Which river crosses the equator twice?

The Congo River is the only major river in the world that crosses the Equator twice. Its unusual course bends north of the Equator before looping back southward through Central Africa on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

The river rises as the Lualaba in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then follows a vast arc through the Congo Basin. It first crosses the Equator northward, curves through wetlands and rainforest, and later crosses it again near the western part of the basin. The river's main channel is therefore split between both hemispheres.

This geography helps give the Congo remarkably steady water flow: rainfall arrives at different times north and south of the Equator, so some part of its basin is usually in a wet season. The Congo is also Africa's second-longest river system and the world's second-largest river basin by area. It is commonly confused with the Amazon, which is larger by discharge but does not cross the Equator twice.