Image of Pool Malebo, as well as the cities of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, taken by NASA

The Pool Malebo (formerly Stanley Pool, also seen as Malebo Pool), is a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River. It is about 35 km (22 mi) long and 23 km (14 mi) wide, and has an island (Bamu Island) at its western end. The two Congo capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, are on opposite shores. Image of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, taken by NASA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, taken by NASA File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, taken by NASA; the Congo River is visible in the center of the photograph Length 4,380 km Elevation of the source  m Average discharge 41,800 m³/s Area watershed 3,680,000 km² Origin   Mouth  Atlantic Ocean Basin countries Dem. ... Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville) is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Categories: Africa geography stubs | Capitals in Africa | Cities in the Republic of the Congo ...

The Pool is the beginning of the navigable Congo; just below it the river descends hundreds of meters in a series of rapids known as the Livingstone Falls. A rapid is a section of a river where it loses elevation over a relatively short distance (that is, the stream gradient is locally steepened), causing an increase in water flow and (usually) turbulence. ... Livingstone Falls, named for David Livingstone, is a rapids of the lower Congo River in west equatorial Africa below Malebo Pool. ...