The Central African Republic is a landlocked nation within the interior of the African continent. It is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. Much of the country consists of flat, or rolling plateau savanna, about 1,640 feet (500 m) above sea level. In the northeast are the Fertit Hills, and there are scattered hills in the southwestern part of the country. To the northwest is the Karre Mountains, a granite plateau with an altitude of 3,750 feet (1,143 m).
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the largest country of sub-Saharan Africa, occupying some 2,344,858 square kilometres (905,355 sq mi). Most of the country lies within the vast hollow of the Congo River basin. The vast, low-lying central area is a plateau-shaped basin sloping toward the west, covered by tropical rainforest and criss-crossed by rivers. The forest center is surrounded by mountainous terraces in the west, plateaus merging into savannas in the south and southwest. Dense grasslands extend beyond the Congo River in the north. High mountains of the Ruwenzori Range are found on the eastern borders with Rwanda and Uganda.
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 and Uele Rivers and flows west, forming the border between Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Subsequently, the Ubangi bends to the southwest and passes through Bangui, the capital of the CAR, after which it flows south – forming the border between the DRC and the Republic of the Congo. The Ubangi finally joins the Congo River at Liranga.
The Uele, also known by the phonetically identical Uélé, Ouélé, or Welle River, is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ubangi-Shari was a French colony in central Africa, a part of French Equatorial Africa. It was named after the Ubangi and Chari rivers along which it was colonised. It was established on 29 December 1903, from the Upper Ubangi and Upper Shari territories of the French Congo; renamed the Central African Republic (CAR) on 1 December 1958; and received independence on 13 August 1960.
Bili, which is about 200 km east of Bondo and 250 km north of Buta, is a city in the Bas-Uélé District in the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. It lies along the Bili river, a tributary of the Ubangi river. It lies 50 km south of the Mbomou river, which forms the border with the Central African Republic. It is situated to the north of the Uélé river. The town has existed since at least 1908. It sits on land covered in marshlands, swamps and savannah, with patches of forest, while to the south of the Uélé lies dense unbroken rainforest. The local populace of the greater area are Azande. In 2005, a Time reporter found the region was highly undeveloped due to war and neglect. Bicycles were the main mode of transport at the time. Gold was found in the region, attracting many prospectors in 2006–2007.
Bili-Uere Hunting Reserve is a hunting reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, covering 32,748.38 km2 (12,644.22 sq mi). It is bounded on the north by Bomu Hunting Reserve, Bomu Wildlife Reserve, and the Mbomou River, which forms the border with the Central African Republic.
The Bomu Hunting Reserve is a hunting reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reserve covers an area of 4,125.6 km2. It is bounded by the Mbomou River on the north, which forms the border with the Central African Republic. It adjoins Bili-Uere Hunting Reserve to the south.
Yakoma is a town in the Nord-Ubangi province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and is the headquarters of the Yakoma Territory.
The Congo–Nile Divide or the Nile–Congo Watershed is the continental divide that separates the drainage basins of the Congo and Nile rivers. It is about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) long.
Bas-Uele District was a district of the Belgian Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was formed from part of Uele District in 1912 and was later merged into Uele District, then split out again. There were various boundary changes. It roughly corresponded in area to the present Bas-Uélé province.
The geology of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely old, on the order of several billion years for many rocks. The country spans the Congo Craton: a stable section of ancient continental crust, deformed and influenced by several different mountain building orogeny events, sedimentation, volcanism and the geologically recent effects of the East African Rift System in the east. The country's complicated tectonic past have yielded large deposits of gold, diamonds, coltan and other valuable minerals.
The Central African Republic–Democratic Republic of the Congo border is 1,747 km in length and runs from the tripoint with the Republic of the Congo in the west to the tripoint with South Sudan in the east.
Uele District was a district of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It roughly corresponded to the current provinces of Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé.
The Mbari River is a river of the Central African Republic. It is a right tributary of the Mbomou River not far to the north of where the Mbomou joins the Uele River to form the Ubangi River.
The Chinko River is a river of the Central African Republic. It is a right tributary of the Mbomou River.
Léon-Charles-Édouard Hanolet was a Belgian soldier, explorer and colonial administrator. He is known for his explorations in 1894–1895 in what is now the Central African Republic, which led to an agreement between France and Belgium that the Ubangi-Mbomou rivers would form the boundary between their territories. He defended the Lado Enclave against the retreating Mahdist forces in 1898.
Georges-Edouard le Marinel was a Belgian soldier, engineer, explorer and colonial administrator. He is known for leading explorations of the country around the Ubangi River and Mbomou River, which later became the boundaries between French and Belgian territory.
The Bomu Wildlife Reserve is a wildlife reserve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reserve covers an area of 4,125.6 km2 in Bas-Uélé Province. It extends along the south bank of the Mbomou River, which forms the border with the Central African Republic. It adjoins Bili-Uere Hunting Reserve on the south. Bomu Hunting Reserve is upriver to the east.
