evidence: The Congo River is a long, arcing river with a basin that spans nine countries in West-Central Africa. This extensive body of water provides food, water, medicine and transport to about 75 million people in the surrounding basin, according to Yale University's Global Forest Atlas. [...] The Congo River system runs through the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, western Zambia, northern Angola, and parts of Cameroon and Tanzania, according to National Geographic. [...] The land in the Congo Basin is a web of smaller rivers, swamps and forests. Its entire area covers almost all of the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, western Zambia, northern Angola, and parts of Cameroon, Gabon and Tanzania. The basin is bordered by the Sahara Desert to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west, and the East African lakes region to the east.