Kole, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Encyclopedia
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
on the Lukenie River
Lukenie River
The Lukenie River is a river in the central Congo basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo .River barges from Kinshasa journey up the Congo, Kwah , and Fimi Rivers to the Lukenie as far as the landing at Kole, a journey of 6 to 12 weeks. This is not done during the low water season , however,...
. It is the administrative center of the Kole Territory, which in turn is part of the Sankuru District
Sankuru District
Sankuru District is a district located in the Kasai-Oriental province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
of the Kasai-Oriental
Kasai-Oriental
Kasai-Oriental is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It borders the provinces of Kasai-Occidental to the west, Équateur to the northwest, Orientale to the northeast, Maniema to the east, and Katanga to the south. Kasai-Oriental is one of the richest diamond producing...
Province.
Kole is sometimes designated "Kole Sur Lukenie" to distinguish it from other "Koles" in the DRC.
Demography and ethnography
According to local Ministry of Health officials, the population of the town in 2007 was about 10,060 persons (the total for the territoire is said to be 71,040). The settlement consists of a few score stuccoed brick buildings, many of them left over from the now defunct cotton plantations of the area. The majority of residents, however, live in very simple wattle and daubWattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
houses of their own construction.
The people of Kole, and for tens of kilometers around the town, belong to a subtribe of the Nkutu
Nkutu
Nkutu is a Bantu language of northern Kasai-Oriental Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Local dialects include Elembe, Hamba, Lokalo , Kongola-Meno, Ngongo, and Saka . It is a member of the Tetela family of Bantu languages and is closely related to Tetela, Kela, Kusu, and Yela....
(or Okutshu) known as the Elembe (also called Ohindu or Ohendo). They speak a dialect (Kihindo) which is mutually intelligble with other Nkutu tongues, as well as with that of their other near neighbors (and relatives), the Tetela
Tetela
Tetela may refer to: Democratic Republic of the Congo:*Tetela people*Tetela language Mexico:*Tetela del Volcán, Morelos*Tetela, Oaxaca*Tetela de Ocampo, Puebla*Tetela de Xonotla, Puebla*Los Ángeles Tetela, Puebla...
. The Elembe are traditionally settled farmers in contrast to other Nkutu groups which are traditional hunting communities. All of these peoples (the Elembe, other Nkutu and the Tetela) are members of the Bantu Mongo
Mongo people
The Mongo are the most numerous ethnic group of the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are a diverse collection of peoples living in the equatorial forest, south of the main Congo River bend and north of the Kasai and Sankuru Rivers...
"super-tribe". (Additional, smaller Nkutu subtribes/dialects in the area include the Ngongo
Ngongo
Ngongo may mean:*"Ngongo", nickname of Angolan government official Roberto Leal Monteiro*Ngongo , a dialect of the Congolese language Nkutu...
, the Hamba and the Saka.) Most (perhaps 80 to 90%) tribespeople around Kole also speak Lingala, a few speak French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and a very few speak English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Transportation
Kole is home to a marketMarket
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
and a small dirt airfield (about 1200 to 1400 m of usable length; See Kole Sur Lukenie Airport
Kole Sur Lukenie Airport
Kole Sur Lukenie Airport is an airport in Kole, Democratic Republic of the Congo . It is a dirt airstrip with about 1200 to 1400 m of usable length. It is located at .-Charter services:...
).
The Lukenie River is navigable by river barges up to the Kole Landing, but generally no further. A barge from Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
may land at Kole once or twice a year, after a 6 to 12 week journey up the Congo
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
, Kwah (Kasai
Kasai River
The Kasai River is a tributary of the Congo River, located in central Africa. The river begins in Angola and serves as the border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo , then flows into the DRC, where it joins the Congo northeast of Kinshasa. The Kasai's tributaries include the...
), Fimi
Fimi River
The Fimi River is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It flows from Lake Mai-Ndombe to the Kasai River, which in turn empties into the Congo. One of the Fimi's tributaries is the Lukenie River, which is navigable by barges as far as Kole....
, and Lukenie Rivers. This is not done during the low water season (June-August), however, for fear of stranding for long periods.
The nearest large town to Kole is Lodja
Lodja
Lodja is a town in central Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the administrative center of the Sankuru District. It is located at around .Lodja is home to the Lodja Airport....
, the administrative center of Sankuru District, about 6 hours drive to the east on very poor roads.
History
Located in Kole since 1958 is the Hôpital General de Référence (HGR) Kole (formerly the Centre Médical de Congolais (CMC) Kole). Although a government public health hospital, the facility has been operated since 1970 by a congregationCongregation (catholic)
The term "congregation" has three usages specific to the Roman Catholic Church. One concerns the Roman Curia, the other two concern religious institutes.- Roman Curia :...
of Roman Catholic nuns, the Sœurs Missionnaires du Christ Jésus, based in Spain since their founding in 1944. The HGR/K sees a significant number of patients suffering from human monkeypox
Monkeypox
Monkeypox also known as cockpox is an exotic infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus. The disease was first identified in laboratory monkeys, hence its name, but in its natural state it seems to infect rodents more often than primates...
infection, at times enough to fill a ward.
The town saw incursions by Rwandan soldiers in 2001-2002, during the Second Congo War
Second Congo War
The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...
. The area has been devoid of cattle since that time as the soldiers killed and ate them all. The Rwandans encamped near Dekese, about 100 km downstream from Kole. At least three firefights with Congolese regulars (resulting in about 50 dead Ruwandans) persuaded them to move on. This was the furthest point west that the Rwandan "front" extended during the conflict.
See also
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