Yellala Falls

Yellala Falls
The Yellala Falls from the left bank, c. 1880
Coordinates	5°43′32″S 13°32′39″E / 5.725653°S 13.544083°E / -5.725653; 13.544083
Watercourse	Congo River

The Yellala Falls (Rapides de Yelala or Chutes Yelala; also spelled as Ielala) are a series of waterfalls and rapids on the Congo River just upstream from Matadi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The falls are the lowest of a long series of rapids that render the river unnavigable, forcing colonial explorers to travel by foot as far as the Stanley Pool 350 kilometres (220 mi) upstream.^[1] The Congo is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, and the deepest in the world.^[2] The section of river that ends with the Yellala falls has over 300 species of fish, many found nowhere else.^[3]