River
Uele
1,210 km from source to mouth · DR Congo.
DR CongoFlows into Ubangi River6th longest in DR Congo
In numbers
Length
1,210km
Average flow
1,500m³/s
Basin
135,400km²
Drop
291m
from 688 m to 397 m
Country
1
The journey
From source to mouth
1,210 km of river and 8 stops on the way: 1 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.
- 0 kmSourceat 688 m
- 7 kmKibalitributary
- 7 kmDungutributary
- 402 kmChute Pangu
- 466 kmChute Siasi
- 532 kmChute Bengu
- 676 kmUeretributary
- 706 kmBimatributary
- 940 kmBondo17,860 people
- 1,210 kmUbangi Riverat 397 m
Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.
River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
At the mouth it carries 1,530 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 1.6 seconds. It drops from 688 m to 397 m, 0.2 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 135,400 km², about the size of GR. 2.4 million people live in it. Highest water: from September to November; lowest: from February to March. No large dam holds it back: it is one of the world's free-flowing rivers.
Where to start
- BondoLargest city on its banks · 17,860 people
- On the water8 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
- From December to FebruaryThe best months to visit
Uele, month by month
Highest water: from September to November
Lowest water: from February to March. Best months to visit: from December to February.
From about 380 m³/s in the lowest month to 2,700 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.
Plan the trip
Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The basin
Uele: the basin in numbers
140,155 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.
- 2.4millionpeople live in the basin
- 17/km²people per km²
- 750maverage altitude of the basin
- 1,694mmof rain a year (basin average)
- 24.3°Caverage air temperature
- 17%protected areas
What covers the basin
- 42% Forest
- 1% Cropland
- 3% Pasture
RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.
Along the river
Uele: what you find on the way
- 1Waterfalls
- 8Ferry piersBondo rive droite, Bondo rive gauche and 6 more
From OpenStreetMap, within 2.5 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Uele in our other atlases
What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.
3waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
1mountain at the sourcePeakyas
Waterfalls (3)
On the river, by Cascadyas
- Chute Pangukm 335
- Chute Siasikm 388
- Chute Bengukm 443
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Mountains at the source (1)
Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas
- Mont Apelemba12 km away
From space
The source and the mouth, seen from orbit
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.
Photos
Uele in pictures
Tributaries
Where it flows, and what flows into it
Tributaries (4)
Also: Dungu, Kibali, Bima, Uere
In the same basin
Angola4,700 km41,800 m³/sKasai River
Republic of the Congo2,272 km12,000 m³/sKwango RiverDR Congo1,770 km2,700 m³/sLomami RiverDR Congo1,280 km3,000 m³/sSanghaRepublic of the Congo785 km2,500 m³/sEbola RiverDR Congo250 km320 m³/sMbomou River
Central African Republic800 km1,300 m³/sLuvua RiverDR Congo350 km600 m³/sSankuru RiverDR Congo1,200 km1,500 m³/sAruwimi RiverDR Congo1,300 km1,600 m³/sWhere these numbers come from
| Name, length, places | Wikidata (Q171436) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Course, profile, basin | RiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata |
| Flow | WaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate along the river | WorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0 |
| Towns, bridges, dams | Wikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Along the river | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Our other atlases | Cascadyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST |
Every source and licence is on the data sources page.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit 
lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit 
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit