 thumb|450px|a map of the democratic republic of the congo. also shown are the drc's regions. thumb|350px|a satellite image of the democratic republic of the congo thumb|350px|the topography of the democratic republic of the congo. the democratic republic of the congo is by the congo river basin, which covers an area of almost . the country's only outlet to the atlantic ocean is a narrow strip of land on the north bank of the congo river. the vast, low-lying central area is a basin-shaped plateau sloping toward the west, covered by tropical rainforest and criss-crossed by rivers, a large area of this has been categorized by the world wildlife fund as the central congolian lowland forests ecoregion. the forest center is surrounded by mountainous terraces in the west, plateaus merging into savannahs in the south and southwest. dense grasslands extend beyond the congo river in the north. high mountains of the ruwenzori range (some above ) are found on the eastern borders with rwanda and uganda (see albertine rift montane forests for a description of this area). == climate == the democratic republic of the congo lies on the equator, with one-third of the country to the north and two-thirds to the south. the climate is hot and humid in the river basin and cool and dry in the southern highlands, with a cold, alpine climate in the ruwenzori range. south of the equator, the rainy season lasts from october to may and north of the equator, from april to november. along the equator, rainfall is fairly regular throughout the year. during the wet season, thunderstorms often are violent but seldom last more than a few hours. the average rainfall for the entire country is about . == data == location of congo: central africa, northeast of angola geographic coordinates:  map references: africa area: total: 2,345,410&nbsp;km2 land: 2,267,600&nbsp;km2 water: 77,810&nbsp;km2 area - comparative: slightly less than one-fourth the size of the us land boundaries: total: 10,744&nbsp;km border countries: angola 2,511&nbsp;km, burundi 233&nbsp;km, central african republic 1,577&nbsp;km, republic of the congo 2,410&nbsp;km, rwanda 217&nbsp;km, south sudan 628&nbsp;km, tanzania 473&nbsp;km, uganda 765&nbsp;km, zambia 1,930&nbsp;km coastline: . maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: boundaries with neighbors territorial sea:  climate: tropical; hot and humid in equatorial river basin; cooler and drier in southern highlands; cooler-cold and wetter in eastern highland
Geography_of_Central_Africa Geography_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo