The Congo River is the world’s deepest and most powerful waterway. In its basin, a wilderness bigger than Alaska, natural resources abound - oil, gold, diamonds, rubber. But this river, more than any other, is also linked with some of the darkest times in human history – with slavery, war and corruption.  

So what do we know of the early communities who lived on its shores? Why did it take Europeans so long to explore the river? And what role did the Congo play in the development of motor cars, the atomic bomb and mobile phones? 

From Noiser, this is a Short History of the Congo River. 

Written by Jo Furniss. With thanks to Tim Butcher, a travel history writer and author of Blood River, based on his journey down the Congo.

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