Originating in Angola, the river flows north into the Democratic Republic of the Congo, through the eastern part of Kwango.

[1][2][3] At the start of the twentieth century, the Loange was inhabited by the Bakongo people, who were described as initially suspicious and hostile to white men by ethnographer Melville William Hilton-Simpson, who led the first documented exploration of the river by non-Africans and was eventually able to peaceably interact with and learn about them over the course of two years.

The Compagnie du Kasai, which operated steamboats and barges in the river, cleared snags all the way up to Lake Matshi, which is 80 km downstream from Ilebo.

[6] Today, the DRC's National Road 1 crosses the river at Kalema to connect Kikwit and Kinshasa with Kamina and Lubumbashi.

[6] In the triple border area of Kwilu, Kwango and Kasai, the Loange river forms a terraced landscape in the loamy soil.