Stream
Kasai River
2,272 km from source to mouth · Republic of the Congo, Angola and DR Congo.
Republic of the Congo, Angola and DR CongoFlows into River Congo1st longest in Republic of the Congo
In numbers
Length
2,272km
Average flow
12,000m³/s
Basin
880,200km²
Drop
1,082m
from 1,350 m to 268 m
Countries
3
The journey
From source to mouth
2,272 km of river and 8 stops on the way: 5 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 1,350 m
- 342 kmCuilo26,577 people
- 764 kmKikwit509,367 people
- 844 kmBulungu81,393 people
- 1,081 kmKwilu Rivertributary
- 1,082 kmKwango Rivertributary
- 1,089 kmBandundu Province202,904 people
- 1,156 kmMushie61,336 people
- 1,161 kmFimi Rivertributary
- 1,331 kmRiver Congoat 268 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
Tributary of the Congo River
At the mouth it carries 12,000 m³/s on average: 4.8 Olympic pools every second. It drops from 1,350 m to 268 m, 0.5 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 880,200 km², about the size of VE. 21.8 million people live in it. Highest water: from December to March; lowest: from July to September. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- KikwitLargest city on its banks · 509,367 people
- Kikwit Airport (KKW)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 3 km from the city
- On the water22 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From May to AugustThe best months to visit
Kasai River, month by month
Highest water: from December to March
Lowest water: from July to September. Best months to visit: from May to August.
From about 3,400 m³/s in the lowest month to 14,600 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Kasai River: the basin in numbers
894,487 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 21.8millionpeople live in the basin
- 24/km²people per km²
- 744maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,541mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 23.6°Caverage air temperature
- 2%protected areas
- 0.3%covered by lakes
What covers the basin
- 80% Forest
- 4% Cropland
- 14% Pasture
- 1% Towns and cities
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Kasai River: what you find on the way
- 16Ferry piers
- 6MarinasPort Lwani, Port Salamita, Port Sable and 3 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 3.0 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Kasai River in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
It flows into
River CongoAngola4,700 km41,800 m³/sTributaries (14)
DR Congo1,770 km2,700 m³/sjoins at km 1,082Sankuru RiverDR Congo1,200 km1,500 m³/sKwilu RiverDR Congo965 km1,200 m³/sjoins at km 1,081Also: Lulua, Fimi River, Loange River, Luele River, Lubue River, Kamtsha River, Chicapa, Lutshuadi River, Lwachimo, Lukibu, Lweta
In the same basin
Central African Republic1,060 km5,900 m³/sUeleDR Congo1,210 km1,500 m³/sLomami RiverDR Congo1,280 km3,000 m³/sSanghaRepublic of the Congo785 km2,500 m³/sEbola RiverDR Congo250 km320 m³/sMbomou RiverCentral African Republic800 km1,300 m³/sLuvua RiverDR Congo350 km600 m³/sAruwimi RiverDR Congo1,300 km1,600 m³/sRuzizi River
Burundi117 km400 m³/sDja RiverRepublic of the Congo523 km800 m³/sNearby
Rivers nearby
DR Congo1,770 km2,700 m³/s132 km awayKwilu RiverDR Congo965 km1,200 m³/s132 km awaySanghaRepublic of the Congo785 km2,500 m³/s225 km awayLukenie RiverDR Congo1,014 km1,700 m³/s222 km awayUbangi RiverCentral African Republic1,060 km5,900 m³/s342 km awayTshuapa RiverDR Congo1,300 km3,600 m³/s431 km awaySankuru RiverDR Congo1,200 km1,500 m³/s485 km awayLulonga RiverDR Congo180 km1,800 m³/s490 km awayWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q186541) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit