Capital of DR CongoKinshasa stretches along the southern shore of Pool Malebo, a broad, lake-like widening of the Congo River, in the west of DR Congo.
Henry Morton Stanley set up a trading post here in 1881 and named it Léopoldville after King Leopold II of the Belgians. It grew as the first port above the Livingstone Falls rapids, where river boats could start their journey inland, and by 1923 it had replaced Boma as capital of the Belgian Congo.
Follow the Congo River inland from the Atlantic. Past a long stretch of rapids it widens into a big pool, and Kinshasa is on the south bank.
Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, faces Kinshasa across about 4 km of river with no bridge. They are the world's closest pair of capitals, so check which Congo you are asked about.
Sources: Wikipedia: Kinshasa, Wikipedia: Pool Malebo