When did Kinshasa become the capital of the Congo?
Kinshasa
The city was founded as a trading post by Henry Morton Stanley in 1881. It was named Léopoldville in honour of King Leopold II of Belgium, who controlled the vast territory that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, not as a colony but as a private property. The post flourished as the first navigable port on the Congo River above Livingstone Falls, a series of rapids over below Leopoldville. At first, all goods arriving by sea or being sent by sea had to be carried by porters between Léopoldville and Matadi, the port below the rapids and from the coast. The completion of the Matadi-Kinshasa portage railway, in 1898, provided an alternative route around the rapids and sparked the rapid development of Léopoldville. In 1914, a pipeline was installed so that crude oil could be transported from Matadi to the upriver steamers in Leopoldville. By 1923, the city was elevated to capital of the Belgian Congo, replacing the town of Boma in the Congo estuary. The town, nicknamed "Léo" or "Leopold", became a commercial centre and grew rapidly during the colonial period.
After gaining its independence on 30 June 1960, following riots in 1959, the Republic of the Congo elected its first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba's determination to have full control over Congo's resources to improve the living conditions of his people was perceived as a threat to Western interests. This being the height of the Cold War, the U.S. and Belgium did not want to lose control of the strategic wealth of the Congo, in particular its uranium. Less than a year after Lumumba's election, the Belgians and the U.S. bought the support of his Congolese rivals and set in motion the events that culminated in Lumumba's assassination. In 1965, with the help of the U.S. and Belgium, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seized power in the Congo. He initiated a policy of "Africanizing" the names of people and places in the country. In 1966, Léopoldville was renamed "Kinshasa", for a village named Kinshasa that once stood near the site, today Kinshasa (commune). The city grew rapidly under Mobutu, drawing people from across the country who came in search of their fortunes or to escape ethnic strife elsewhere, thus adding to the many ethnicities and languages already found there.
Louis Michel
Congo was a Belgian colony between 1908 and 1960. Since then, the relations between Brussels and Kinshasa have been tumultuous. They have included such events as the secession of Katanga backed by Belgium, the murder of the Prime Minister Lumumba by the Belgian secret services, the expulsion of the Belgian ambassador in the 1960s, the banning of the Sabena company from landing in Kinshasa, and "authentic Zaïrian" policy. The father of Joseph Kabila, Laurent-Désiré Kabila had very bad relations with Brussels. Many rumours accuse Louis Michel of having used Joseph Kabila as a puppet since his father was murdered in 2001. Therefore, the media has described in a very suspicious way the good relations between Louis Michel and Joseph Kabila.
Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Cathedral, Kisantu
The Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Cathedral () or just Kisantu Cathedral is the name given to a religious building belonging to the Catholic Church and is located in the town of Kisantu 120 kilometers south of Kinshasa, the capital of the African country of Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kisangani
Some 1300 mi from the mouth of the Congo River, Kisangani is the farthest navigable point upstream. Kisangani is the nation's most important inland port after Kinshasa, an important commercial hub point for river and land transportation and a major marketing and distribution centre for the north-eastern part of the country. It has been the commercial capital of the northern Congo since the late 19th century.
Brazzaville
Brazzaville (, ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo (Congo Republic). Constituting the financial and administrative centre of the country, it is located on the north side of the Congo River, opposite Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). The population of the capital is estimated to exceed 1.8 million residents, comprising more than a third of the national populace, 40% of whom are employed in non-agricultural professions. During World War II, Brazzaville was also the capital of Free France between 1940 and 1942.
Our Lady of the Congo Cathedral
The Our Lady of the Congo Cathedral () or simply Cathedral of Kinshasa, is the name given to a religious building of the Catholic Church located in the Liberation Avenue (formerly also called November 24 Avenue) in the city of Kinshasa, the capital and largest city of the African country of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mont Amba District
Mont Amba is one of the four districts that make up the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
It includes the communes (municipalities) of Kisenso, Lemba, Limete, Matete and Ngaba.
It lies south of the Congo River, east of the downtown district, and is separated from Tshangu District further to the east by the Ndjili River.
Tshangu District
Tshangu is one of the four districts that make up the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
It includes the communes (municipalities) of Kimbanseke, Maluku, Masina, Ndjili and Nsele.
The district is south of the Congo River, east of the Ndjili River, a tributary of the Congo that separates it from Mont Amba District and west of the N'djili airport, the main international airport serving the city.
Lisala
Lisala is the capital of the Mongala Province in northwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Congo River flows through the city. Its Cathédrale Saint-Hermès is the cathedral episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lisala. It is the birthplace of president Mobutu Sese Seko, who ruled Congo (which he renamed Zaire) from 1965 to 1997.
White Africans of European ancestry
Thousands of Flemings, along with the Dutch, migrated to South Africa for many years between the 17th century and the 20th century. Immigration into the RSA has slowed down drastically, but the remnants of a huge Flemish population still exist in Southern Africa. Many Flemish colonials, including farmers and mineowners, moved to the Belgian Congo to seek their fortunes during the colonial era, entrenching a system of racial segregation not unlike those practiced in most other European-ruled African territories. The old segregated Belgian neighbourhoods, in fact, are still visible in Kinshasa (formerly Léopoldville in French, Leopoldstad in Dutch), the Democratic Republic of the Congo's capital city. Despite the mass emigration of white people to Belgium, the Netherlands, and South Africa during the Congo Crisis, there are still a little under 5,000 Flemings estimated to be living in the Congo.
Index of Republic of the Congo-related articles
The republic is a former French colony. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. After a quarter century of Marxism, Congo completed its transition into a multi-party democracy in 1992. However, a brief civil war in 1997 ended in the restoration of former Marxist President Denis Sassou Nguesso to power.
Truth and Reconciliation commission DRC
The First Congo War referred to by some as the Great Wars of Africa or the African World Wars, began in 1996 with an invasion of the Congo-Zaire by its bordering states and Congolese rebel groups. The eastern part of Congo suffered destabilization as a result of the Rwandan Genocide, as many rebels, refugees and war criminals fled across the border from Rwanda in order to escape consequences of the conflicts during the genocide. As Mobutu Sese Seko's regime lost control of the eastern part of the country, a Congolese leader named Laurent-Désiré Kabila sought help from neighboring states in order to overthrow Mobutu's dictatorship. After successfully removing Mobutu from power with the help of Hutu and Tutsi forces in 1997, Kabila proclaimed himself president and renamed the country the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Disagreements between Kabila and his former allies Rwanda and Uganda over compensation and the future relationships of the neighboring states led to a growing sense of vulnerability as the Rwandan and Ugandan armies used to defeat Mobutu's army now stood uncontested in the capital Kinshasa.
Bills (subculture)
The Bills were a youth subculture active in Léopoldville (modern-day Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in the late 1950s, basing much of their image and outlook on the cowboys of American Western movies. Its name was taken from Buffalo Bill.
Lukunga District
Lukunga is one of the four districts that make up the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
It includes the communes (municipalities) of Barumbu, Gombe, Kinshasa, Kintambo, Lingwala, Mont Ngafula and Ngaliema.
The district takes its name from the Lukunga River.
This is a critical source of water for the district, compromised by silting.
Lukunga River
The Lukunga River is a river that flows through the capital city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a tributary of the Congo River.
Kinshasa lies on a plain that is surrounded by hills, drained by many rivers. Of these, the Lukunga is one of the more important, and for this reason gives its name to the Lukunga District of the city.
Palais de la Nation (Kinshasa)
The Palais de la Nation (French; Palace of the Nation) is a building in Gombe, Kinshasa, which since 2001 serves as the official residence of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The "palais" was built in 1956 to a design by Marcel Lambrichs, as the official residence of the colonial Governor-General. It is located in the north of Kinshasa, on the banks of the Congo River.
Traffic robots in Kinshasa
Thérèse Izay, an engineer from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, designed traffic robots that were initially placed in two locations in Kinshasa towards the end of 2013. By 2015 five robot traffic police were in use in Kinshasa and one in Lubumbashi. The use of robots as traffic lights may be unique to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Izay hopes the government will help by providing funds to produce more robots.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
French is the official language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is culturally accepted as the "lingua franca" facilitating communication among the many different ethnic groups of the Congo. According to a 2014 OIF report, 33 million Congolese people (47% of the population) could read and write in French. In the capital city Kinshasa, 67% of the population could read and write French, and 68.5% could speak and understand it.
Kananga
At the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference, in 1960, the name given to the negotiations for the independence of the then-Belgian Congo, a decision was taken that the new state would move the location of its capital from Kinshasa to Luluabourg, due to the latter's central location. However, due to multiple political setbacks, and particularly the secession attempt by Albert Kalonji and his South Kasai, this decision was never implemented. When the central government reconquered South Kasai in 1962, Luluabourg became the capital of the new Kasai-Occidental province. Kananga (as Luluabourg) was the site of the drafting of the first Congolese-written constitution for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1964.
In 1966, during an Africanization campaign, Mobutu Sese Seko renamed a number of cities and towns that bore European names. Leopoldville became Kinshasa, and Luluabourg became Kananga. The name Kananga derives from the Tshiluba word kanangayi meaning "a place for peace or love" as what is now central Kananga was a gathering place for pre-colonial chiefs to discuss treaties and to settle disputes.
Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge
The Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge is a proposed road-rail bridge planned to connect Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are major capital cities on the Congo River. The project has proceeded intermittently, most recently reactivated in 2017.
History of Rwanda
In the midst of this conflict, Kabila, whose primary intent had been to depose Mobutu, moved his forces to Kinshasa, and in 1997, the same year Mobutu Sese Seko died of prostate cancer, Kabila captured Kinshasa and then became president of Zaire, which he then renamed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With Kabila's success in the Congo, he no longer desired an alliance with the Tutsi-RPF Rwandan army and the Ugandan forces, and in August 1998 ordered both the Ugandans and Tutsi-Rwandan army out of the DRC. However, neither Kagame's Rwandan Tutsi forces nor Museveni's Ugandan forces had any intention of leaving the Congo, and the framework of the Second Congo War was laid.
List of Governors of Kinshasa
The city of Kinshasa has had a different status under each of the different regimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa was alternatively a commune, a city, a region, and a city-province hybrid. Consequently, the political leaders of the city have born different titles between 1960 and this day.
Makala
Makala is a municipality ("commune") in the Funa district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
There are currently twenty-five provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital, Kinshasa city, is administratively equivalent to a province.
Republic of the Congo
The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazza's treaty with King Makoko of the Bateke. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as Middle Congo in 1903. In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (the modern Central African Republic). The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural-resource extraction. The methods were often brutal: construction of the Congo–Ocean Railroad following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives.
Mbongwana Star
Mbongwana Star is a Congolese band from Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Of the seven members of the band, two of them (Coco Ngabali and Theo Nzonza) were among the founding members of Staff Benda Bilili.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Additionally, in northern Katanga, the Mai-Mai created by Laurent Kabila slipped out of the control of Kinshasa with Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga's Mai Mai Kata Katanga briefly invading the provincial capital of Lubumbashi in 2013 and 400,000 persons displaced in the province . On and off fighting in the Ituri conflict occurred between the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) and the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) who claimed to represent the Lendu and Hema ethnic groups, respectively. In the northeast, Joseph Kony's LRA moved from their original bases in Uganda and South Sudan to DR Congo in 2005 and set up camps in the Garamba National Park.
Kitona
Kitona is a town of about 4,000 persons in the Bas-Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located to the southwest of the country along the Atlantic Ocean, about 190 miles southwest of the capital city of Kinshasa. Following the Second World War, a Belgian military base, including an airbase, was established there, along with another at Kamina. Both bases played important roles during the early 1960s Congo Crisis.
Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Since the colonial era, Kinshasa, Congo's capital, has been one of the great centers of musical innovation. The country, however, was carved out from territories controlled by many different ethnic groups, many of which had little in common with each other. Each maintained (and continue to do so) their own folk music traditions, and there was little in the way of a pan-Congolese musical identity until the 1940s.
Limete
Limete is a municipality ("commune") in the Mont Amba district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Joseph Kabila
Kabila rose to the presidency on 26 January 2001 after the assassination of Laurent-Désiré Kabila, becoming the world's first head of government born in the 1970s. Aged 29, he was considered young and inexperienced. He subsequently attempted to end the ongoing civil war by negotiating peace agreements with rebel groups backed by Rwanda and Uganda, the same regional armies who had brought Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rebel group to power three years before. The 2002 peace agreement signed at the Inter-Congolese Dialogue in Sun City, South Africa, which nominally ended the Second Congo War, maintained Joseph Kabila as President and head of state of the Congo. An interim administration was set up under him, including the leaders of the country's two main rebel groups as vice-presidents (two other vice-presidents were representatives of the civilian opposition and government supporters respectively).
On 28 March 2004, an apparent coup attempt or mutiny around the capital Kinshasa, allegedly by members of the former guard of former president Mobutu Sese Seko (who had been ousted by Kabila's father in 1997 and died in the same year), failed. On 11 June 2004, coup plotters led by Major Eric Lenge allegedly attempted to take power and announced on state radio that the transitional government was suspended, but were defeated by loyalist troops.
Brazzaville
As of the 2007 census, it had a population of 1.37 million. The projection of the CNSEE (national statistics centre) shows an increase to 1.7 million by 2015, but the projection was made before 2007 and based on a lower estimate of the population (1.26 million) than recorded in the census. The United Nations Population Division estimate for 2014 is 1.83 million. The populous city of Kinshasa (more than 10 million inhabitants in 2014), capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies across the Congo River from Brazzaville. Together with Kinshasa, the combined conurbation of Kinshasa-Brazzaville would thus have about 12 million inhabitants, although significant political and infrastructure challenges prevent the two cities from functioning with any meaningful connection.
Outline of the Republic of the Congo
The republic is a former French colony. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. After a quarter century of Marxism, Congo became a multi-party democracy in 1992. However, a brief civil war in 1997 ended in the restoration of former Marxist President Denis Sassou Nguesso to power.Geography of the Republic of the Congo
List of ecoregions in the Republic of the Congo
SS Leninsky Komsomol
Republic of the Congo independence was declared on 15 of August, 1960. President Fulbert Youlou became the first President and he was deposed on 15 of August 1963 as a result of inspired by Trade unions due to powerful protests against corruption in the administrative apparatus on the background of deteriorating economic conditions. Brazzaville became the capital of the independent Republic of the Congo in 1960. The one-party political system was taken as per low.
History of the Republic of the Congo
Together these forces took Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire in the morning of October 16. Lissouba fled the capital while his soldiers surrendered and citizens began looting. Yhombi-Opango supported Lissouba during the war, serving as leader of the Presidential Majority, and after Sassou Nguesso's victory he fled into exile in Ivory Coast and France. Soon thereafter, Sassou Nguesso declared himself President and named a 33-member government.
Lower Congo
Lower Congo constitutes the 'lower' parts of the great Congo River in Central Africa, that is the section of the river from the river mouth at the Atlantic coast to the twin capitals of Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo and Kinshasa in the DR Congo.
History of Kinshasa
On May 20, 1997, after the First Congo War, Laurent-Désiré Kabila triumphantly marched with his rebel forces to take control of the country's capital after Mobutu fled into exile in France. However, the city was later nearly taken over by other rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda during the earlier part of the Second Congo War. It was very recently the scene of fighting between loyalists of Jean-Pierre Bemba and Joseph Kabila following the 2006 general elections; 600 people, including untold numbers of civilian bystanders were killed or wounded. Joseph Kabila, raised in Tanzania, and a poor speaker of French and Lingala, has not endeared himself to the locals.
Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 1971, the country was renamed Zaire, and three provinces were also renamed. In 1975, the capital city of Kinshasa obtained the status of a province. In 1988, the province of Kivu was split into three. In 1997, the country was renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the three provinces that had been renamed in 1971 either retook their previous name or took another.
Ndjili, Kinshasa
Ndjili or N'Djili is a municipality ("commune") in the Tshangu district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
It is named after the Ndjili River, which forms its western boundary.
Mbuji-Mayi
Mbuji-Mayi (formerly Bakwanga) serves as the capital city of Kasai-Oriental Province in the south-central Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the third largest city in the country, following the capital Kinshasa and second largest city Lubumbashi but ahead of Kisangani and Kananga, though the exact population is not known. Estimates ranged from a 2010 "CIA World Factbook" estimated population of 1,480,000 to as many as 3,500,000 estimated by the United Nations in 2008.
Ngiri-Ngiri
Ngiri-Ngiri is a municipality ("commune") in the Funa district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kingdom of Kongo
Álvaro also worked hard to westernize Kongo, gradually introducing European style titles for his nobles, so that the Mwene Nsundi became the Duke of Nsundi; the Mwene Mbamba became the Duke of Mbamba. The Mwene Mpemba became Marquis of Mpemba, and the Mwene Soyo became Count of Soyo. He and his son Álvaro II Nimi a Nkanga (crowned in 1587) bestowed orders of chivalry called the Order of Christ. The capital was also renamed São Salvador or "Holy Savior" in Portuguese during this period. In 1596, Álvaro's emissaries to Rome persuaded the Pope to recognize São Salvador as the cathedral of a new diocese which would include Kongo and the Portuguese territory in Angola. However, the king of Portugal won the right to nominate the bishops to this see, which became a source of tension between the two countries.
African French
With more than 10 million inhabitants, Kinshasa is the second largest francophone city in the world after Paris. It is the capital of the most populous francophone country in the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where an estimated 24 million people (40% of the total population) can speak French (essentially as a second language). Contrary to Abidjan where French is the first language of a large part of the population, in Kinshasa French is only a second language, and its status of "lingua franca" is shared with Lingala. Kinshasa French also differs from other African French variants, for it has some Belgian French influences, due to colonisation. People of different African mother tongues living in Kinshasa usually speak Lingala to communicate with each other in the street, but French is the language of businesses, administrations, schools, newspapers and televisions. French is also the predominant written language.
History of Africa
By the 15th century AD, the farming Bakongo people ("ba" being the plural prefix) were unified as the Kingdom of Kongo under a ruler called the "manikongo", residing in the fertile Pool Malebo area on the lower Congo River. The capital was M'banza-Kongo. With superior organization, they were able to conquer their neighbors and extract tribute. They were experts in metalwork, pottery, and weaving raffia cloth. They stimulated interregional trade via a tribute system controlled by the "manikongo". Later, maize (corn) and cassava (manioc) would be introduced to the region via trade with the Portuguese at their ports at Luanda and Benguela. The maize and cassava would result in population growth in the region and other parts of Africa, replacing millet as a main staple.
By the 16th century, the "manikongo" held authority from the Atlantic in the west to the Kwango River in the east. Each territory was assigned a "mani-mpembe" (provincial governor) by the "manikongo". In 1506, Afonso I (1506–1542), a Christian, took over the throne. Slave trading increased with Afonso's wars of conquest. About 1568 to 1569, the Jaga invaded Kongo, laying waste to the kingdom and forcing the "manikongo" into exile. In 1574, Manikongo Álvaro I was reinstated with the help of Portuguese mercenaries. During the latter part of the 1660s, the Portuguese tried to gain control of Kongo. Manikongo António I (1661–1665), with a Kongolese army of 5,000, was destroyed by an army of Afro-Portuguese at the Battle of Mbwila. The empire dissolved into petty polities, fighting among each other for war captives to sell into slavery.
Boulevard du 30 Juin
The Boulevard du 30 Juin ("Boulevard of June 30th") is a major 5‑km street in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the city center's main transport artery, connecting the southern area of La Gombe (Kinshasa's political and business district) with Kintambo and the Ngaliema to the west.
Kasa-Vubu, Kinshasa
Kasa-Vubu is a municipality ("commune") in the Funa district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is both a city ("ville" in French) and a province, one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its status is thus similar to that of Paris which is both a city and one of the 101 departments of France. The "ville-province" of Kinshasa is divided into four districts which are further divided into 24 "communes" (municipalities), which in turn contain various quarters (332 in total). Maluku, the rural province to the east of the urban area, accounts for 79% of the 9.965 km2 total land area of the "ville-province", with a population of 200,000–300,000.Under the Köppen climate classification, Kinshasa has a Tropical wet and dry climate. Its lengthy rainy season spans from October through May, with a relatively short dry season, between June and September. Kinshasa lies south of the equator, so its dry season begins around its winter solstice, which is in June. This is in contrast to African cities further north featuring this climate where the dry season typically begins around January. Kinshasa's dry season is slightly cooler than its wet season, though temperatures remain relatively constant throughout the year.
Leopold II of Belgium
Leopold II remains a controversial figure in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His statue in the capital Kinshasa (known until 1966 as Leopoldville in his honor) was removed after independence. Congolese culture minister Christophe Muzungu decided to reinstate the statue in 2005. He noted that the beginning of the Free State had been a time of some economic and social progress. He argued that people should recognize some positive aspects of the king as well as the negative; but hours after the six-metre (20 ft) statue was installed near Kinshasa's central station, it was officially removed.
Matete
Matete is a municipality ("commune") in the Mont Amba district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Republic of the Congo
During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, Brazzaville functioned as the symbolic capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of major reform in French colonial policy. Congo benefited from the postwar expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at Brazzaville. It also received a local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic.
Kinshasa
Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2001, is not overly popular in Kinshasa. Violence broke out following the announcement of Kabila's victory in the contested election of 2006; the European Union deployed troops (EUFOR RD Congo) to join the UN force in the city. The announcement in 2016 that a new election would be delayed two years led to large protests in September and in December which involved barricades in the streets and left dozens of people dead. Schools and businesses were closed down.
Congo River
Kinshasa was founded as a trading post by Stanley in 1881 and named Léopoldville in honour of Leopold II of Belgium. The Congo basin was claimed by Leopold II as Congo Free State in 1885.
December 2013 Kinshasa attacks
Attacks in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were launched by supporters of religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila against television studios, the airport and a military base in the capital on 30 December 2013. The state security forces responded, killing around 54 of the attackers. A further 47 of Mukungubila's supporters were killed in separate clashes in the cities of Lubumbashi and Kolwezi and around 100 people were arrested.
University of Kinshasa
In August 1971, the university was merged with the "Protestant Autonomous University of Congo" ("Université Libre du Congo") and "The University of Congo at Lubumbashi" (founded in 1956) into the "National University of Zaire" (Université Nationale du Zaïre, UNAZA). Ties were cut with the Catholic University of Leuven, and funding for the university began to drop precipitously. At this point, the university had an enrollment capacity of just 5,000.
Mont Ngafula
Mont Ngafula is a municipality ("commune") in the Lukunga district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kinshasa (commune)
In the 1940s it became linked to the historic heart of Léopoldville, now located at Kintambo, from the "". With the Africanization program initiated by President Mobutu in 1966, the name of the entire city was changed into Kinshasa, based on this original village.
Kimbanseke
Kimbanseke is a municipality ("commune") in the Tshangu district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Second Congo War
When Kabila gained control of the capital in May 1997, he faced substantial obstacles to governing the country, which he renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from Zaïre. Beyond political jostling among various groups to gain power and an enormous external debt, his foreign backers proved unwilling to leave when asked. The conspicuous Rwandan presence in the capital rankled many Congolese, who began to see Kabila as a pawn of foreign powers.
Republic of the Congo
The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes at least 3,000 years ago, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. Congo was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. The Republic of the Congo was established on the 28th of November 1958 but gained independence from France in 1960. The sovereign state has had multi-party elections since 1992, although a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War, and President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who first came to power in 1979, has ruled for 33 of the past 38 years.
Timeline of early HIV/AIDS cases
Human blood samples from 1959 and 1960 from Kinshasa, the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the Congo River, led scientists to extrapolate the virus back to the early 1900s, likely around 1908 in Africa. Around that time the virus may have been transmitted from another species. Paralleling the HIV discoveries, primate researchers found Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which was widespread among many populations of chimpanzees.
Angolan War of Independence
The former Belgian Congo and northern neighbor of Angola becomes independent in 1960, as the Republic of the Congo (known as "Congo-Léopoldville" and later "Congo-Kinshasa", being renamed "Republic of Zaire" in 1971), with Joseph Kasa-Vubu as president and Patrice Lumumba as prime-minister. Immediately after independence, a number of violent disturbances occur leading to the Congo Crisis. The white population becomes a target, with more than 80 000 Belgians residents being forced to flee from the country. The Katanga secedes under the leadership of Moïse Tshombe. The crisis led to the intervention of United Nations and Belgian military forces. The Congolese internal conflicts would culminate with the ascension to power of Mobutu Sese Seko in 1965.
Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 1884 the people of Boma were forced to 'grant' a protectorate of their country to the International Association of the Congo, made up of European powers. In 1886 King Leopold of Belgium established the Congo Free State, designating Boma as its capital. He ran the state as his personal fiefdom for several years, nearly enslaving many Congolese with a private military, and abusing them to force rubber production. International outrage and action by the Belgian legislature resulted in the government taking over supervision of what was established as the colony of the Belgian Congo.
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the major river port of the Congo. The port, called 'Le Beach Ngobila' extends for about along the river, comprising scores of quays and jetties with hundreds of boats and barges tied up. Ferries cross the river to Brazzaville, a distance of about . River transport also connects to dozens of ports upstream, such as Kisangani and Bangui.
Kananga
Under the 2006 constitution, the Democratic republic of the Congo was divided in 25 provinces, and one national Capital city (Kinshasa). The Kasai-Occidental was divided into two provinces. Kananga became the capital of the Lulua Province.
Canada–Democratic Republic of the Congo relations
One "successful partnership" cited by a Trade Commissioner with Canada's diplomatic mission in Kinshasa took place over 1993–2004, when CIDA, the World Bank, and Société nationale d'électricité (SNEL), the Congolese state electrical energy agency, funded a partnership between the Canadian company Berocan International, Inc., and a Congolese counterpart, Projelec, which provided electrification for 2,500 subscribers and public lighting in the capital city of Kinshasa. Through CIDA and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Montreal-based Berocan received a total of CDN$890k. in federal government support during 1995–1999. Projelec also partnered in 2009 with Rosemère, Quebec-based LTCC Hydro in a micro-hydroelectric power service on the Mpioka River to serve the Kimbanguist Christian community of Nkambe in Bas-Congo province.
Funa District
Funa is one of the four districts that make up the capital city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
It includes the communes (municipalities) of Bandalungwa, Bumbu, Kalamu, Kasa-Vubu, Makala, Ngiri-Ngiri and Selembao.
Kinshasa
Kinshasa (; ; formerly Léopoldville ( or Dutch )) is the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is situated alongside the Congo River.
Katanda Territory
Katanda Territory is one of five territories which, along with the city of Mbuji-Mayi, constitute the current Congolese province of Kasai-Oriental. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is made up of 192 territories and 20 cities which are grouped in 26 provinces including Kinshasa, the capital city. Katanda Territory is sectioned into four sectors: Baluba-Lubilanji, Mutwayi, Nsangu, and Tshitolo. The territory is also endowed with three towns (Katanda, Tshala and Tshitenge). Katanda Town is the headquarters of both Katanda Territory and Baluba-Lubilanji Sector as well; this town is located on the top of the hill in the Bena Nshimba Grouping. Tshala town, in the Bakwa Ndaba Grouping, is also famous because of its power station on the Tshala River that supplies power to Mbuji-Mayi city and its neighborhoods. So, Tshitenge Town which is well known for its diamond businesses is in the Bena Nshimba Grouping.
Kinshasa
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known by its French acronym MONUSCO (formerly MONUC) makes its headquarters in Kinshasa. In 2016 the UN placed more peacekeepers on active duty in Kinshasa in response to the recent unrest against Kabila. Critics, including recently the US ambassador to the UN, have accused the peacekeeping mission of supporting a corrupt government.
History of Kinshasa
While the modern city of Kinshasa has its roots in the 1881 establishment of Léopoldville by Belgian settlers, human settlement in the Kinshasa area has stretched back to at least the 1st millennium BC. In the Pool Malebo area, the Tio (or Bateke) populated the right side (north) of the river and others assimilated with the Téké culture (Humbu and Mfinu peoples) resided on the left side (south) of the river. The region was an area where the slave trade and ivory trade played a significant role in the economy, and enriched the Tio Kingdom.
Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is now under the regime of the constitution which was approved in a referendum by the Congolese people, and promulgated on February 18, 2006 by President Joseph Kabila. It is the Democratic Republic of the Congo's sixth constitution since 1960.
New political subdivisions were brought by this constitution. The country is divided in 25 provinces, and the capital-city of Kinshasa – to take full-effect 36 months after the official installation of the newly elected President, which occurred on December 6, 2006. The motto of the country is : "Justice, Peace, Work".
1960 Belgian Congo general election
Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium, frustrated by Belgium's lack of international power and prestige, attempted to persuade the Belgian government to support colonial expansion around the largely unexplored Congo Basin. The Belgian government's ambivalence about the idea led Leopold to eventually create the colony on his own account, achieving international recognition for the Congo Free State in 1885. By the turn of the century, however, the violence of Free State officials against indigenous Congolese and the ruthless system of economic extraction had led to intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control of the country, which it did in 1908, creating the Belgian Congo. The colony was divided into six provinces: Léopoldville, Équateur, Orientale, Kivu, Kasai, and Katanga. The city of Léopoldville was designated as the capital in 1923.
Pool Malebo
The capitals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo—Kinshasa and Brazzaville, respectively—are located on opposite shores of Pool Malebo. These are the two closest capital cities in the world (other than Rome, Italy and Vatican City, which are actually contiguous).
American School of Kinshasa
TASOK was founded in 1961 as "TASOL" for "The American School of Leopoldville", Leopoldville being the name of the capital of the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo. The "L" was amended to "K" when the name of the city was changed to Kinshasa in 1966.
Kasongo Munganga
On Saturday, July 22, 1944, Constantin Kasongo was born in Ngulungu, Katanda Territory. His father, Ilunga Munsensa, was polygamous and died before he was born. He lost his mother at an early age. As an orphan, he could no longer attend school in Katanda. Therefore, he went to continue his middle school in Lusambo. Then, he joined his big brother Gaspard Kazadi who were a farmer in Ngandajika to attend high school. We all know that the first Congolese doctor is a gynecologist, Doctor Ilunga Felicien. But all didn't that he's also Kasongo's big brother who sponsored relocation from the province of East Kasai to the capital Kinshasa, on 1962. Once arrived in Kinshasa, Kasongo registered to College Albert 1st (actually ), where he graduated from high school, majoring in Poetry and Rhetoric of literature. Afterward, he earned an Economics degree at Lovanium University, now the University of Kinshasa.
"Constantin Kasongo Munganga stepped in the capital Kinshasa for the first time on 1962."
James Kabarebe
During the First Congo War, Kabarebe was the commanding officer of a Rwandan-led army that crossed into the Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to defeat the ex-FAR and Interahamwe, Hutu militia groups that had committed the Rwandan genocide and were engaged in cross-border attacks on Rwanda. This war eventually spread across Zaire. As chief military strategist in Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rebel Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL), Kabarebe helped engineer the capture of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on May 17, 1997, and the defeat of Mobutu Sese Seko. At the end of this mission, he was appointed head of Congolese Army by Kabila. However, around 27 July 1998, Kabila dismissed him from the post. Kabila then appointed General Célestin Kifwa, a Congolese who had previously served in Angola.
Maluku, Kinshasa
Maluku is a municipality ("commune") in the Tshangu district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Districts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Districts and cities, other than the capital city of Kinshasa, and their territories or communes consist of the following:
History of the Republic of the Congo
Prior to independence, the French establishment and Catholic Church feared Opangault's radicalism and favored the rise of Fulbert Youlou, a former priest. The defection of Georges Yambot from the African Socialist Movement (MSA) to Youlou's Union Démocratique pour la Défense d'Intérêts Africains (UDDIA) helped Youlou become prime minister in 1958. This led to the establishment of the Republic of Congo on 28 November 1958 (with Brazzaville replacing Point Noire as the country's capital).
Pointe-Noire
In 1950, Pointe-Noire had 20,000 inhabitants, and became the capital of the Middle Congo, while Brazzaville was the capital city of the AEF. In 1957, the Middle-Congo became the Republic of Congo, although it was still not independent. Incidents which occurred during 1958 legislative elections led the leaders of the Democratic Union for the Defence of African Interests ("Union démocratique pour la défense des interets africains", UDDIA) to transfer the capital to Brazzaville, since Pointe-Noire was under the influence of the political opposition.
University of Kinshasa
The University of Kinshasa (), commonly known as UNIKIN, is one of the three major universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together with the University of Kisangani and University of Lubumbashi. Originally founded in 1954 as Lovanium University during Belgian colonial rule, the current university was established following the division of the National University of Zaire (UNAZA) in 1981. It is located in Kinshasa.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
On 17 May 1997, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, a leader of Tutsi forces from the province of South Kivu, became President after Mobutu fled to Morocco, reverting the country's name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tensions between President Kabila and the Rwandan and Tutsi presence in the country led to the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003. Ultimately, nine African countries and around twenty armed groups became involved in the war, which resulted in the deaths of 5.4 million people. The two wars devastated the country. President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards on 16 January 2001 and was succeeded eight days later as President by his son Joseph.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa
Established as the Apostolic Vicariate of the Belgian Congo by Pope Leo XIII in 1888, it was raised to the status of an archdiocese in 1959. In 1966, its name was changed from the Archdiocese of Léopoldville to the Archdiocese of Kinshasa. Today, the archdiocese covers a territory of 8,500 km² (3,283 sq mi) and, as of 2016, has a total population of 11,323,000, of whom 6,378,000 (56.3%) are Catholic. The archdiocese is served by 1,208 priests, including 238 diocesan priests and 970 religious priests, 1,661 male religious (including religious priests and brothers), and 1,982 religious sisters. The archdiocese has 143 parishes, including the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Congo in Kinshasa.
Kasa-Vubu, Kinshasa
Along with Kalamu, it forms the historical African heart of Kinshasa. Formerly known as Dendale, the town's name derives from the first president of the Congo after independence, Joseph Kasa-Vubu, who was elected mayor of the commune in 1957.
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi (former names: (French) and (Dutch)) in the southeastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second-largest city in the country, the largest being the capital, Kinshasa. Lubumbashi is the mining capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, acting as a hub for many of the country's biggest mining companies. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Haut-Katanga Province and is near the border with Zambia. Population estimates vary widely but average around 1.5 million.
Kinshasa (commune)
Founded and inhabited by the Teke people or Humbu people, the fishing village of Kinshassa, also spelled Kinchassa, was located at the river Congo before the arrival of the European colonialists. The word "nshasa" translates as "marsh". Henry Morton Stanley founded the station next to it after signing a treaty with the Teke chief Ntsuvila in the later half of the 19th century. It was linked by steam boat with other stations along the river and the Stanley Pool. With the foundation and expansion of neighbouring Léopoldville Station, the place became with Barumbu and Lingwala part of the city in the beginning of the 20th century.
Alicios Theluji
The family, which included Theluji, two siblings and their mother, relocated to Kinshasa, the capital and largest city in DR Congo. In 1993, when she was six years old, the family visited Kenya, but the returned to DR Congo. In 1996, when the First Congo War that removed Mobutu Sese Seko from power broke out, the family took refugee in Nairobi.
Kisangani
Kisangani's economy is the one largest of cities in the Congo Basin and is the largest in the former Orientale province. It's an intricate hub of business and commerce and is one of three "command centers" for the Congolese economy (along with Kinshasa and Lubumbashi). Before the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960, Kisangani was reputed to have more Rolls-Royces per capita than any other city in the world. It flourished because of the many Boyoman who prospered during a boom in coffee, cotton and rubber production late in the colonial era, when those commodities still fetched high prices. Strategically positioned and central on a geographical map of the continent of Africa, at the confluence of the Lualaba River and Congo River, Kisangani is the inception and terminus point of river traffic between east and west of DR Congo, playing a major economic role in the '5 Chantiers' economic recovery and redevelopment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The city is today an important centre of commerce, finance, industry, metallurgy, panning, real estate, hydro industries, agriculture, breweries, technology, culture, media, and arts.
Kingdom of Kongo
For nearly forty years, the kingdom of Kongo wallowed in civil war. With São Salvador in ruins, the rival houses had retreated to bases in Mbula (also known as Lemba) and Kibangu. In the midst of this crisis, a young woman named Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita appeared claiming that she was possessed by the spirit of Saint Anthony. She tried to win recognition for a reunification of the country. At first, in 1704, she tried with King Pedro IV Nusamu a Mvemba who ruled from Kibangu, east of the old capital. When he rebuffed her, she went to his rival João III Nzuzi a Ntamba, at his fortified mountain of Lemba (also known as Mbula), just south of the Congo River. After being driven away from there, she decided to call her followers to reoccupy the capital with her. Thousands came, and the city was repopulated. As she became more of a political actor, she became involved in the rivalry between the kings, eventually choosing to elect the Kibangu army commander Pedro Constantinho da Silva as a new king, over Pedro IV. However, she was captured shortly after this by Pedro IV's supporters, tried, condemned for witchcraft and heresy and burned in July, 1706. The movement continued in control of São Salvador, until Pedro IV's army stormed it in 1709.
Kindamba, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Kindamba is a town in the Bas-Congo province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, situated to the southwest of the capital, Kinshasa.
Lubumbashi
Congo entered another genocidal civil war in the late 1990s. The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo rebels captured Lubumbashi in April 1997. Rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila spoke from Lubumbashi to declare himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 17 May 1997 after Mobutu Sese Seko fled Kinshasa.
Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Boma was the capital city of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo (the modern Democratic Republic of the Congo) from 1 May 1886 to 1926, when the capital was moved to Léopoldville (since renamed Kinshasa). The port handles exports of tropical timber, bananas, cacao, and palm products.
Geography of the Republic of the Congo
The capital of the Republic of the Congo is Brazzaville, located on the Congo River immediately across from Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With a metropolitan population of approximately 1.5 million, Brazzaville is by far the largest city in the Republic, having almost twice the population of Pointe-Noire (663,400 as of the 2005 census), the country's second largest city. About 70% of the population lives in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or along the railroad between them.
See Also Geology in ROC
History of Kinshasa
The African population was 20,000 in 1920 and 27,000 in 1924; the European population rose from 245 in 1908 to 2521 in 1914 to 2521 in 1918. 1926, the city was elevated to capital of the Belgian Congo, replacing the town of Boma in the Congo estuary. By 1929 the city population was 48,088 including 2,766 Europeans and after a decline at the beginning of the 1930s began to rise again at the same rate. On the eve of independence in 1959 the city population was 300,000 including 25,000 Europeans.
The original layout of the city was segregated between African and European, with a “no man’s land” in between. As the city grew this in-between area became the commercial district. The city was formally redesigned in the 1930s with stricter rules for segregation and a bigger central area. A new central market for both races, as well as a golf club, a park, and a botanical garden for whites, were developed as part of the new "cordon sanitaire" dividing (not altogether effectively) the neighborhoods by race. Additional segregated master plans, proposed in Brussels and locally in the 1950s, were never implemented.
Convention People's Party
3. Ghana-Congo Agreement, August 1960
The outcome of a secret meeting in Accra between Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba, then Prime Minister of the Congo. They agreed to form a political union, a republican constitution within a federal framework. The capital to be Kinshasa (then Leopoldville). The Agreement was never implemented because of the fall of Lumumba’s government the following month and his subsequent assassination.
Democratic Republic of the Congo–United Kingdom relations
The United Kingdom established its first Diplomatic mission with the Congo Free State in 1902 when a British Consulate was built in the then capital Boma. A vice-consulate later opened in Léopoldville in 1906. In 1923 Léopoldville was proclaimed the capital of the Belgian Congo and in 1930 the British Consulate in Boma closed and the vice-consulate in Léopoldville became the consulate.
History of the Republic of the Congo
From the capital they ruled over an empire encompassing large parts of present-day Angola, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They ruled over nearby tributary states, often by appointing sons of the Kongo kings to head these states. It had six so-called provinces called Mbemba, Soyo, Mbamba, Mbata, Nsundi and Mpangu. With the Kingdom of Loango in the north and the Kingdom of Mbundu in the south being tributary states. In the East it bordered on the Kwango river, a tributary of the Congo River. In total the kingdom is said to have had 3 to 4 million inhabitants and a surface of about 300,000 km². According to oral traditions it was established in around 1400 when King Lukeni lua Nimi conquered the kingdom of Kabunga and established Mbanza Kongo as its capital.
Basankusu
Basankusu was the first trading post of the Abir Congo Company (ABIR) along the Congo River from Kinshasa (then known as Leopoldville), the capital of the Congo. Later known as the Compagnie du Congo Belge, the Abir Congo Company harvested natural rubber in the 19th and early 20th century. It was granted a large concession with the rights to tax the inhabitants, taken in the form of rubber. The collection system revolved around a series of trading posts along the two main rivers in the concession – the Lopori and the Maringa. Each post was commanded by a European agent and manned with armed sentries to enforce taxation and punish any rebels.
Kinshasa
Once a site of fishing and trading villages, Kinshasa is now a megacity with an estimated population of more than 11 million. It faces Brazzaville, the capital of the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, which can be seen in the distance across the wide Congo River, making them the world's second-closest pair of capital cities after Rome and Vatican City. The city of Kinshasa is also one of the DRC's 26 provinces. Because the administrative boundaries of the city-province cover a vast area, over 90 percent of the city-province's land is rural in nature, and the urban area occupies a small but expanding section on the western side.
Pascal Lissouba
Fighting broke out again in June 1997 when Lissouba engaged militias loyal to former President Col. Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Congolese Labor Party (PCT) in Brazzaville, accusing the former president of an attempted coup. Sassou Nguesso, however, was able to escape and stage a counterattack. Thus began a 4-month civil war that destroyed or damaged much of the capital. In early October 1997, Angolan troops invaded Congo on the side of Sassou. Most of Brazzaville fell to rebel and Angolan forces on October 14, 1997, and Lissouba fled; within two days the capital was under the control of forces loyal to Sassou Nguesso, and Pointe-Noire fell with little resistance. Sassou Nguesso proclaimed himself President on October 25, 1997, but militia forces loyal to Lissouba continued a guerrilla war. The vital Congo-Ocean Railway from the coastal city of Pointe-Noire was cut, and Brazzaville was heavily damaged before a cease-fire was agreed to in December 1999.
Étienne Tshisekedi
On 15 February 1982, Tshisekedi co-founded the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). The party remains popular in Congo's capital Kinshasa, the two Kasai and Bas-Congo provinces as well as other provinces, with its main goal being a non-violent change to democratic rule.