A decade before Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage to the Americas in 1492, Portuguese sailors under Diogo Cão arrived at the mouth of the Congo River in central Africa. They did not know that the river water splashing against their ship had traveled thousands of miles before reaching the ocean.

Today, Brazzaville is the capital and the largest city in what is now the Republic of Congo. The city is located on the banks of the Congo River. Downstream, the river rages over boulders and ledges for much of the 250 miles [400 km] toward the sea, where Cão anchored his ship on his voyage of discovery. From Brazzaville you can look across the river at the skyline of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since both countries adopted the name of the river, it is common to call them Congo (Brazzaville) and Congo (Kinshasa).

The rapids and waterfalls downstream of Brazzaville make it impossible to navigate the river to the Atlantic.