Ebola
Ebola is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 3.54°, 21.81°
About Ebola
The Ebola River ( or ), also commonly known by its Ngbandi name Legbala, is the headstream of the Mongala River, a tributary of the Congo River, in northern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is roughly 250 kilometers (160 mi) in length.
The name Ebola is a French corruption of Legbala, its name in Ngbandi which means 'white water'. During the Belgian administration these names were interchangeable along with the French names Eau Blanche and rarely L'Ébola.
In 1976, Ebola virus was first identified in Yambuku, 111 kilometers (69 mi) from the Ebola River, but the virologist Karl Johnson decided to name it after the river so that the town would not be associated with the disease's stigma. Thus, the river is eponymous to the terms Ebola virus, Ebolavirus, and Ebola virus disease (usually referred to as simply "Ebola").
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Ebola River (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Ebola: Key Facts
| Length | 250 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 320 m³/s |
| Mouth | Mongala River |
| Drainage system | Congo Basin |
Facts from Wikidata Q934455 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Ebola: Quick Answers
- Where is Ebola?
- Ebola is located in DR Congo, at 3.5447° N, 21.8083° E.
- Are there dams on the Ebola?
- No dam on the Ebola is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.