Lake · Republic of the Congo, DR Congo
Pool Malebo
Pool Malebo is a wide, lake-like part of the Congo River in the middle of Africa. Two capital cities face each other across its water: Brazzaville on the northern shore and Kinshasa on the southern shore.
Picture credit: Bsm15 (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Marcel Buob (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Pool Malebo?
Countries on its shores: the Republic of the Congo, DR Congo.
Largest lake of: the Republic of the Congo.
Middle of the lake: 4.28° S, 15.49° E
The story behind it
Here the mighty Congo River spreads out into a huge, fairly shallow basin, roughly 30 to 35 km long and more than 20 km wide. Downstream it rushes down the wild rapids of the Livingstone Falls. In the middle of the pool lies M'Bamou Island, about 180 km² in size, which belongs to the Republic of the Congo. The name Malebo comes from the Lingala language and refers to the Borassus palms that grow along the shores. The explorer Henry Morton Stanley and his companions reached the pool on 12 March 1877, and for a long time it was called Stanley Pool. Brazzaville and Kinshasa are the closest pair of capital cities in the world, apart from Rome and the Vatican. More than 200 kinds of fish live in the pool. Its part in the Republic of the Congo is bigger than any other natural lake in that country, so it counts as the country's largest lake.
Find it on the globe
Pool Malebo 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 Pool Malebo?
Pool Malebo covers about 500 km². It is roughly 30 to 35 km long and more than 20 km wide.
Why is it called Pool Malebo?
Malebo is a word from the Lingala language and refers to the Borassus palms that grow on its shores. Earlier it was called Stanley Pool, after the explorer Henry Morton Stanley.
Which cities lie on Pool Malebo?
Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo, lies on the northern shore. Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies on the southern shore, right across the water.
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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