Boyoma Falls

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title: "Boyoma Falls" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lualaba-river", "waterfalls-of-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo", "cascade-waterfalls", "congo-river"] description: "Congo River waterfalls in Orientale Province, DRC" topic_path: "general/lualaba-river" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyoma_Falls" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Congo River waterfalls in Orientale Province, DRC ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox waterfall"]

Field	Value
name	Boyoma Falls
Chutes de Boyoma
Maporomoko ya Maji ya Boyoma
photo_caption	Boyoma Falls.
location	Lualaba River, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo
type	Cataract
height	200 ft
average_width	4500 ft
average_flow	16990 m3/s
<!--	maximum_recorded_flow
watercourse	Congo River
photo	Zaire kisangani stroom 11 copy.jpg
::

| name = Boyoma Falls Chutes de Boyoma Maporomoko ya Maji ya Boyoma | photo_caption = Boyoma Falls. | location = Lualaba River, Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo | type = Cataract | height = 200 ft | average_width = 4500 ft | average_flow = 16990 m3/s | watercourse = Congo River |photo=Zaire kisangani stroom 11 copy.jpg}}

Boyoma Falls (, , ), formerly known as Stanley Falls (French: Chutes Stanley; Dutch: Stanleywatervallen), is a series of seven cataracts, each no more than 5 m high, extending over more than 100 km along a curve of the Lualaba River between the river port towns of Ubundu and Kisangani (also known as Boyoma) in the Orientale Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The seven cataracts have a total drop of 61 m. They form the largest waterfall by volume of annual flow rate in the world, exceeding both the Niagara Falls and the Iguazu Falls.

The two major cataracts are the first below Ubundu, forming a narrow and crooked stream that is hardly accessible, and the last that can be seen and visited from Kisangani. At the bottom of the rapids, the Lualaba is known as the Congo River. A 1 m portage railway bypasses the series of rapids, connecting Kisangani and Ubundu.

The last of the seven cataracts of the Boyoma Falls is also known as the Wagenia Falls (, ), referring to the local Wagenya fishermen, who have developed a special technique to fish in the river. They build systems of wooden tripods across the rapids fixed in holes carved in the rock by the water current. These serve as anchors for baskets that entrap large fish. The baskets are lowered in the rapids to “sieve” the waters for fish. It is a very selective fishing method, as these baskets are quite big, and only large fish are entrapped.

The falls were formerly named after Henry Morton Stanley, who explored the region and noted the fishing technique of the Wagenya. According to Stanley, "...by taking advantage of the rocks, the natives have been enabled to fix upright heavy poles, 6 in in diameter, to each of which they attach enormous fish-baskets by means of rattan-cane cable. There are probably sixty or seventy baskets laid in the river on each side, every day; and though some may be brought up empty, in general they seem to be tolerably successful, for out of half-a-dozen baskets...twenty-eight large fish were collected..."

Gallery

|width=150 |height= |align=center |File:Stanley Falls Map.jpg |The falls are in the bottom center of Stanley's map. His route is indicated by the solid black line. |File:Stanley Falls.jpg |Stanley Falls as interpreted by Stanley. |File:Wagenia 17 copy.jpg |Wagenya fishermen at Wagenia Falls |File:Zaire kisangani stroom 12 copy (cropped).jpg |Wagenia Falls.

References

References

1. "Wagenia, Chutes, Congo, Democratic Republic of the - World Waterfall Database".
2. (2017-05-02). "Mollusk communities of the central Congo River shaped by combined effects of barriers, environmental gradients, and species dispersal". Journal of Limnology.
3. Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One {{ISBN. 0486256677, Vol. Two {{ISBN. 0486256685

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