Salonga National Park


World Heritage Identification Number: 280

World Heritage since: 1984

Category: Natural Heritage

Transboundary Heritage: No

Endangered Heritage: No

Country: 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo

Continent: Africa

UNESCO World Region: Africa

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Salonga National Park: A Giant Tropical Rainforest Reserve in the Heart of Central Congo Basin

Salonga National Park, situated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is a vast expanse of pristine tropical rainforest that covers approximately 36,000 square kilometers or 3.6 million hectares. This expansive protected area, which stretches across the provinces of Mai Ndombe, Equateur, Kasaï, and Sankuru, is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve and holds significant importance for biodiversity conservation.

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

Salonga National Park is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve. Situated at the heart of the central basin of the Congo river, the park is very isolated and accessible only by water. It is the habitat of many endemic endangered species, such as the dwarf chimpanzee, the Congo peacock, the forest elephant and the African slender-snouted or 'false' crocodile.

Encyclopedia Record: Salonga National Park

Salonga National Park is a national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo located in the Congo River basin. It is Africa's largest tropical rainforest reserve covering about 36,000 km2 or 3,600,000 hectares. It extends into the provinces of Mai Ndombe, Equateur, Kasaï and Sankuru. In 1984, the national park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its protection of a large swath of relatively intact rainforest and its important habitat for many rare species. In 1999, the site has been listed as endangered due to poaching and housing construction. Following the improvement in its state of conservation, the site was removed from the endangered list in 2021.

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Additional Site Details

Area: 3,600,000 hectares

UNESCO Criteria: (vii) — Contains superlative natural phenomena or beauty
(ix) — Outstanding example representing ecological and biological processes

Coordinates: -2 , 21

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Image of Salonga National Park

© Radio Okapi, CC BY 2.0 Resized from original.

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Nearby World Heritage Sites

Sangha Trinational
712 km — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo
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Kahuzi-Biega National Park
799 km — Democratic Republic of the Congo
Mbanza Kongo, Vestiges of the Capital of the former Kingdom of Kongo
886 km — Angola
Nyungwe National Park
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Country Information: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Flag of Democratic Republic of the Congo

Official Name: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Capital: Kinshasa

Continent: Africa

Population (2024): 109,276,265

Population (2023): 105,789,731

Population (2022): 102,396,968

Land Area: 2,267,050 sq km

Currency: Congolese franc (CDF)

Country Data Sources

Last updated: January 18, 2026

Portions of the page Salonga National Park are based on data from UNESCO — World Heritage List Dataset and on text from the Wikipedia article Salonga National Park, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes made. Additional original content by World Heritage Explorer (WHE), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. WHE is not affiliated with UNESCO or the World Heritage Committee. Legal Notice. Privacy Policy.

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