Kasai River, river in central Africa. It is the chief southern tributary of the Congo River, into which, at Kwamouth, Congo (Kinshasa), 125 miles (200 km) above Malebo (Stanley) Pool, it empties a volume approaching one-fifth that of the main stream.
The longest river in the southern Congo River basin system, it measures 1,338 miles (2,153 km) from its source on the eastern slope of the Bíe Plateau of Angola to Kwamouth. Its headstream runs east for 250 miles (402 km), then turns north for nearly 300 miles (483 km) to form the frontier between Angola and Congo. This stretch is interrupted by several spectacular rapids and waterfalls, the river flowing in deeply trenched valleys at elevations of about 2,000–3,000 feet (600–900 m).
The Kasai eventually crosses a further series of rapids and falls, broadening and deepening to make navigation possible. Traffic is especially heavy on the 510-mile- (820-kilometre-) long waterway from Kinshasa to Ilebo. Above Ilebo, navigation is impeded by sandbanks, but shallow-draft boats can reach Djokupunda.
There the Mai-Munene Falls require goods to be carried 40 miles (64 km) by rail to the next navigable reach, from Mukumbi to Mai-Munene. In its lower reaches the river enters the equatorial rainforest. Below its confluence with the Kwango it forms Wissmann Pool and then receives the Fimi-Lukenie, bringing the waters of Lake Mai-Ndombe. Thereafter, it is known as the Kwa.
