The massive expanse of the Congo Rainforest, the second largest rainforest in the world (after that of the Amazon) covers most of the Congo River basin, central and west. The Congo River itself is 2,733 miles (4,398 km) long, and is navigable for almost 900 miles (1,448 km).

This area of the DRC is surrounded by plateaus merging into savannas in the south and southwest, by mountainous terraces in the west, and by dense grasslands extending beyond the Congo River in the north.

In the east, the land rise into a plateau with heights over 5,000 ft (1,524 m) and then into the higher glaciated and volcanic mountains of the Great Rift Valley. Southeast, the land rises into the peaks of the Shaba Plateau.

The highest point of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is Mt. Stanley at 16,765 ft (5,110 m); the lowest point of the country is the Atlantic Ocean (0 m).

A number of lakes front the country's eastern borders, including lakes Albert, Edward, Kivu, Mweru and Tanganyika.

• Landforms of Africa