Lake · Central African Republic
Mbali Reservoir
The Mbali Reservoir is a long lake on the Mbali River in the Central African Republic, above the famous Boali Falls. The country has no natural lake of this size, so this reservoir is its biggest lake.
Picture credit: Kondotikodro (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Kondotikodro (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Mbali Reservoir?
Countries on its shores: the Central African Republic.
Largest body of water of: the Central African Republic.
Middle of the lake: 5.03° N, 17.95° E
The story behind it
The Central African Republic has only a few small natural lakes, such as Mamoun, Kididji and Tiringoulou. All its lakes, ponds and swamps together cover only about 20 km². The Mbali Reservoir is much bigger. Between 1989 and 1991, workers built the Boali 3 dam across the Mbali River. It is 30 metres high and 780 metres long. Behind it the water rose and formed a lake that stretches about 30 kilometres up the valley. Maps show about 42 km² of water. The dam lies 8 kilometres above the Boali Falls, where the river drops 50 metres over a rock edge 250 metres wide. The town of Boali is about 100 kilometres north-west of the capital, Bangui. The reservoir stores water for the power stations at the falls, which make electricity for the country.
Find it on the globe
Mbali Reservoir is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How big is the Mbali Reservoir?
Maps show about 42 km² of water. The lake stretches about 30 km up the valley of the Mbali River.
Why is a reservoir the largest lake in the Central African Republic?
The country has only a few small natural lakes; all its lakes, ponds and swamps together cover only about 20 km². So the Mbali Reservoir is the biggest lake in the country.
What is the dam for?
The Boali 3 dam holds back water for the power stations at the Boali Falls. They turn the falling water into electricity.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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