Inga Falls
   Kinshasa, Congo, Democratic Republic of the

Inga Falls is a series of falls and rapids along the Congo River that drops approximately 315 feet in a run of about 9 miles. Most of this change in elevation is via small rapids. The main part of the falls, however, occurs where the river makes a sharp, sweeping bend in its course and drops about 70 feet rather abruptly (though not quite vertically). Here the falls are over 2 1/2 miles wide, separated into hundreds of channels and rivulets by dozens and dozens of small islands and large rocks.

The falls are currently incorporated into the Inga I and Inga II hydroelectric facilities. The volume of the river diverted is approximately 30% of the average discharge. The average volume of the Congo River near the falls is thought to be around 1.3 million cubic feet per second, so we are postulating that the volume of water actually flowing over the falls is around 910,000 cubic feet per second. Plans for the Grand Inga generating facility, which would upon completion be the largest hydroelectric facility on the planet, will draw off perhaps as much as 2/3 of the river, if not more.

HISTORY AND NAMES

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• Inga Falls is the Official name of this waterfall

Our thoughts

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Even with the portion of the river diverted into the hydro facilities, Inga Falls is the largest waterfall by volume on the planet. Many, if not most accounts seem to discount it as nothing but rapids but we suspect that the most substantial portion of the falls are actually quite steep and can be legitimately considered to be a true waterfall (though not the full 315 feet worth). Whether the total drop in the 15 miles of river that is usually attributed to the falls can be counted as its full drop remains to be seen.

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Inga Falls is shown in the center. The 10 closest waterfalls within a 8km radius are shown as well (if any). Click any icon or see the list below for more information.

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User comments

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