UBANGI

This article appears in Volume V27, Page 554 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: TUM-VAN

UBANGI , a river of Equatorial Africa, the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

northern affluent of the Congo (q.v.). The Ubangi (otherwise Mubangi or Mobangi) enters the Congo by various mouths between o 22' and o 37' S. and 17 40' and 17 50' E. The main channel,fully 1 m. wide, joins the Congo in o 31' S. The Ubangi is formed by the junction of the Mbomu and the Welle, both of which rise on the north-eastern rim of the Congo basin.
The water-parting between the Bahr-el-Ghazal affluents (Nile system) and the Mbomu headstreams is not very clearly marked, but high hills running parallel with the Nile between Albert Nyanza and Dufile sharply separate the valley of the Welle and other west-flowing streams from that of the Mountain Nile. The

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

of the headstreams of the Welle (known in its upper course as the Kibali) rises on the western slope of a hill about 40 M. west of Wadelai. It is joined by several small streams, the main river flowing in a W.N.W. direction. After a course of over 700 m. (during which it receives one large southern tributarythe Bomokandiand other considerable affluents) the Welle joins the Mbomu in 4 to' N. 22 37' E. The Mbo,nu, which has two large northern tributaries, the Shinko and the Bale, rises in 4 50' N. 27 12' E. For some distance it runs parallel to and about too m. north of the lower course of the Welle. About 23 12' E. it turns sharply

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

until its junction with the Welle. In its lower course the Mbomu is interrupted by many falls and rapids. A short distance below the junction of the Mbomu and Welle the Kotto, coming from beyond 8 N., on the borders of Darfur, and forming the most northerly extension of the Congo basin, enters the united stream, now known as the Ubangi, on the right bank. The remaining tributaries, mostly on the right bank, are smaller, but the Kemo, which joins the Ubangi near its most northern point (5 8' N.), is of some importance as offering water communication to within a short distance of the Shari basin. Below the Kemo confluence the Ubangi, which has hitherto continued to flow W.N.W., makes a

great

GREAT

bend

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

and runs into the Congo after a southerly course of 400 M. Shortly after receiving the Kemo the river forces its way through a line of hills whose tops rise 600 to 800 ft. above the banks of the stream. Here are the Zongo or Grenfell rapids, which are a barrier to navigation save for small boats at flood season. Above the Zongo rapids the river is navigable up to the confluence of the Welle and Mbomu, and the Welle is navigable at high flood up to the Bomokandi confluence in 26 8', though the stream is much interrupted by rapids.
From the Mbomu-Welle confluence to the junction of the Ubangi with the Congo the river has a course of fully 700 m., while the Ubangi-Welle combined exceeds 1400 M. From its mouth to Zongo rapids, a distance of 35o m., the stream is navigable by steamers drawing 3 ft. of water. In general the Ubangi flows through a fertile and forested region.
The Welle was discovered from the north by G. A. Schweinfurth in 187o; i.e. seven years before the discovery of the course of the Congo by H. M. Stanley. By Schweinfurth the Welle was believed to belong to the Chad system, but W. Junker, who (18821883) followed the river to near its confluence with the Mbomu, made it clear that the Welle belonged to the Congo system. In 1885 the Rev. George Grenfell, of the Baptist Missionary Society (who had discovered the mouth of the river in 1884), ascended the Ubangi as far as the Zongo rapids. He was followed in 18861889 by the Belgian A. van Gele, who in the last-named year finally established the identity of the Ubangi with Schweinfurth's Welle. The Mbomu was discovered from the north in 1877 by a Greek, Dr P. Potagos, and its upper course was followed for some distance by Junker. The Ubangi and the Mbomu form the frontier between Belgian Congo and French Congo, the northern banks of both streams belonging to France.
See, besides the works of Schweinfurth, Junker and other travellers, A. J. Wauters, Les Bassins de 1' Ubangi (inferieur) et de la Sanga, with map (Brussels, 1902) ; Dr Cureau's map (t : 1,000,000) of the upper Ubangi in La Geographic (October 1900) ; the CONGO and works there cited.
(JBEDA, a town of southern Spain, in the province of Jaen; 2000 ft. above sea-level, in the Loma de Ubeda, a range on the right bank of the Guadalquivir. Pop. (1900), 19,913 The surrounding country produces wheat, wine, olives and fruit. rJbeda has a station 6 m. south on the Madrid-Almeria railway. Portions of the old walls, with towers and gates, still remain, and there are three

late

LATE

Gothic

GOTHIC

churches, the oldest of which, San

Salvador

SALVADOR, or SAN SALVADOR (Republica del Salvador)

dates

DATES

from 1540 to 1556, and contains some interesting paintings. An important

fair

FAIR

is held from the 29th of September to the 5th of October. Oil, soap, esparto and linen fabrics are manufactured. rTbeda was an important town under Moorish

rule

RULE

.

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