Kasai River

The Kasai River (Swahili: Mto Kasai, French: Kasaï ; called Cassai in Angolan Portuguese) is a left bank tributary of the Congo River, located in Central Africa. The river begins in central Angola and flows eastward until it reaches the border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At this point, it turns north and serves as the border between the two countries before flowing entirely into the DRC.

From Ilebo, where it meets the Lulua river and Sankuru river, the Kasai River changes direction to the west. The lower part of the river, from where it joins the Fimi river to its final meeting with the Congo River at Kwamouth northeast of Kinshasa, is also called the Kwa(h) River.

The area around the Kasai River is mostly covered in dense equatorial rainforests. Even though the soil here is often sandy and not very fertile for farming, the region still manages to support agriculture. The Kasai River is also important because diamonds can be found in its waters. In fact, about 60% of the diamonds processed in Belgium come from the Kasai River for cutting and shaping.

Discharge

Exploration

Explorer Henry Morton Stanley reached the place where the river meets another river on March 9, 1877. He called the river Nkutu and described it as powerful and deep. He recognized it came from a river David Livingstone had named Kwango.

Tributaries

The Kasai River has several important smaller rivers that flow into it before it joins the Congo River. Some of these smaller rivers include the Fimi, Kwilu–Kwango, Loange, Sankuru, and Lulua, among others. Each of these rivers adds to the water flow of the Kasai River as it makes its journey.

Economic importance

The Kasai River's tributaries have no obstacles like rocks or plants, making them easy to travel on. This helps people move things and trade goods. Long ago, before colonies, the river was very important for moving people unfortunately captured by traders. These traders used a big tributary called the Kwango River to travel through forests and take people to ships on the ocean.

Today, the river is important because of valuable minerals found near it, especially diamonds. Many diamonds are found near the mouth of the river and along the Kwango River. This area is often called the “diamond heartland” because it has lots of diamonds.