This Envisat image, acquired on 14 January 2009, features the Congo River Basin’s rainforests, the second largest in the world after the Amazon, and the Congo River, Africa’s second longest river after the Nile. The basin covers an area of more than 4 million km². Its expansive forests spread across the Democratic Republic of Congo (visible to the east of the Congo River), most of the Republic of the Congo (visible to the west of the Congo River), Gabon (visible in dark green along the left side), Equatorial Guinea (above Gabon), and southern parts of Cameroon and the Central African Republic.