People are accustomed to being interested in the depth of lakes and seas, and for some reason everyone is only interested in the length of rivers. Let's break the stereotype, find out which river is the deepest …
The deepest river is …
Congo, she is Zaire, she is Lualaba. The maximum depth of this river is approximately 230 meters, which is one and a half times the depth of the deepest river in the world - the Amazon, the maximum depth of which is only about 150 meters.
In general, this river is remarkable in many ways. For example, it has a powerful hydropower potential, which is due, firstly, to its abundance, and secondly, to the fall of the channel (the presence of a slope) almost throughout its entire length. Among its unique features is the fact that it is the only one in the world. a river crossing the equator twice.
The length of the Congo River is 4,700 kilometers, it flows on the territory of two states: mainly the Republic of the Congo, and partly along the border of the Republic of the Congo with Angola. Zaire is a breadbasket for people inhabiting its shores, being the most important transport artery and a source of water for irrigating agricultural lands.
Economic significance of the Congo River
The total length of the navigable part of the river, all its branches and tributaries is about 20 thousand kilometers. This circumstance, along with the extremely deep channel, turns Zaire into a navigable river, moreover, into one of the two largest transport arteries in Africa.
The river basin is extremely saturated with hydroelectric power plants, their total number exceeds 40, which allows Congo to rightfully be called the energy center of the Republic of the Congo. The energy reserves of this river are estimated at 390 GW! In other words, the once wilderness is turning into an industrial region.
Exploration of the Congo River
The current state of affairs is especially impressive if we recall how the situation in this region developed at the end of the nineteenth century. Even the brave David Livingston, impressed by rumors about the tribes of terrible cannibals inhabiting the mouth of the Zaire River, refused to study it. It was not possible to overcome the river rapids by water, the path on dry land, bypassing, threatened with terrible death, so Livingstone's expedition was not crowned with success. Unlike the expedition of Henry Morton Stanley, who dared to explore the Congo and brought a lot of valuable information to geography.
Summing up: the Congo River is one of the wonders of nature, and it is remarkable not only for its depth.
