Uele District (, ) was a district of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It roughly corresponded to the current provinces of Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé. Landscape The Uele District, shown as the Uellé District on an 1897 map of the Congo Free State, was named after the Uele River. The river flows though the district and further west joins the Mbomou River (or Bomu River) to form the Ubangi River, which defined the northeastern border of the Belgian Congo. The French colonies were to the north of the district and the British-controlled Lado Enclave to the east, on the west bank of the Nile. To the west were the Ubangi and Bangala districts, and to the south were the Aruwimi and Stanley Falls districts. A 1956 description of the district said the north of Uele is covered with shrub savannas interspersed with galleries and fragments of forest. Savannas with Encephalartos septentrionalis occupy the central part while the east and west are characterized by savannas of Lophira. The southern part of the District is covered by a dryland rain forest of Macrolobium (Gilbertiodendron dewevrei). Its boundary with the northern savannas lies a little north of the Uele then approximately follows the Bomokandi River. Along this boundary the forest is marked by deep anthropogenic alterations. The forest region is a gently undulating plain with a slight slope to the southwest towards the center of the basin. The northern grassy plain has better marked valleys. Rocky sills and rapids cut the streams, which can be dammed. From at Aketi, the altitude gradually rises to the north and east to reach at Ango and over in the east. Pre-colonial era Peoples such as the Azande and Mangbetu migrated into the Uele region long before the Europeans arrived. The Ababua and most of the Azande live in the lower Uele, while the Logo and Bodo, and most of the Mangbetu live in the upper Uele. There do not seem to have been any strong connections with the Arabs or Nubians of Sudan until around 1860, when traders started to visit in search of slaves and ivory. Some of the local chiefs welcomed the traders, while others fought them. Arabic speakers in the region included Egyptian government representatives, traders, soldiers and Faqīhs. Some Azande worked for the Sudanese merchants or even visited Sudan, either voluntarily or as slaves. Some of the local chiefs became