Editing Boyoma Falls

{{Short description|Series of waterfalls on the Congo River in Orientale Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
{{Infobox waterfall
| name = Boyoma Falls<br>''Chutes de Boyoma''<br>''Maporomoko ya Maji ya Boyoma''
| photo_caption = Boyoma Falls.
| location = [[Lualaba River]], [[Kisangani]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
| type = Cataract
| height = {{convert|200|ft}}
| average_width = {{convert|4500|ft}}
| average_flow = {{convert|16990|m3/s|abbr=on}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/waterfall/Wagenia-Chutes-102|title=Wagenia, Chutes, Congo, Democratic Republic of the - World Waterfall Database|website=www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com|language=en|access-date=2020-01-16}}</ref>
<!--| maximum_recorded_flow ={{convert|51933|m3/s|abbr=on}}-->
| watercourse = Congo River
|photo=Zaire kisangani stroom 11 copy.jpg}}

'''Boyoma Falls''' ({{langx|sw|Maporomoko ya Maji ya Boyoma}}, {{langx|fr|Chutes de Boyoma}}, {{langx|nl|Boyomawatervallen}}),<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Ndeo|first=Oscar|last2=Hauffe|first2=Torsten|last3=Delicado|first3=Diana|last4=Busanga|first4=Alidor|last5=Albrecht|first5=Christian|date=2017-05-02|title=Mollusk communities of the central Congo River shaped by combined effects of barriers, environmental gradients, and species dispersal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316971348_Mollusk_communities_of_the_central_Congo_River_shaped_by_combined_effects_of_barriers_environmental_gradients_and_species_dispersal|journal=Journal of Limnology|volume=76|doi=10.4081/jlimnol.2017.1585|doi-access=free}}</ref> formerly known as '''Stanley Falls''' ([[French language|French]]: ''Chutes Stanley''; [[Dutch language|Dutch]]: ''Stanleywatervallen''), is a series of seven [[Waterfall#Types|cataract]]s, each no more than {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=on}} high, extending over more than {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} along a curve of the [[Lualaba River]] between the river port towns of [[Ubundu]] and [[Kisangani]] (also known as Boyoma) in the [[Orientale Province]] of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]].<ref name=Stanley>Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One {{ISBN|0486256677}}, Vol. Two {{ISBN|0486256685}}</ref>{{rp|Vol.Two,175}} The seven cataracts have a total drop of {{convert|61|m|ft|abbr=on}}. They form the largest waterfall by volume of annual flow rate in the world, exceeding both the [[Niagara Falls]] and the [[Iguazu Falls]].{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

The two major cataracts are the first below Ubundu, forming a narrow and crooked stream that is hardly accessible, and the last that can be seen and visited from Kisangani. At the bottom of the rapids, the Lualaba is known as the [[Congo River]]. A 1m-gauge [[portage railway]] bypasses the series of rapids, connecting Kisangani and Ubundu.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

The last of the seven cataracts of the Boyoma Falls is also known as the '''Wagenia Falls''' ({{langx|fr|Chutes Wagenia}}, {{langx|nl|Wageniawatervallen}}),<ref name=":0" /> referring to the local [[Wagenya]] fishermen, who have developed a special technique to fish in the river. They build systems of wooden tripods across the rapids fixed in holes carved in the rock by the water current. These serve as anchors for baskets that entrap large fish. The baskets are lowered in the rapids to “sieve” the waters for fish. It is a very selective fishing method, as these baskets are quite big, and only large fish are entrapped.

The falls were formerly named after [[Henry Morton Stanley]], who explored the region and noted the fishing technique of the Wagenya. According to Stanley, "...by taking advantage of the rocks, the natives have been enabled to fix upright heavy poles, 6 inches in diameter, to each of which they attach enormous fish-baskets by means of rattan-cane cable. There are probably sixty or seventy baskets laid in the river on each side, every day; and though some may be brought up empty, in general they seem to be tolerably successful, for out of half-a-dozen baskets...twenty-eight large fish were collected..."<ref name=Stanley/>{{rp|197}}

== Gallery ==
{{gallery
|width=150
|height=
|align=center
|File:Stanley Falls Map.jpg
  |The falls are in the bottom center of Stanley's map. His route is indicated by the solid black line.
|File:Stanley Falls.jpg
  |Stanley Falls as interpreted by Stanley.
|File:Wagenia 17 copy.jpg
  |Wagenya fishermen at Wagenia Falls
|File:Zaire kisangani stroom 12 copy (cropped).jpg
  |Wagenia Falls.
}}

==See also==
* [[List of waterfalls]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Boyoma Falls|position=left}}

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{{Coord|0|29|28|N|25|12|23|E|region:CD_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyoma Falls}}
[[Category:Lualaba River]]
[[Category:Waterfalls of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Cascade waterfalls]]
[[Category:Congo River]]