Kolwezi (Kolwezi City)
Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plant of the HVDC Inga-Shaba. The population is approximately 573,000.
Before the creation of Lualaba province in 2015 Kolwezi had two territories attached to it and the whole was known as the Kolwezi District.
The settlement was created in 1938 to be the headquarters for the western mining group of the Union Minière du Haut Katanga. In 1971 it obtained city status and consisted of the communes of Dilala and Manika. In 1976 the territories of Lubudi and Mutshatsha, both previously part of Lualaba District, were attached to it to form the Kolwezi District (districts were called sub-regions at the time). In the 2015 repartitioning this was undone, the two territories and the city proper became separate parts of Lualaba province with the city as capital of the new province.
Before the creation of Lualaba province in 2015 Kolwezi had two territories attached to it and the whole was known as the Kolwezi District.
The settlement was created in 1938 to be the headquarters for the western mining group of the Union Minière du Haut Katanga. In 1971 it obtained city status and consisted of the communes of Dilala and Manika. In 1976 the territories of Lubudi and Mutshatsha, both previously part of Lualaba District, were attached to it to form the Kolwezi District (districts were called sub-regions at the time). In the 2015 repartitioning this was undone, the two territories and the city proper became separate parts of Lualaba province with the city as capital of the new province.
Map - Kolwezi (Kolwezi City)
Map
Country - Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo
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| Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
Centered on the Congo Basin, the territory of the DRC was first inhabited by Central African foragers around 90,000 years ago and was reached by the Bantu expansion about 3,000 years ago. In the west, the Kingdom of Kongo ruled around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. In the northeast, center and east, the kingdoms of Azande, Luba, and Lunda ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th century. King Leopold II of Belgium formally acquired rights to the Congo territory in 1885 and declared the land his private property, naming it the Congo Free State. From 1885 to 1908, his colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber and committed widespread atrocities. In 1908, Leopold ceded the territory, which thus became a Belgian colony.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDF | Congolese franc | Fr | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| FR | French language |
| KG | Kongo language |
| LN | Lingala language |