The Uele, also known by the phonetically identical Uélé, Ouélé, or Welle River, is a river in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Course

The Uele forms at Dungu, at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Dungu and Kibali rivers, which both originate in the mountains near Lake Albert. Combined these rivers flow west for about , until the Uele joins 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 with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River. The ...

at Yakoma. Main tributaries to the Uele river are the Bomokandi River (left side) and Uere River (right side). The Uele–Mbomou confluence at Yakoma marks the origin of the

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

, which in turn flows into the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

. The Uele is the longest tributary of the Ubangi. The combined Ubangi–Uele length is about . From satellite images, parts of the river look red from the

iron oxide An iron oxide is a chemical compound composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Ferric oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of which is rust. Iron ...

contaminants in the river.

Gallery

File:Satellite Images of the Uele River.png, Aerial imagery showing the red color of the river.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Ecoregions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Tributaries of the Ubangi River