its discharge at Bangui ranges from about to , with an average flow of about . It is believed that the Ubangi's upper reaches originally flowed into the

Chari River The Chari River, or Shari River, is a long river, flowing in Central Africa. It is Lake Chad's main source of water. Geography The Chari River flows from the Central African Republic through Chad into Lake Chad, following the Cameroon border f ...

and

Lake Chad Lake Chad (french: Lac Tchad) is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Central Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. According to the ''Global Resource Information Database'' of the United Nations Environment Programme, ...

before being captured by the Congo in the early Pleistocene. Together with the Congo River, it provides an important transport artery for river boats between Bangui and

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

. From its source to 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. Transaqua

Lake Chad replenishment project

In the 1960s, a plan was proposed to divert waters from the Ubangi to the

. According to the plan, named Transaqua, the water from the Ubangi would revitalize Lake Chad and provide a livelihood in fishing and enhanced agriculture to tens of millions of central Africans and

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

ians. Inter-basin water transfer schemes were proposed in the 1980s and 1990s by Nigerian engineer J.Umolu and the Italian firm Bonifica. In 1994, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) proposed a similar project, and at a March 2008 summit the

heads of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and le ...

of the LCBC member countries committed to the diversion project. In April 2008, the LCBC advertised a request for proposals for a feasibility study.

References

External links

Map showing the Ubangi Subbasin at World Resources Institute

International Commission of the Congo-Oubangui-Sangha Bassin
{{Authority control Central African Republic–Democratic Republic of the Congo border Democratic Republic of the Congo–Republic of the Congo border International rivers of Africa Border rivers Rivers of the Central African Republic Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Rivers of the Republic of the Congo Tributaries of the Congo River