Ubundu, formerly known as Ponthierville or Ponthierstad, is a town located in the

Tshopo Tshopo is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. It is situated in the north central part of the country on the Tshopo River, for which it is named. Tshopo, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, ...

Province of 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 ...

and is the administrative center of the

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

of the same name. It is on the

Lualaba River The Lualaba River (, , ) flows entirely within the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the River source, source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi River, Chambeshi ...

, or Upper Congo, just above the

Boyoma Falls Boyoma Falls (, , ), formerly known as Stanley Falls ( French: ''Chutes Stanley''; Dutch: ''Stanleywatervallen''), is a series of seven cataracts, each no more than high, extending over more than along a curve of the Lualaba River between the ...

. As the river is not navigable from here downstream to

Kisangani Kisangani (), formerly Stanleyville (), is the capital of Tshopo, Tshopo Province, located on the Congo River in the eastern part of the central Congo Basin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the country's fifth-most populous urban a ...

, a portage railway was built to link the settlement to Kisangani. It was built and operated during the colonial era by the '' Compagnie du chemin de fer du Congo supérieur aux Grands Lacs africains'' of CFL (1902-1960) whose rail and river steamer service connected Kisangani with Katanga. Upstream from Ubundu the river is navigable as far as Kasongo. In 1951,

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...

and the crew of the film '' The African Queen'' arrived in Ubundu by train for filming in the jungle. In those days, the town was described as a "pretty colonial outpost". The area saw some of the worst fighting during the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...

. Around 2003, the town had no electricity, and very few facilities, and was considered a very dangerous place."Blood River" by Tim Butcher pages 227–230

References

Populated places in Tshopo Communes of the Democratic Republic of the Congo {{DRCongo-geo-stub

See also

References