Mbandaka

This river port city in DR Congo's Équateur Province, Mbandaka sits at the confluence of the Congo and Ruki rivers and serves as a significant stop on the waterway between Kinshasa and Kisangani. Founded in 1883 by Henry Morton Stanley, the city was later known as Coquilhatville under Belgian colonial rule until 1966. The Eala Botanical Garden, established by Leopold II in 1900 on the city's edge, and a limonite marker indicating the equator line in the Wangata district add points of interest beyond the historic churches in the centre.

• Population455,011
• Nearest water from center3.9 km