Bandundu borders Kinshasa and Bas-Congo to the west, Equateur to the north, and Kasai-Occidental to the east. The provincial capital is
also called Bandundu (formerly Banningville).
In 1966, Bandundu was formed by merging the three post-colonial political regions: Kwilu, Kwango, and Mai-Ndombe. Following the 2006 Constitution,
the three regions will be restored as provinces by 18 February 2009.
Two main trade languages are spoken in the Bandundu Province: Lingala, spoken north of the Kasai River, and Kituba (also called Kikongo ya Leta) spoken
south of the river. These languages have become so commonplace that many have grown up using them as their first language. There are also many local dialects.
Bas congo, Kongo Central (formerly Congo Centrale, Bas-Zaïre, then Bas-Congo). At the time of the independence of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, the province was part of the greater province of Leopoldville, along with the current provinces of Kinshasa, Kwango, Kwilu and Mai-ndombe.
It is the only province with a coastline (Atlantic Ocean), and its provincial capital is Matadi. The province borders Kinshasa to the north-east, Kwango
to the east, and the Republic of Angola to the south. The only other official city is Boma. Other towns include Banana, Muanda, Boma, Mbanza-Ngungu,
Kitona, Lukula, Maduda, Kimpese and Vivi. In legal terms, Muanda is mainly a territory of the City of Boma, but also a town (territories take their
names from the name of their main town). Banana is a town in the territory of Muanda.
Kasai-Oriental (East Kasai). Its provincial capital is Mbuji-Mayi. It borders Kasai-Occidental to the west, Equateur to the north-west, Orientale to
the north-east, Maniema to the east, and Katanga to the south. It is one of the richest diamond producing regions in the world. Following the
promulgation (effective on 18 February 2009) of the 2006 Constitution, Kasai-Oriental will be divided into the following provinces:
Kasai oriental
Lomami
Sankuru
Kasai-Occidental (West Kasai). Its provincial capital is Kananga. It borders Bandundu to the west, Equateur to the north, Kasai-Oriental to the
east, and Katanga to the south-east. To the south it borders the country of Angola.
Kananga
Tshikapa
Ilebo
Kinshasa (formerly French: Léopoldville, and Dutch: Leopoldstad is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, known as Zaire from 1971 to 1997. The city is located on the Congo River.
Once, a site of fishing villages, Kinshasa is now an urban area with a population of nearly 8 million in 2007. The city of Brazzaville (about 1.5 million inhabitants in 2007 with its suburbs), capital of the Republic of Congo, lies just across the Congo River from Kinshasa. Together with Brazzaville, the combined conurbation of Kinshasa-Brazzaville has thus nearly 11 million inhabitants. Because the administrative boundaries cover such a vast area, over 60% of the city's land is rural in nature.
Kinshasa ties with Johannesburg for the status of the second largest city in sub-Saharan Africa and the third largest in the whole continent after Lagos and Cairo. It is often considered the second largest francophone city in the world after Paris, though on criteria such as number of native speakers Montreal retains this distinction, as African languages, especially Lingala, are more widely spoken in Kinshasa than French is. If current demographic trends continue, Kinshasa will surpass Paris in population before 2020. Residents of Kinshasa are known as Kinois (French) or Kinshasans (English).
The city was founded as a trading post by Henry Morton Stanley in 1881 and named Léopoldville in honor of King Leopold II of Belgium. The post flourished as the first navigable port on the Congo River above Livingstone Falls, a series of rapids over 300 kilometres (190 mi) 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 150 km (93 mi) from the coast. The completion of the Matadi-Kinshasa portage railway in 1898 provided a faster and more efficient alternative route around the rapids and sparked the rapid development of Léopoldville. By 1920, the city was elevated to capital of the Belgian Congo, replacing the town of Boma in the Congo estuary.
When the Belgian Congo became independent of Belgium in 1960, Dutch was dropped as an official language. In 1965 Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in the Congo in his second coup and initiated a policy of "Africanizing" the names of people and places in the country. In 1966, Léopoldville was renamed Kinshasa for a village named Kinchassa that once stood near the site. 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. This inevitably brought about a change to the city's ethnic and linguistic composition as well. Although it is situated in territory that traditionally belongs to the Bateke and Bahumbu people, the lingua franca in Kinshasa today is Lingala.
In 1974, Kinshasa hosted the 'Rumble in the Jungle' boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, in which Ali defeated Foreman to regain the World Heavyweight title.
Kinshasa suffered greatly due to Mobutu's excesses, mass corruption, nepotism and the civil war that led to his downfall. Nevertheless, it is still a major cultural and intellectual center for Central Africa, with a flourishing community of musicians and artists. It is also the country's major industrial center, processing many of the natural products brought from the interior. The city has recently had to fend off rioting soldiers who were protesting the government's inability to pay them.
Équateur is one of the 25 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo under the 2006 Constitution. Along with the provinces of Nord-Ubangi,
Mongala, Sud-Ubangi and Tshuapa, it was formed from the pre-2006 province of Équateur. The capital of Équateur Province is the city of Mbandaka.
The post-2006 Équateur province is itself a former province known as Cuvette-Centrale, having first separated from the former Équateur region in 1962. Léon Engulu
served as the only president (later, governor) of Cuvette-Centrale from 1962-1966, when the province was reincorporated into the recreated
Équateur province by the Mobutu regime.
Mbandaka
Katanga is a southern province. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province is to
be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009. Its regional capital is Lubumbashi (formerly Elisabethville in French, Elisabethstad in
Dutch). Its area is 518,000 km² (larger than California and 16 times larger than Belgium, its former colonial ruler). Katanga has a population of
about 4.1 million. Farming and ranching are carried out on the Katanga Plateau. The eastern part of the province is a rich mining region, which
supplies cobalt, copper, tin, radium, uranium, and diamonds. The capital city, Lubumbashi, is the second largest city in the Congo.
In 2009, the name of Katanga will survive only as Haut-Katanga Province, one of the four new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The other three new administrative divisions carved out of former Katanga are: Tanganyika Province, Lualaba Province and Haut-Lomami Province.
8. Maniema is a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its provincial capital is Kindu. It borders Kasai-Oriental to the west, Orientale to the north,
Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu to the east, and Katanga to the south. Maniema consists of the city of Kindu and seven territories:
Maniema is a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its provincial capital is Kindu. It borders Kasai-Oriental to the west, Orientale
to the north, Nord-Kivu and Sud-Kivu to the east, and Katanga to the south. Maniema consists of the city of Kindu and seven territories:
City of Kindu
Commune of Kasuku
Commune of Mikelenge
Commune of Alunguli
Kailo
Kabambare
Kasongo
Kibombo
Lubutu
Pangi
Punia
Nord-Kivu (also Kivu-Nord, North Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its provincial
capital is Goma.
It borders Ituri Province to the north, Tshopo Province to the northwest, Maniema to the southwest and Sud-Kivu to the south.
To the east it borders Uganda and Rwanda.The province consists of three cities — Goma, Butembo and Beni — and five territories — Beni, Lubero,
Masisi, Rutshuru and Walikale. The province is home to the Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site containing the endangered Mountain Gorillas.
The region was the scene of much fighting during the Second Congo War (1998–2003), and the Kivu conflict (2004-present).
In 2003 the Eighth Military Region of the new Congo Government's FARDC was established covering the province. Brigadier General
Vainqueur Mayala is the current military region commander.[1] During late 2008, the FARDC maintained its dismal record in combat
against Laurent Nkunda's CNDP faction, losing the Rumangabo military camp to the rebels.
The dissident Mai-Mai 85th Brigade, commanded by Colonel Samy Matumo, controls the casserite mine at Bisie, just north of Manoire in Walikale,
in the south-east of North Kivu.[2] The former RCD-K/ML also has fighters in the province; 'at the beginning of the transition [2002-3] the
RCD-Mouvement de Libération president declared he had 8-10,000 Armée Patriotic Congolaise (APC) troops in the Beni-Lubero area of North Kivu.
Sud-Kivu (Kivu-Sud, South Kivu) is a province of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its provincial
capital is Bukavu.
It borders the provinces of Nord-Kivu to the north, Maniema to the west, and Katanga to the south. To the east it borders
the countries of Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania.
In formal DRC categorisation, the Province has one city, Bukavu, but other localities and territories include Baraka, Fizi, Kabare,
Katana, Kaziba, Lemera, Mwenga, Nundu, Nyangezi, Shabunda, Uvira and Walungu
Orientale (also Oriental; formerly Haut-Zaïre, then Haut-Congo) is a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It lies in the northeast
of the country, and its provincial capital is Kisangani. It borders Equateur province to the west, Kasai-Oriental to the southwest, Maniema
to the south, and Nord-Kivu to the southeast. It also borders the Central African Republic and Sudan to the north, and Uganda to the east.
