Ground transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has always been difficult. The terrain and climate of the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin (french: Bassin du Congo) is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It con ...

present serious barriers to road and rail construction, and the distances are enormous across this vast country. Furthermore, chronic economic mismanagement and internal conflict has led to serious under-investment over many years. On the other hand, the

DRC 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 ...

has thousands of kilometres of

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against di ...

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...

s, and traditionally water transport has been the dominant means of moving around approximately two-thirds of the country.

Transport problems

As an illustration of transport difficulties in the DRC, even before wars damaged the infrastructure, the so-called "national" route, used to get supplies to

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pro ...

from the seaport of

Matadi Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...

, consisted of the following: *Matadi to

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one of ...

– rail *Kinshasa to

Kisangani Kisangani (formerly Stanleyville or Stanleystad) is the capital of Tshopo province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the fifth most populous urban area in the country, with an estimated population of 1,312,000 in 2021, and the larg ...

–

river boat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

*Kisangani to

Ubundu Ubundu, formerly known as Ponthierville or Ponthierstad, is a town located in the Tshopo Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the administrative center of the territory of the same name. It is on the Lualaba River, or Upper Congo ...

– rail *Ubundu to

Kindu Kindu is a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the capital of Maniema province. It has a population of about 200,000 and is situated on the Lualaba River at an altitude of about 500 metres, and is about 400 km west of Bukavu. Kindu ...

– river boat *Kindu to

Kalemie Kalemie, formerly Albertville or Albertstad, is a town on the western shore of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is next to the outflow of the Lukuga River from Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River. History From 18 ...

– rail *Kalemie to Kalundu (the lake port at

Uvira Uvira is a city in the South Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Uvira is a Roman Catholic diocese, a suffragan of the archdiocese of Bukavu. Geography It is located at the extreme north end of Lake Tanganyika. Kalundu is a lake p ...

) – boat on

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. T ...

*Kalundu to Bukavu – road In other words, goods had to be loaded and unloaded eight times and the total journey would take many months. Stuck with the truck

Many of the routes listed below are in poor condition and may be operating at only a fraction of their original capacity (if at all), despite recent attempts to make improvements. Up to 2006 the

United Nations Joint Logistics Centre The United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) was created to optimise and complement the logistics capabilities of cooperating agencies within a well-defined crisis area for the benefit of the ongoing humanitarian operation. In 2005 the UNJLC wa ...

(UNJLC) had an operation in Congo to support

humanitarian relief Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

agencies working there, and its bulletins and maps about the transport situation are archived on

ReliefWeb ReliefWeb is a humanitarian information portal founded in 1996. The portal now hosts more than 720,000 humanitarian situation reports, press releases, evaluations, guidelines, assessments, maps and infographics. The portal is an independent veh ...

. The First and

Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...

s saw great destruction of transport infrastructure from which the country has not yet recovered. Many vehicles were destroyed or commandeered by

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

s, especially in the north and east of the country, and the fuel supply system was also badly affected. Consequently, outside of

and

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi (former names: (French), ( Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katan ...

, private and commercial road transport is almost non-existent and traffic is scarce even where roads are in good condition. The few vehicles in use outside these cities are run by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, aid agencies, the DRC government, and a few larger companies such as those in the mining and energy sectors. High-resolution satellite photos on the Internet show large cities such as

Butembo Butembo is a city in North Kivu, in the north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, lying west of the Virunga National Park. The city is an important commercial centre with large markets, a cathedral, multiple large hospitals, and an airport. The ...

and Kikwit virtually devoid of traffic, compared to similar photos of towns in neighbouring countries. Air transport is the only effective means of moving between many places within the country. The Congolese government, the United Nations, aid organisations and large companies use air rather than ground transport to move personnel and freight. The UN operates a large fleet of aircraft and helicopters, and compared to other African countries the DRC has a large number of small domestic airlines and air charter companies. The transport (and smuggling) of minerals with a high value for weight is also carried out by air, and in the east, some stretches of paved road isolated by destroyed bridges or impassable sections have been turned into airstrips. For the ordinary citizen though, especially in rural areas, often the only options are to cycle, walk or go by dugout canoe. Some parts of the DRC are more accessible from neighbouring countries than from

. For example, Bukavu itself and

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the ...

and other north-eastern towns are linked by paved road from the DRC border to the

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

n port of

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town ...

, and most goods for these cities have been brought via this route in recent years. Similarly,

and the rest of

Katanga Province Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba, ...

is linked to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

, through which the paved highway and rail networks of Southern Africa can be accessed. Such links through neighbouring countries are generally more important for the east and south-east of the country, and are more heavily used, than surface links to the capital.

Major infrastructure programs

In 2007

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

agreed to lend the DRC US$5bn for two major transport infrastructure projects to link mineral-rich Katanga, specifically Lubumbashi, by rail to an ocean port (

) and by road to the Kisangani river port, and to improve its links to the transport network of Southern Africa in Zambia. The two projects would also link the major parts of the country not served by water transport, and the main centres of the economy. Loan repayments will be from concessions for raw materials which China desperately needs: copper, cobalt, gold and nickel, as well as by toll revenues from the road and railway. In the face of reluctance by the international business community to invest in DRC, this represents a revitalisation of DRC's infrastructure much needed by its government. The

China Railway Seventh Group Co. Ltd The China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) is a subsidiary of the construction conglomerate, China Railway Group Limited (China Railway Engineering Corporation). International projects In overseas projects, the company has operations in Africa and Sau ...

will be in charge of the contract, under signed by the

China Railway Engineering Corporation The China Railway Engineering Corporation (CRECG) is a state-owned holding company of China, which is under the supervision of the State Council. The company is the major shareholder of China Railway Group Limited (CREC), its subsidiary. Hist ...

, with construction to be started from June 2008.

Railways

Highways

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has fewer all-weather paved highways than any country of its population and size in Africa — a total of 2250 km, of which only 1226 km is in good condition (see below). To put this in perspective, the road distance across the country in any direction is more than 2500 km (e.g. Matadi to Lubumbashi, 2700 km by road). The figure of 2250 km converts to 35 km of paved road per 1,000,000 of population. Comparative figures for Zambia and Botswana are 721 km and 3427 km respectively.

Inventory

The total road network in 2005, according to the UNJLC, consisted of: *''paved:'' 2,801 km *''unpaved:'' 15,000 km *''tracks'' 43,000 km *''country roads'' 21,000 km *''local roads or footpaths'' 90,000 km *''total:'' 171,250 km The UNJLC also points out that the pre-

network no longer exists, and is dependent upon 20,000

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

s and 325

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

, most of which are in need of repair or replacement. In contrast, a Democratic Republic of the Congo government document shows that, also in 2005, the network of main highways in good condition was as follows: * ''paved: 1,226 km'' *''unpaved: 607 km'' The 2000 Michelin ''Motoring and Tourist Map 955 of Southern and Central Africa'', which categorizes roads as "surfaced", "improved" (generally unsurfaced but with gravel added and graded), "partially improved" and "earth roads" and "tracks" shows that there were 2694 km of paved highway in 2000. These figures indicate that, compared to the more recent figures above, there has been a deterioration this decade, rather than improvement.

International highways

Three routes in the

Trans-African Highway network The Trans-African Highway network comprises transcontinental road projects in Africa being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union in conjunction with re ...

pass through DR Congo: * Tripoli-Cape Town Highway: this route crosses the western extremity of the country on National Road No. 1 between Kinshasa and

, a distance of 285 km on one of the only paved sections in fair condition. * Lagos-Mombasa Highway: the DR Congo is the main missing link in this east–west highway and requires a new road to be constructed before it can function. * Beira-Lobito Highway: this east–west highway crosses Katanga and requires re-construction over most of its length, being an earth track between the

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

n border and

Kolwezi Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plant ...

, a paved road in very poor condition between Kolwezi and

, and a paved road in fair condition over the short distance to the

n border.

Waterways

The DRC has more navigable rivers and moves more passengers and goods by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

and

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

than any other country in Africa. Kinshasa, with 7 km of river frontage occupied by

wharf A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths ( mooring locati ...

s and jetties, is the largest inland waterways port on the continent. However, much of the infrastructure — vessels and port handling facilities — has, like the railways, suffered from poor maintenance and internal conflict. The total length of waterways is estimated at 16,238 km including 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 discharg ...

, its tributaries, and unconnected

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s. The 1000-kilometre Kinshasa-

route on the Congo River is the longest and best-known. It is operated by river tugs pushing several barges lashed together, and for the hundreds of passengers and traders these function like small floating towns. Rather than mooring at riverside communities along the route, traders come out by canoe and small boat alongside the river barges and transfer goods on the move. Most waterway routes do not operate to regular schedules. It is common for an operator to moor a barge at a riverside town and collect freight and passengers over a period of weeks before hiring a river tug to tow or push the barge to its destination.
Description of Inland Waterways in the Congo from the UN Joint Logistics Centre

International links via inland waterways

* Kinshasa is linked to

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-CL ...

(

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 ...

) by regular boat and ferry services 3.5 km across the Congo River. * Kinshasa and other river ports via the

Ubangui River The Ubangi River (), also spelled Oubangui, is the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River in the region of Central Africa. It begins at the confluence of the Mbomou (mean annual discharge 1,350 m3/s) and Uele Rivers (mean annual discharge ...

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 Uban ...

(

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 ...

). * Goma and Bukavu on

Lake Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes. It lies on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, and is in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Lake Kivu empties into the Ruzizi River, whic ...

Gisenyi Gisenyi, historically rendered as Kisenyi, is a city in Rubavu district in Rwanda's Western Province. Gisenyi is contiguous with Goma, the city across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Overview The city features a resort on t ...

, Kibuye and

Cyangugu Cyangugu (formerly Shangugu) is a city and capital of the Rusizi District in Western Province, Rwanda. The city lies at the southern end of Lake Kivu, and is contiguous with Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, but separated from it by th ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. * Kalemie, Kulundu-Uvira and Moba on Lake Tanganyika to Kigoma (Tanzania), Bujumbura (Burundi) and Mpulungu (Zambia). *

Kasenga Kasenga is a town in Kasenga territory of Haut-Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in south of Lake Mweru, approximately north-east of Lubumbashi., near the border with Zambia Zambia (), officially t ...

and

Pweto Pweto is a town in the Haut-Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the administrative center of Pweto Territory. The town was the scene of a decisive battle in December 2000 during the Second Congo War which resulted ...

on the

Luapula River The Luapula River is a section of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. It is a transnational river forming for nearly all its length part of the border between Zambia and the DR Congo. It joins Lake Bangweulu (wholly in Zambia) to Lake ...

Lake Mweru Lake Mweru (also spelled ''Mwelu'', ''Mwero'') is a freshwater lake on the longest arm of Africa's second-longest river, the Congo. Located on the border between Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, it makes up of the total length of th ...

system to

Nchelenge Nchelenge is a town in the Luapula Province of northern Zambia, lying on the south eastern shore of Lake Mweru. It is contiguous with Kashikishi, and they are sometimes referred to as Nchelenge-Kashikishi. Nchelenge is the administrative centre ...

Kashikishi Kashikishi is a town on the south-eastern shore of Lake Mweru in the Luapula Province of Zambia. It lies just north of the district headquarters Nchelenge, and close enough for them to be considered twin towns; they are sometimes referred to as Nc ...

and Kashiba in

. * Lake Albert: two small ports on the DRC side, Kisenye near

Bunia Bunia is the capital city of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was part of the Orientale Province until that province's dissolution. It lies at an elevation of on a plateau about west of Lake Albert in the Alb ...

and Mahadi-Port in the north can link to

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

n ports at

Butiaba Butiaba, is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is a fishing town and landing site on the shores of Lake Albert, in Uganda. Location Butiaba is located on the eastern shores of Lake Albert, in Buliisa District, in the Bunyoro sub-re ...

and

Pakwach Pakwach is a town in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the main commercial, political and administrative center of Pakwach District. Location Pakwach is in Pakwach District, West Nile sub-region. It is approximately , by road, east of Nebbi, ...

(served by Uganda Railways) on the

Albert Nile The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color ...

, which is navigable as far as

Nimule Nimule is a city in the southern part of South Sudan in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria. It lies approximately , by road, southeast of Juba, the capital of South Sudan and largest city in the country. The town also lies approximately , by road, n ...

in southern

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. Water transport is conducted principally in small craft, and commercial water transport is relatively absent. *

Lake Edward Lake Edward (locally Rwitanzigye or Rweru) is one of the smaller African Great Lakes. It is located in the Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift, on the border between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, ...

: located within national parks, settlements are small, water transport is conducted principally in small craft, commercial water transport is absent.

Domestic links via inland waterways

The middle Congo River and its tributaries from the east are the principal domestic waterways in the DRC. The two principal river routes are: *Kinshasa to Mbandaka and Kisangani on the

River Congo 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 ...

*Kinshasa to Ilebo on the

Kasai River The Kasai River ( ; called Cassai in Angola) is a tributary (left side) of the Congo River, located in Central Africa. The river begins in central Angola and flows to the east until it reaches the border between Angola and the Democratic Repub ...

See the diagrammatic transport map above for other river waterways. The most-used domestic lake waterways are: *Kalemie to Kalundu-Uvira on Lake Tanganyika *Bukavu to Goma on Lake Kivu *

Fimi River The Fimi River is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It flows from Lake Mai-Ndombe to the Kasai River, which in turn empties into the Congo. One of the Fimi's tributaries is the Lukenie River The Lukenie River is a river in the ...

Inongo Inongo is the capital of Mai-Ndombe Province in the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of 2009 it had an estimated population of 45,159. Transport The town is served by Inongo Airport Inongo Airport is an airstrip servi ...

Lake Mai-Ndombe Lake Mai-Ndombe (french: Lac Mai-Ndombe) is a large freshwater lake in Mai-Ndombe province in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lake is within the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, the largest Wetland of International Importance recognized ...

*Irebu on the Congo to Bikoro on Lake Tumba *Kasenga to Pweto on the Luapula-Mweru system *Kisenye to Mahadi-Port on Lake Albert. Most large Congo river ferry boats were destroyed during the civil war. Only smaller boats are running and they are irregular.

Ports and harbors

Atlantic Ocean

- largest port, and

railhead In the UK, railheading refers to the practice of travelling further than necessary to reach a rail service, typically by car. The phenomenon is common among commuters seeking a more convenient journey. Reasons for railheading include, but are ...

for portage railway to Kinshasa - draft: 6.4 m *

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...

oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, and from which these products are transported to end users or other stor ...

for pipeline to Kinshasa * Boma - second-largest port

Inland river ports

* Bumba *

Ilebo Ilebo, formerly known as Port-Francqui, is a town in Kasai province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, lying at the highest navigable point of the Kasaï River. It is an important transport hub for ferries to Kinshasa and trains to Lubumbashi. ...

- railhead *

Mbandaka Mbandaka (, formerly known as Coquilhatville in French, or Coquilhatstad in Dutch) is a city on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the confluence of the Congo and Ruki rivers. It is the capital of Équateur Provin ...

* N'dangi - former military harbor

Lake Tanganyika

* Kalundu-Uvira *

Moba Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that i ...

Lake Kivu

* Idjwi *

Pipelines

petroleum products 390 km

Merchant marine

1 petroleum tankerThe World Factbook: "Democratic Republic of the Congo".
CIA. Retrieved 22 May 2007.

Airports

Due to the lack of roads, operating railroads and ferry transportation many people traveling around the country fly on aircraft. As of 2016 the country does not have an international passenger airline and relies on foreign-based airlines for international connections.

Congo Airways Congo Airways S.A. is the state-owned flag carrier airline of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). With a paid-up capital of US$90 million, it started operations on 20 October 2015. History Congo Airways was created on 15 August ...

provides domestic flights and are based at Kinshasa's

N'djili Airport N'djili Airport (french: Aéroport de N'djili ), also known as N'Djili International Airport and Kinshasa International Airport, serves the city of Kinshasa and is the largest of the four international airports in the Democratic Republic of th ...

which serves as the country's main international airport. Lubumbashi International Airport in the country's south-east is also serviced by several international airlines.

Airports - with paved runways

''total:'' 24
''over 3,047 m:'' 4
''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 2
''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 16
''914 to 1,523 m:'' 2 (2002 est.)

Airports - with unpaved runways

''total:'' 205
''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 19
''914 to 1,523 m:'' 95
''under 914 m:'' 91 (2002 est.)

Transport safety and incidents

All air carriers certified by the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been banned from operating at airports in the European Community by the European Commission because of inadequate safety standards.

2010

Kasai River disaster On 29 July 2010, an overloaded passenger ferry capsized on the Kasai River in Bandundu province, east of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At least 80 people were confirmed to have died, with other accounts putting this figur ...

. A passenger ferry capsized on the

in July with at least 80 dead.

2008

2008 Hewa Bora Airways crash On 15 April 2008, Hewa Bora Airways Flight 122, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-51 plane crashed into a residential and market area of Goma of the Democratic Republic of the Congo immediately south of Goma International Airport. Background The easter ...

- April 15 plane crash killed at least 18 people after taking off from the

Goma International Airport Goma International Airport is an airport serving Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa. History Initially built with a paved 3000 m runway and a large terminal and apron, the airport has not recovered from the 2 ...

, tearing the roofs off houses as it plowed through a densely populated marketplace near the runway.

2007

* August 1 train derailment killed 100, many riding on roof.

2005

* Kindu rail accident, on November 29, at least 60 people were killed

Rocketry

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 ...

has a

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

ry program called

Troposphere The troposphere is the first and lowest layer of the atmosphere of the Earth, and contains 75% of the total mass of the planetary atmosphere, 99% of the total mass of water vapour and aerosols, and is where most weather phenomena occur. Fro ...

References

External links

"Congo Road Trip"
''PRI's The World'', November 25, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Transport In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo