Kinshasa — Kinshasa Map Poster & Print

ແຜນທີ່

Kinshasa Map Poster & Print

Kinshasa lies where the Congo River widens into Pool Malebo, a broad, lake-like stretch dotted with islands, before narrowing again into rapids downstream. The city runs along the southern shore, with the administrative district of Gombe on the riverfront and neighbourhoods fanning out south and east over a wide plain. On a map, the river is the dominant form: a large, calm expanse along the top of the frame.

Gombe has the most regular streets, with the Boulevard du 30 Juin running roughly parallel to the river as the city’s main avenue. Beyond it, the communes form a dense, repeating texture of small blocks that extends toward N’djili Airport in the east. Low hills rise on the southern and western edges, and the Ngaliema area overlooks the river where it begins to fall toward the Livingstone rapids.

The city began as a trading post named Léopoldville, founded in 1881, and took the name Kinshasa in 1966. Across the river stands Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, making the two among the closest pairs of national capitals in the world. A Kinshasa map poster can show both banks, a rare view of two capitals sharing one stretch of water.