Livingstone Falls ('Chutes Livingstone') named for the explorer David Livingstone, are a succession of rapids on the lower course of the Congo River in west equatorial Africa, downstream from Malebo Pool in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The falls consists of a series of rapids dropping 900 feet in 220 miles (270 meters in 350 kilometers). It ends in Matadi in Bas-Congo. The Congo River has the second largest flow rate in the world after the River Amazon, which has no falls or rapids (except near its source). The lowest rapids of the Livinsgtone Falls therefore are the world's largest waterfall in terms of flow rate, provided one accepts rapids as being a waterfall.
Though he explored the upper Congo, David Livingstone never travelled to this part of the river, the falls were named in his honour by Henry Morton Stanley. Since the falls are a barrier to navigation on the lower part of the river, the Matadi-Léopoldville Railway railway was constructed to by-pass them. On an expedition known as 'Africa-Raft', Philippe de Dieuleveult and six members of his party disappeared during a descent of these rapids around Inga on August 6, 1985.
