The Congo River is the world’s ninth-longest ... contribute to its ecological and economic significance. The Niger River, which spans 2,600 miles (4,180 kilometers), starts near the Atlantic ...

Public boats, with ample sleeping quarters, plied the Congo until the government of the DRC let them fall into disrepair. Now river traffic consists largely of barges (top) and pirogues (center).

Niger became the first African country to eliminate the parasitic infection onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness, and the fifth worldwide, according to World Health Organisation (WHO).