Kongo Central | |
---|---|
Province du Kongo Central | |
Coordinates: 05°49′S13°29′E / 5.817°S 13.483°E | |
Country | DR Congo |
Capital and largest city | Matadi |
Government | |
• Body | Provincial Assembly of Kongo Central |
• Governor | Guy Bandu Ndungidi [1] |
Area | |
• Total | 53,920 km2 (20,820 sq mi) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 6,838,500 |
• Density | 130/km2 (330/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (West Africa Time) |
License Plate Code | CGO / 10 |
Official language | French |
National languages | Kikongo ya Leta, lingala [2] |
HDI (2017) | 0.432 [3] low |
Non-national language | Kikongo |
Kongo Central (Kongo : Kongo dia Kati [4] [5] ), formerly Bas-Congo, is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. [6] Its capital is Matadi.
At the time of independence, the area now encompassing Kongo Central was part of the greater province of Léopoldville, along with the capital city of Kinshasa and the districts of Kwango, Kwilu and Mai-Ndombe. Under Belgian colonial rule, the province was known as Bas-Congo (as in "Lower Congo River") and was renamed Kongo Central after independence. [7] [8]
Under the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 to 1997, the Congo river was renamed as Zaire. The province was named as Bas-Zaïre. The name was later reverted to Bas-Congo. It was subsequently renamed as Kongo Central in 2015.
Kongo Central is the only province in the country with an ocean coastline; it has narrow frontage on the Atlantic Ocean. It borders the provinces of Kinshasa to the north-east, Kwango to the east, and the Republic of Angola to the south as well as the Republic of the Congo and Cabinda to the north.
The provincial capital is Matadi. The only other official city is Boma. The remainder of the province is administratively divided into ten territories, the most of any province: [9]
Before 2015 these territories were divisions of the Bas-Fleuve, Cataractes and Lukaya districts; except for Moanda, which was attached to Boma (a city/district hybrid). [10]
Towns with their 2010 populations are:
Demographic features of the population of the Democratic Republic of the Congo include ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Kinshasa, formerly named Léopoldville before June 30, 1966, is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one of the world's fastest-growing megacities. With an estimated population of 16 million residents, it's the most densely populated city in the DRC and the most populous city in Africa. It is Africa's third-largest metropolitan area and the leading economic, political, and cultural center of the DRC. Kinshasa houses several industries, including manufacturing, telecommunications, banking, and entertainment. The city also hosts some of DRC's significant institutional buildings, such as the Palais du Peuple, Palais de la Nation, Court of Cassation, Constitutional Court, Cité de l'Union Africaine, Palais de Marbre, Stade des Martyrs, Immeuble du Gouvernement, Kinshasa Financial Center, and multiple federal departments and agencies.
Lingala (Ngala) is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in Angola, the Central African Republic, Kenya and southern South Sudan. Lingala has 25–30 million native speakers and about 35 million second-language speakers, for an approximate total of 60–65 million speakers.
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.
Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from the region and sold as slaves in the Americas. For this reason, while Kongo still is spoken in the above-mentioned countries, creolized forms of the language are found in ritual speech of Afro-American religions, especially in Brazil, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Suriname. It is also one of the sources of the Gullah language and the Palenquero creole in Colombia. The vast majority of present-day speakers live in Africa. There are roughly seven million native speakers of Kongo, with perhaps two million more who use it as a second language.
The Kongo people are a Bantu ethnic group primarily defined as the speakers of Kikongo. Subgroups include the Beembe, Bwende, Vili, Sundi, Yombe, Dondo, Lari, and others.
Zaïko Langa Langa is a Congolese soukous band formed in Kinshasa, in 1969. It was established by D.V. Moanda, Henri Mongombe, Marcellin Delo and André Bita, the band evolved from the Orchestre Bel Guide National, which is seen as Zaïko's predecessor. Co-founders included Papa Wemba, Jossart N'Yoka Longo, Manuaku Waku.
The culture of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely varied, reflecting the great diversity and different customs which exist in the country. Congolese culture combines the influence of tradition to the region, but also combines influences from abroad which arrived during the era of colonization and continue to have a strong influence, without destroying the individuality of many tribal customs.
"La Zaïroise" was the national anthem of Zaire, from 1971 to 1997. The lyrics were written by Joseph Lutumba, and the music was composed by Simon-Pierre Boka Di Mpasi Londi.
Gombe, also known as La Gombe, or Downtown Kinshasa, is one of the 24 communes of Kinshasa, in the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Encompassing a vast area of approximately 29.33 square kilometers, it is home to an approximate population of 49,024 residents (2014).
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a multilingual country where an estimated total of 242 languages are spoken. Ethnologue lists 215 living languages. The official language, since the colonial period, is French, one of the languages of Belgium. Four other languages, three of them Bantu based, have the status of national language: Kikongo, Lingala, Swahili and Tshiluba.
Kituba is a widely used lingua franca in Central Africa. It is a creole language based on Kikongo, a Bantu language. It is a national language in Republic of the Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Articles related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo include:
The Central Bank of the Congo is the central bank of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bank's main offices are on Boulevard Colonel Tshatshi in La Gombe in Kinshasa.
Bundu dia Kongo, known as BDK, is a new religious movement with a political and cultural agenda that is associated with the Kongo ethnic group. It was founded in June 1969 but officially in 1986 by Ne Muanda Nsemi, who was the group's current leader until his death and is mainly based in the Kongo Central (Bas-Congo) province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Mass media in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are both nationally and internationally state owned and operated.
The official language of the Republic of Congo is French. Other languages are mainly Bantu languages, and the two national languages in the country are Kituba and Lingala, followed by Kongo languages, Téké languages, and more than forty other languages, including languages spoken by Pygmies, which are not Bantu languages.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Paul Joseph Mukungubila Mutombo is a Congolese religious and political figure. He is the leader of the "Church of the Lord Jesus Christ", established in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kolwezi, Kalemie, Brussels, Paris and Washington DC area. He declared himself "prophet of the Lord" for "the Ministry of Restoration from Sub-Saharan Africa".
Zacharie Badiengila, known as Ne Muanda Nsemi, was a Congolese religious leader and politician. He was leader of the political and religious movement Bundu dia Kongo (BDK).
Le lingala est fortement utilisé dans les milieux des enfants et des jeunes, tandis que le Kikongo est principalement utilisé chez les vieilles personnes.[Lingala is used extensively among children and youth, while Kikongo is used primarily among older people.]