The Ubangi River (; ; ; ), also spelled Oubangui, is a river in

Central Africa Central Africa (French language, French: ''Afrique centrale''; Spanish language, Spanish: ''África central''; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''África Central'') is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries accordin ...

, and the largest right-bank

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''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 into which they ...

of 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 ...

. It begins at the confluence of the

Mbomou Mbomou is one of the twenty prefectures of the Central African Republic Since 10 December 2020, The Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central ...

(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) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

(CAR) and 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 ...

(DRC). Subsequently, the Ubangi bends to the southwest and passes through

Bangui Bangui (; or Bangî in Sango language, Sango, formerly written Bangi in English) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in the Central African Republic, largest city of the Central African Republic. It was established as a Fren ...

, the capital of the CAR, after which it flows southforming the border between the DRC and the

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

. 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 in which 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, ...

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 the main source of water of Lake Chad, which is located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. Geography The Chari River flows f ...

and

Lake Chad Lake Chad (, Kanuri language, Kanuri: ''Sádǝ'', ) is an endorheic freshwater lake located at the junction of four countries: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, in western and central Africa respectively, with a catchment area in excess of . ...

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 () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

. 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 region (; ), or Sahelian acacia savanna, is a Biogeography, biogeographical region in Africa. It is the Ecotone, transition zone between the more humid Sudanian savannas to its south and the drier Sahara to the north. The Sahel has a ...

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 is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

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 Lowest points of countries