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Kikwit | |
---|---|
Ville de Kikwit | |
Coordinates: 5°02′19″S18°49′05″E / 5.03861°S 18.81806°E | |
Country | DR Congo |
Province | Kwilu Province |
City status | 1970 |
Communes | Kazamba, Lukemi, Lukolela, Nzinda |
Government | |
• Mayor | Abe Ngiama [1] |
Area | |
• Urban | 92 km2 (36 sq mi) |
Elevation | 452 m (1,483 ft) |
Population (2017) [2] | |
• City | 186,991 |
• Urban | 458,000 |
• Urban density | 5,000/km2 (13,000/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (West Africa Time) |
Climate | Aw |
National language | Kikongo ya leta |
Kikwit is the largest city of Kwilu Province, lying on the Kwilu River in the southwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kikwit is also known in the region under the nickname "The Mother". The population is approximately 458,000 (2017). An important commercial centre, it is home to a stadium and is known for its traditional dances, in particular the Bapende dancers whose geographic origin centers on the village of Gungu. Bapende dancers often wear traditional costumes comprising colorful masks and attire made from raffia.
In 1995 the city saw a serious outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. [3]
Singer King Kester Emeneya was born in Kikwit in 1956. In April 2014, a tribute concert held in Kikwit to honor King Kester Emeneya ended in disaster, and at least thirteen people in the stadium died in a stampede following a power failure. [4]
Kikwit is home to Kikwit Airport, operating domestic flights to Kinshasa. Kikwit is also connected to Kinshasa by road and river transport.
The Pende people are also from Idiofa and Tshikapa (Kasai). The Pende dancers are known as Mungandji (1) or Mingandji (many).
Bandundu is one of eleven former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It bordered the provinces of Kinshasa and Bas-Congo to the west, Équateur to the north, and Kasai-Occidental to the east. The provincial capital is also called Bandundu.
The Kwilu River is a major river in Kwilu Province, formerly known as Bandundu province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the city of Bandundu, where it joins the Kwango River just before this stream enters the Kasai River. In the DRC the river flows past the towns of Gungu, Kikwit, Bulungu, Bagata, Rutherfordia and Bandundu. Lusanga, formerly Leverville, lies at the location where the Kwenge River joins the Kwilu, between Kikwit and Bulungu.
Mbandaka is a city on the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo located near the confluence of the Congo and Ruki rivers. It is the capital of Équateur Province.
Bandundu, formerly known as Banningville or Banningstad, is the capital city of Kwilu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Kwassa kwassa is a dance created by Jeanora, a mechanic in Kinshasa from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that started in the 1980s, where the hips move back and forth while the hands move to follow the hips. It was very popular in Africa.
Jean Baptiste Emeneya Mubiala Kwamambu was a Congolese singer best known as King Kester Emeneya.
Articles related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo include:
Kikwit Airport is an airport serving the Kwilu River port of Kikwit, the capital city of the Kwilu District in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The airport is within the city limits.
Barbara Kanam Mutund, known professionally as Barbara Kanam, is a Congolese singer-songwriter, music producer, actress, philanthropist, and currently serves as the Director General of the Cultural Promotion Fund of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She gained fame after being discovered by Alpha Blondy and producer Dodo Kone, who helped her release her debut studio album Mokili in 1999. The album's gospel-influenced lead single "Mokili Ekoleka" earned her a television appearance at the Koras Awards. Teti, her second studio album, released in 2003, won her Most Promising African Female Artist at the 2003 Kora Award. Teti won her many accolades, including two consecutive Best Female of Central Africa for Kunde d'Or and Tamani d'O in 2004, two consecutive Black Music Awards for Best Female and Best Video for "Bibi Madeleine" in 2005.
Kwilu is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It's one of the 21 provinces created in the 2015 repartitioning. Kwilu, Kwango, and Mai-Ndombe provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Bandundu province. Kwilu was formed from the Kwilu district and the independently administered cities of Bandundu and Kikwit. Bandundu is the provincial capital. The 2020 population was estimated to be 6,682,300.
The Kwenge River is a stream in the Bandundu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Bulungu is a community in the Kwilu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies on the southwestern bank of the Kwilu River, downstream from Kikwit. Bulungu is the headquarters of the Bulungu Territory. As of 2012 the population was estimated to be 57,168.
In 2014, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) occurred. Genome sequencing has shown that this outbreak was not related to the 2014–15 West Africa Ebola virus epidemic, but was of the same EBOV species. It began in August 2014 and was declared over in November of that year, after 42 days without any new cases. This is the 7th outbreak there, three of which occurred during the period of Zaire.
Kwilu District was a district of the Belgian Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It roughly corresponded to the present province of Kwilu.
The 2018 Équateur province Ebola outbreak occurred in the north-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from May to July 2018. It was contained entirely within Équateur province, and was the first time that vaccination with the rVSV-ZEBOV Ebola vaccine had been attempted in the early stages of an Ebola outbreak, with a total of 3,481 people vaccinated. It was the ninth recorded Ebola outbreak in the DRC.
Kazamba is a commune in the city of Kikwit, Kwilu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lukemi is a commune in the city of Kikwit, Kwilu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Lukolela is a commune in the city of Kikwit, Kwilu province, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe is a Congolese microbiologist. He is the general director of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Institut National pour la Recherche Biomedicale (INRB). He was part of team at the Yambuku Catholic Mission Hospital that investigated the first Ebola outbreak, and was part of the effort that discovered Ebola as a new disease, although his exact role is still subject to controversy. In 2016, he led the research that designed, along with other researchers at the INRB and the National Institute of Health Vaccine Research Center in the US, one of the most promising treatment for Ebola, mAb114. The treatment was successfully experimented during recent outbreaks in the DRC, on the express decision of the then DRC Minister of Health, Dr Oly Ilunga, despite a prior negative advice from the World Health Organization.
In August–November 1976, an outbreak of Ebola virus disease occurred in Zaire. The first recorded case was from Yambuku, a small village in Mongala District, 1,098 kilometres (682 mi) northeast of the capital city of Kinshasa.