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Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Provinces de la République démocratique du Congo (French) | |
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Category | 1st-level administrative division of a unitary state |
Location | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
Number | 26 provinces (1 is a city-province) |
Populations | 1,250,000 (Bas-Uele) – 13,916,000 (Kinshasa) |
Areas | 9,545 km2 (3,685 sq mi) (Kasaï-Oriental) – 199,567 km2 (77,053 sq mi) (Tshopo) |
Government |
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Subdivisions |
United Nations Mission |
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Democratic Republic of the Congoportal |
Article 2 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo divides the country into the capital city of Kinshasa and 25 named provinces. It also gives the capital the status of a province. [1] Therefore, in many contexts Kinshasa is regarded as the 26th province.
Map | Province | ISO 3166-2 Code | Capital | Area in km2 (sq mi) [2] | Population (2019) [2] | Population density (per km2in 2019) | Previous province | Time zone |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kinshasa | KN | – | 9,965 (3,848) | 13,916,000 | 1,396.5 | Kinshasa | UTC+1 |
2 | Kongo Central | BC | Matadi | 53,920 (20,820) | 6,365,000 | 118 | Bas-Congo | UTC+1 |
3 | Kwango | KG | Kenge | 89,974 (34,739) | 2,416,000 | 26.9 | Bandundu | UTC+1 |
4 | Kwilu | KL | Bandundu | 78,533 (30,322) | 6,169,000 | 78.6 | Bandundu | UTC+1 |
5 | Mai-Ndombe | MN | Inongo | 127,243 (49,129) | 2,082,000 | 16.4 | Bandundu | UTC+1 |
6 | Kasaï | KS | Tshikapa | 95,631 (36,923) | 3,165,000 | 33.1 | Kasaï-Occidental | UTC+2 |
7 | Kasaï-Central | KC | Kananga | 59,500 (23,000) | 3,743,000 | 62.9 | Kasaï-Occidental | UTC+2 |
8 | Kasaï-Oriental | KE | Mbuji-Mayi | 9,545 (3,685) | 3,601,000 | 377.3 | Kasaï-Oriental | UTC+2 |
9 | Lomami | LO | Kabinda | 56,426 (21,786) | 2,801,000 | 49.6 | Kasaï-Oriental | UTC+2 |
10 | Sankuru | SA | Lusambo | 104,331 (40,282) | 2,417,000 | 23.2 | Kasaï-Oriental | UTC+2 |
11 | Maniema | MA | Kindu | 132,250 (51,060) | 2,654,000 | 20.1 | Maniema | UTC+2 |
12 | South Kivu | SK | Bukavu | 64,791 (25,016) | 6,565,000 | 101.3 | South Kivu | UTC+2 |
13 | North Kivu | NK | Goma | 59,483 (22,967) | 7,574,000 | 127.3 | North Kivu | UTC+2 |
14 | Ituri | IT | Bunia | 65,658 (25,351) | 4,008,000 | 61 | Orientale | UTC+2 |
15 | Haut-Uele | HU | Isiro | 89,683 (34,627) | 2,046,000 | 22.8 | Orientale | UTC+2 |
16 | Tshopo | TO | Kisangani | 199,567 (77,053) | 2,582,000 | 12.9 | Orientale | UTC+2 |
17 | Bas-Uele | BU | Buta | 148,331 (57,271) | 1,250,000 | 8.4 | Orientale | UTC+2 |
18 | Nord-Ubangi | NU | Gbadolite | 56,644 (21,870) | 1,425,000 | 25.1 | Équateur | UTC+1 |
19 | Mongala | MO | Lisala | 58,141 (22,448) | 1,950,000 | 33.5 | Équateur | UTC+1 |
20 | Sud-Ubangi | SU | Gemena | 51,648 (19,941) | 2,755,000 | 53.3 | Équateur | UTC+1 |
21 | Équateur | EQ | Mbandaka | 103,902 (40,117) | 1,712,000 | 16.5 | Équateur | UTC+1 |
22 | Tshuapa | TU | Boende | 132,957 (51,335) | 1,789,000 | 13.5 | Équateur | UTC+1 |
23 | Tanganyika | TA | Kalemie | 134,940 (52,100) | 3,570,000 | 24.5 | Katanga | UTC+2 |
24 | Haut-Lomami | HL | Kamina | 108,204 (41,778) | 3,444,000 | 31.8 | Katanga | UTC+2 |
25 | Lualaba | LU | Kolwezi | 121,308 (46,837) | 2,993,000 | 24.7 | Katanga | UTC+2 |
26 | Haut-Katanga | HK | Lubumbashi | 132,425 (51,130) | 5,378,000 | 40.6 | Katanga | UTC+2 |
When Belgium annexed the Belgian Congo as a colony in November 1908, it was initially organised into 22 districts. Ten western districts were administered directly by the main colonial government, while the eastern part of the colony was administered under two vice-governments: eight northeastern districts formed Orientale Province, and four southeastern districts formed Katanga. In 1919, the colony was organised into four provinces:
In 1932, the colony was reorganised into six provinces. Initially they were named after their capital cities, but in 1947 regional names were adopted. [3]
The Belgian Congo became an independent country in 1960, named Republic of the Congo. By 1963, the country was organised into 21 provinces (informally called provincettes) plus the capital city of Léopoldville, similar to the original 22 districts under colonial rule. In 1966, the 21 provincettes were grouped into eight provinces, and the capital city was renamed Kinshasa. [3]
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. [3]
Article 2 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adopted in 2006, specifies a territorial organisation into 26 provinces, [4] again resembling the previous provincettes and original colonial districts. The reorganisation was scheduled to take effect within three years of the new constitution's promulgation, however progress was slow. [5] In October 2007 the Minister for Decentralisation, Denis Kalume Numbi, presented a bill for decentralisation in the National Assembly. The subsequent debate turned up a variety of issues that first had to be addressed with changes to related laws. [6] In an October 2010 conclave of the ruling AMP coalition, it was proposed to revise Article 226, which calls for the creation of 26 provinces out of the current 11, in order to allow more time for the transition. [7] On 9 January 2015 the National Assembly passed a law on the new administrative divisions of the country, according to which new provinces should be installed in period of 12 months. [8] [9]
Belgian Congo | First Republic | Second Republic (Zaire) | Third Republic | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1908 | 1919 | 1932 | 1947 | 1963 | 1966 | 1971 | 1988 | 1997 | 2015 |
22 districts | 4 provinces | 6 provinces | 6 provinces | 21 provinces + capital | 8 provinces + capital | 8 regions + capital | 11 regions | 11 provinces | 26 provinces |
Tanganika-Moero | Katanga | Élisabethville | Katanga | Nord-Katanga | Katanga | Shaba | Katanga | Tanganyika | |
Haut-Lomami | |||||||||
Lulua | Lualaba | Lualaba | |||||||
Haut-Luapula | Katanga-Oriental | Haut-Katanga | |||||||
Lomami | Lusambo | Kasaï | Lomami | Kasaï-Oriental | Lomami | ||||
Sankuru | Congo-Kasaï | Sankuru | Sankuru | ||||||
Kasaï | Sud-Kasaï | Kasaï-Oriental | |||||||
Luluabourg | Kasaï-Occidental | Kasaï-Central | |||||||
Unité-Kasaïenne | Kasaï | ||||||||
Moyen-Congo | Léopoldville | Léopoldville | Kinshasa | ||||||
Bas-Congo | Congo-Central | Bas-Zaïre | Bas-Congo | Kongo Central | |||||
Kwango | Kwango | Bandundu | Kwango | ||||||
Kwilu | Kwilu | ||||||||
Lac Léopold II | Équateur | Mai-Ndombe | Mai-Ndombe | ||||||
Équateur | Coquilhatville | Équateur | Cuvette-Centrale | Équateur | Équateur | ||||
Tshuapa | |||||||||
Lulonga | Moyen-Congo | Mongala | |||||||
Bangala | |||||||||
Ubangi | Ubangi | Nord-Ubangi | |||||||
Sud-Ubangi | |||||||||
Bas-Uele | Orientale | Stanleyville | Orientale | Uele | Orientale | Haut-Zaïre | Orientale | Bas-Uele | |
Haut-Uele | Haut-Uele | ||||||||
Ituri | Kibali-Ituri | Ituri | |||||||
Stanleyville | Haut-Congo | Tshopo | |||||||
Aruwimi | |||||||||
Maniema | Costermansville | Kivu | Maniema | Kivu | Maniema | ||||
Lowa | |||||||||
Kivu | Nord-Kivu | Nord-Kivu | |||||||
Kivu-Central | Sud-Kivu |
Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba, and Haut-Katanga provinces. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province.
Kongo Central, formerly Bas-Congo, is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Matadi.
Équateur was a province in the northwest of the Belgian Congo and the successor Republic of the Congo, now known as Democratic Republic of the Congo. It had its origins in the Équateur District of the Congo Free State, the private property of King Leopold II of Belgium. It was upgraded to the status of a province in 1917. Between 1933 and 1947 it was named Coquilhatville. In 1962 it was divided into three smaller provinces, but there were recombined in 1966. Équateur was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo until 2015, when it was split into the new, smaller Équateur province, as well as the Tshuapa, Mongala, Nord-Ubangi and Sud-Ubangi provinces.
Orientale Province is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary changes between 1898 and 2015, when it was divided into smaller units.
The Third Republic of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a unitary state with a five-level hierarchy of types of administrative division. There are nine different types of country subdivision in a new hierarchy with no new types but with two from the previous one abolished.
Équateur is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Équateur, Mongala, Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, and Tshuapa provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Équateur province. The new province was formed from the Équateur district and the independently administered city of Mbandaka which retained its status as a provincial capital.
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.
The Republic of the Congo was a sovereign state in Central Africa, created with the independence of the Belgian Congo in 1960. From 1960 to 1966, the country was also known as Congo-Léopoldville to distinguish it from its northwestern neighbor, which is also called the Republic of the Congo, alternatively known as "Congo-Brazzaville". In 1964, the state's official name was changed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but the two countries continued to be distinguished by their capitals; with the renaming of Léopoldville as Kinshasa in 1966, it became also known as Congo-Kinshasa. After Joseph Désiré Mobutu, commander-in-chief of the national army, seized control of the government in 1965, the Democratic Republic of the Congo became the Republic of Zaire in 1971. It would again become the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997. The period between 1960 and 1964 is referred to as the First Congolese Republic.
The provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo were divided into 26 districts. Those in turn were divided into territories or communes.
Lualaba District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The district dates back to the days of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. The original Lualaba District was merged into Katanga in 1910, but in 1933 a new Lualaba District was formed within Katanga. After various significant boundary changes, in 2015 the district became the western part of the present Lualaba Province.
Kabinda District was a district of the Belgian Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2015 it was merged with the independently administered city of Mwene-Ditu to form Lomami Province.
Équateur District was a former district of the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1914 it became part of former Équateur Province. The district went through various changes of extent and name over the years. The original district roughly corresponds to the current provinces of Équateur and Tshuapa.
Kwango is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It's one of the 21 provinces created in the 2015 repartitioning. Kwango, Kwilu, and Mai-Ndombe provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Bandundu province. Kwango was formed from the Kwango district whose town of Kenge was elevated to capital city of the province.
Haut-Lomami District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The district dates back to the days of the Belgian Congo. At its greatest extent it roughly corresponded to the northern part of the current Lualaba Province and to the present Haut-Lomami Province.
The Districts of the Belgian Congo were the primary administrative divisions when Belgium annexed the Congo Free State in 1908, each administered by a district commissioner. In 1914 they were distributed among four large provinces, with some boundary changes. In 1933 the provinces were restructured into six, again with boundary changes. The number of districts fluctuated between 12 and 26 through splits and consolidations, first rising, then falling, then rising again.
Stanleyville District was a district of the Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It went through various changes in extent. Between 1933 and 1963 it had roughly the same extent as the current Tshopo province.
Haut-Luapula District was a district of the Belgian Congo from 1912 to 1933, when it was dissolved. It roughly corresponded to the southern part of the present Haut-Katanga Province.
Tanganika-Moero District was a district of the Belgian Congo from 1912 to 1933, when it was dissolved. It roughly corresponded to the present Tanganyika Province and the northern part of Haut-Katanga Province.
Tanganika District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The district dates back to the days of the Belgian Congo. At its greatest extent it roughly corresponded to the present Tanganyika Province, with a small portion in the southwest now in Haut-Lomami Province.
Luapula-Moero District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It roughly corresponded in area to the present Haut-Katanga Province.