UPSC Prelims 2023 Q8: Congo Basin Countries — Explained
Which one of the following is a part of the Congo Basin?
- Cameroon
- Nigeria
- South Sudan
- Uganda
Answer: (a) Cameroon
Statement-wise explanation
- a: correct — Cameroon is one of the six countries that UNESCO's World Heritage Centre lists as spanning the Congo Basin. The others are the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and the Central African Republic. The Sangha, a large right-bank tributary of the Congo, drains south-eastern Cameroon. Britannica also places 'parts of Cameroon' inside the Congo drainage area.
- b: incorrect — Nigeria is in West Africa and drains to the Niger river system and the Lake Chad basin. Cameroon lies between Nigeria and the Congo Basin, so no Congo waters reach Nigeria.
- c: incorrect — South Sudan lies in the Nile basin. The White Nile, the Sudd wetland and the Bahr el Ghazal system drain the country north towards Sudan and Egypt. Its southern border with the DRC roughly follows the Congo–Nile watershed.
- d: incorrect — Uganda drains to the Nile. Water from Lake Victoria flows out as the Victoria Nile through Lake Kyoga to Lake Albert, then leaves as the Albert Nile. Lake Albert and Lake Edward sit on the DRC border, but they are Nile-basin lakes, not Congo-basin lakes.
How to eliminate
This is a map-location question, so it comes down to knowing where the basin lies. Two things on the map get you there. First, the Congo Basin is in west-central Africa, on the Equator, and drains west into the Atlantic. Second, the water divide on its eastern side separates it from the Nile basin. That rules out Uganda and South Sudan: both are East African Nile countries, linked with Lake Victoria, the Sudd and the White Nile. Nigeria is a West African Niger-basin country. Of the four options, only Cameroon borders the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Fact to remember: the six Congo Basin forest countries are Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, the DRC, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Know more
Congo Basin: a river basin and a forest region
The name is used in two related senses.
- The drainage basin of the Congo River. It is the world's second-largest river basin after the Amazon's, covering about 3.4 million sq km (Britannica). The river is about 4,700 km long, Africa's second-longest after the Nile. It rises on the Katanga plateau in the south-east of the DRC, where its upper course is called the Lualaba. It then curves north and back south in a great arc, crossing the Equator twice, and reaches the Atlantic. Because it has catchment on both sides of the Equator, some part of the basin is always in its rainy season. This gives the river a steady, very large flow.
- The Congo Basin rainforest. It is the world's second-largest tropical rainforest after the Amazon, about 1.6 million sq km of humid forest (UNESCO). It is a major carbon sink.
| Sense | Countries covered |
|---|---|
| Forest region (UNESCO's six) | Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, DRC, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea |
| Drainage area (Britannica) | Almost all of the Republic of Congo, the DRC and the Central African Republic; western Zambia, northern Angola; parts of Cameroon and Tanzania |
Neighbouring basins (often used as distractors)
| Basin | Countries |
|---|---|
| Nile | Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt |
| Niger | Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria |
| Lake Chad | Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon (north) |
Cameroon is split between basins. Its south-east drains to the Congo through the Sangha, and its far north drains to Lake Chad. The equatorial basin has a tropical wet (Af) climate with rain all year and dense evergreen forest. Read it together with the Amazon basin, which is its closest counterpart.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Congo River: The question is about which countries lie in this river's drainage area in west-central Africa.
- Congo Basin rainforest: In common usage, 'Congo Basin' also means this rainforest region and the six countries it spans.
- Nile: Two of the options are East African countries. Knowing this river's basin helps place them correctly.