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Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and São Tomé and Príncipe are members of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Six of those states are also members of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) and share a common currency, the Central African CFA franc.
The pre-colonial history of the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo encompasses the history of the Congo Basin region up to the establishment of European colonial rule in the era of New Imperialism and particularly the creation of the Congo Free State and its expansion into the interior after 1885. As the modern territorial boundaries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo did not exist in this period, it is inseparable from the wider pre-colonial histories of Central Africa, the Great Lakes and Rift Valley as well as the Atlantic World and Swahili coast.
South Kasai was an unrecognised secessionist state within the Republic of the Congo which was semi-independent between 1960 and 1962. Initially proposed as only a province, South Kasai sought full autonomy in similar circumstances to the much larger neighbouring state of Katanga, to its south, during the political turmoil arising from the independence of the Belgian Congo known as the Congo Crisis. Unlike Katanga, however, South Kasai did not explicitly declare full independence from the Republic of the Congo or reject Congolese sovereignty.
Kazembe is a traditional kingdom in modern-day Zambia, Southeastern Congo. For more than 250 years, Kazembe has been an influential kingdom of the Kiluba-Chibemba, speaking the language of the Eastern Luba-Lunda people of south-central Africa. Its position on trade routes in a well-watered, relatively fertile and well-populated area of forestry, fishery and agricultural resources drew expeditions by traders and explorers who called it variously Kasembe, Cazembe and Casembe.
André-Philippe Futa was a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was originally from Miabi in Tshilenge District.
The Nation of Lunda was a confederation of states in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, north-eastern Angola, and north-western Zambia, its central state was in Katanga.
The Lunda are a Bantu ethnic group that originated in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo along the Kalanyi River and formed the Kingdom of Lunda in the 17th century under their ruler, Mwata Yamvo or Mwaant Yav, with their capital at Musumba. From there they spread widely through Katanga and into Eastern Angola, north-western Zambia and the Luapula valley of Zambia.
Miabi is a territory of the Kasai-Oriental province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is inhabited by the Bakwa Dishi and the land which is approximately 1,900 square miles (4,900 km2) is owned by its royal family.
Ilunga Mbidi was a soldier and cultural hero of the Luba and Lunda people.
Tshibinda Ilunga was a Luba Prince and Emperor of the Lunda and their civilizing hero.
Ilunga Tshibinda was a Mwata Gaand of Luba descent. He was the second son of Ilunga Mbidi and younger brother Kalala Ilunga.
Ferdinand Kazadi Lupeleka was a Congolese politician from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kazadi was a founding member of the College of Commissioners where he had been appointed General Commissioner of National Defense by President Joseph Mobutu, during the Congo Crisis in 1960. In 1969, he was appointed Commissioner of State for Public Matters and Territorial Management. He was elected Deputy Commissioner of the People on three occasions.
The Kingdom of Luba or Luba Empire (1585–1889) was a pre-colonial Central African state that arose in the marshy grasslands of the Upemba Depression in what is now southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Lulua people are a Bantu ethnic group settled along the Lulua River valley in south central Kasai-Occidental province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Lulua are in fact a collection of small groups whose home bordered by the larger Luba state and the related Songye people and Chokwe people, with whom they share a very similar culture, history, and language.
Arthur Lewis Piper was a medical missionary in the Belgian Congo, supported by the Detroit Epworth League. He worked for the Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the most remote mission station near Kapanga in the Belgian Congo. Piper helped the Lunda tribe battle malaria, sleeping sickness, and leprosy, among many other diseases.
The Yeke Kingdom of the Garanganze people in Katanga, DR Congo, was short-lived, existing from about 1856 to 1891 under one king, Msiri, but it became for a while the most powerful state in south-central Africa, controlling a territory of about half a million square kilometres. The Yeke Kingdom also controlled the only trade route across the continent from east to west, since the Kalahari Desert and Lozi Kingdom in the south and the Congo rainforest in the north blocked alternative routes. It achieved this control through natural resources and force of arms—Msiri traded Katanga's copper principally, but also slaves and ivory, for gunpowder and firearms—and by alliances through marriage. The most important alliances were with Portuguese–Angolans in the Benguela area, with Tippu Tip in the north and with Nyamwezi and Swahili traders in the east, and indirectly with the Sultan of Zanzibar who controlled the east coast traders.
Barthélemy Mukenge Nsumpi Shabantu was a Congolese politician who served as President of Kasaï Province from 11 June 1960 to January 1962 and July to September 1962. He was a president of the Association des Lulua-Frères, a Lulua ethnic syndicate, and a leading member of the Union National Congolaise. Though initially allied with nationalist Patrice Lumumba, he later denounced him and aligned himself with more moderate politicians. Following the division of Kasai Province in late 1962, Mukenge became Minister of Health and Minister of Social Affairs of the new Luluabourg Province. He later served as Governor of Kivu Province and on the Political Bureau of the Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution. He withdrew from politics in 1974 and died in 2018.
In August 1960 troops of the Republic of the Congo attempted to crush the secession of South Kasai by invading the declared state's territory. Though initially militarily successful, the attack faltered under intense international and domestic political scrutiny and the Congolese troops were withdrawn.
Queen Diambi Kabatusuila Tshiyoyo Muata is the traditional queen of the Order of the Leopard of the Bakwa Luntu tribe in Central Kasaï once part of the historic Kingdom of Luba. She is also an activist and businesswoman. HM Queen Diambi Kabatusuila was crowned as the queen of the Bena Tshiyamba People of Bakwa Indu of Central Kasaï Region part of the ancient Luba Empire in the Democratic Republic of Congo on August 31st 2016. She has been enthroned by all the Bakwa Luntu Chiefs on July 15 2017 and now holds the title of Diambi Kabatusuila Tshiyoyo Muata Mukalenga Mukaji Wa Nkashama Wa Bakwa Luntu. She was invested in Kinshasa by the Association of Congo Traditional and Customary Authorities ANATC on August 5th 2017. On March 3, 2019, the Queen was crowned in Salvador de Bahia, Queen Mother of the Bantu People of Brazil, the Historical African Diaspora, The Queen has been awarded with the title of Grande Mãe do Povo Bantu do Brasil and received the Tiradentes Medal from Parliament in Río de Janeiro, Brazil in March 2019.
