Editing Kinshasa (section)

=== Location ===
Kinshasa is strategically situated on the southern bank of the expansive [[Pool Malebo|Malebo Pool]], spanning 9,965 square kilometers, configured in a grand crescent shape atop a low-lying, flat terrain with an average elevation hovering around 300 meters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=PhD |first=Gutu Kia Zimi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3PMYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+Pool+Malebo+9,965&pg=PT26 |title=Growing Trees in Urban Kinshasa: Shrub Vegetation in Residential Plots in Kinshasa |date=2021-01-10 |location=Bloomington, Indiana, United States |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-6655-1262-6 |language=en |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162456/https://books.google.com/books?id=3PMYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+Pool+Malebo+9,965&pg=PT26#v=onepage&q=Kinshasa%20Pool%20Malebo%209%2C965&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Iyenda |first=Guillaume |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhu8AAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Pool%20Malebo%209,965 |title=Households' Livelihoods and Survival Strategies Among Congolese Urban Poor: Alternatives to Western Approaches to Development |date=2007 |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |isbn=978-0-7734-5269-5 |pages=69 |language=en |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162457/https://books.google.com/books?id=zhu8AAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Pool%20Malebo%209,965 |url-status=live }}</ref> Positioned between latitudes 4° and 5° and longitudinal coordinates 15° to 16°32 east, Kinshasa is flanked by the provinces of [[Mai-Ndombe Province|Mai-Ndombe]], [[Kwilu Province|Kwilu]], and [[Kwango]] to the east, while the [[Congo River]] delineates its western and northern boundaries, naturally demarcating the border with the [[Republic of the Congo]]. To the south, it is demarcated by the [[Kongo Central|Kongo Central Province]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=2024-05-02 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=9–12 |language=Fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref>

The Congo River is the second longest river in Africa after the [[Nile]] and has the continent's greatest [[Discharge (hydrology)|discharge]]. As a [[waterway]] it provides a means of transport for much of the [[Congo Basin]]; it is navigable for river barges between Kinshasa and [[Kisangani]]; many of its tributaries are also navigable. The river is an important source of [[hydroelectric power]], and downstream from Kinshasa it has the potential to generate power equivalent to the usage of roughly half of Africa's population.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wachter |first=Sarah J. |date=19 June 2007 |title=Giant dam projects aim to transform African power supplies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19iht-rnrghydro.1.6204822.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101175527/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19iht-rnrghydro.1.6204822.html |archive-date=1 November 2011 |access-date=15 December 2010 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>