Lubumbashi
Encyclopedia
Lubumbashi is the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
, second only to the nation's capital Kinshasa
, and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province
, lying near the Zambian
border. Population estimates vary widely but average around 1.5 million.
. The Kafue River
rises along the Zambian border near the city and meanders through parts of Zambia to the Zambezi River.
(Cwa, according to the Köppen climate classification
), with warm summers and pleasant, dry winters, with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.
served as mayor of Lubumbashi; he was later elected to the National Assembly
in 2006.
founded the city of Élisabethville (sometimes Elizabethville, both in French, or Elisabethstad in Dutch) in 1910, named in honour of their queen Elisabeth, wife to king Albert I.
The location of the city was chosen by Vice-Governor-General Emile Wangermée because of the proximity to the copper mine of Etoile du Congo and the copper ore smelting oven installed by Union Minière du Haut Katanga
on the nearby Lubumbashi river.
The Comité Spécial du Katanga (CSK), a semi-private concessionary company set up in 1906, had its headquarters in Elisabethville throughout the colonial era. It enjoyed large privileges, mainly in terms of land and mining concessions, in the Katanga province.
The city prospered with the development of a regional copper mining industry. Huge investments in the 1920s, both in the mining industry and in transport infrastructure (railline Elisabethville-Port Francqui and Elisabethville-Dilolo), turned the Katanga province into one of the world's major copper ore producers. The population of the city grew apace from approx. 30,000 in 1930, to 50,000 in 1943 and 180,000 in 1957. It was the second city of the Belgian Congo
, after Léopoldville.
The city was the seat of the apostolic vicariat of Katanga. The first apostolic vicar, the formidable and authoritarian Mgr Jean-Felix de Hemptinne, occupied this post from the 1930s until his death in 1958. He is buried in the city's cathedral St Pierre et Paul.
As was customary in sub-saharan colonies, the city centre of Elisabethville was reserved for the white (European) population. This consisted mainly of Belgians, but there were also important British and Italian communities, as well as Jewish Greeks. Congolese were only allowed to be present in the white city during the day, except for the house servants ("boys") who often lived in precarious dwellings ("boyeries") in the backyards of the European city houses.
The black population consisted of labour immigrants from neighbouring regions in the Belgian Congo (Northern Katanga, Maniema, Kasaï), from Belgian Rwanda and Burundi and from British Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). The black population lived initially in a so-called cité indigène, called quartier Albert (now: Kamalondo), south of the city centre and separated from the white city by a 700 metres wide neutral zone. With population growth new indigenous quarters were created, that still form the main suburbs of present-day Lubumbashi: Kenia, Katuba, Ruashi.
Miners in Élisabethville conducted a strike in December 1941 to protest the increasingly severe forced-labor regime that the Belgians imposed on the population, because of the "war efforts".. A rally in the Union Minière football stadion got out of hand. Police opened fire and numerous protesters were killed. In early 1944 the city was again in the grip of severe tensions and fear of violent protests, following the mutiny of the Force Publique in Luluabourg.
Starting in 1933, the Belgian colonial authorities experimented with a limited form of self-governance by creating the cité indigène of Elisabethville into a so-called "centre extra-coutumier" (a centre not subject to customary law), administered by an indiginous council and presided over by an indiginous chief. However, through constant interference from the Belgian authorities, the experiment soon proved a failure. The first indigenous chief - Albert Kabongo - appointed in 1937, was dismissed in 1943 and not replaced. The system was abandoned in 1957, when Elisabethville was created a fully autonomous city and the first free municipal elections were organised in which the Congolese population participated. The people of Élisabethville gave a vast majority to the Nationalist Alliance de Bakongo, which demanded immediate independence from the Belgians.
Elisabethville functioned as the administrative capital of the Katanga province. It was also an important commercial and industrial centre, and a centre of education and health services. The Benedictine Order and Order of Salesians offered a wide range of educational facilities to Europeans and Congolese alike, including vocational training (Kafubu). The Belgians established the University of Élisabethville in 1954-1955 (now the University of Lubumbashi
).
proclaimed Katangan independence in July 1960. Congolese leaders arrested him and charged him with treason in April 1961; however, he agreed to dismiss his foreign advisers and military forces in exchange for his release. Tshombe returned to Élisabethville but repudiated these assurances and began to fight anew. United Nations
troops opposed Katangan forces and took control of the city in December 1961 under a strong mandate. However, the city suffered much indiscriminate property damage and looting by UN troops. Roger Trinquier
, well known for his published works on counter-insurgency warfare, served as a French military advisor to President Tshombe until international pressure, led by Belgium, caused his recall to France.
Mobutu Sese Seko
ultimately assumed power and renamed Élisabethville "Lubumbashi" in 1966 and, in 1972 renamed Katanga "Shaba."
In May 1990, the university campus of Lubumbashi was the scene of a brutal killing among students by Mobutu's security forces. In 1991-92 ethnic tensions between the Luba from Katanga and the Luba from Kasaï resident in the city led to violent confrontations and the forced removal from the city of the latter.
Congo entered another genocidal civil war in the late 1990s. The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo
rebels captured Lubumbashi in April 1997. Rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila
spoke from Lubumbashi to declare himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
on 17 May 1997 after Mobutu Sese Seko fled Kinshasa.
When Laurent-Désiré Kabila decided to appoint a transitional parliament, in 1999, a decision was made to install the Parliament in Lubumbashi, in order to consolidate the fragile unity of the country. The parliament was installed in the building of the National Assembly of secessionist Katanga (the former city theatre), which had its capital in this city as well, in the 1960s. Lubumbashi was therefore the Legislative capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
from 1999 to 2003, when all the country's central institutions were brought back to Kinshasa.
On 7 September 2010 a large prison break happened in Lubumbashi after gunmen attacked a prison on the outskirts of the city. 960 prisoners managed to escape, including the Mai-Mai leader Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga
.
, brick
s, and copper
smelting. The city is home to the Brasimba brewery, producing the famous Tembo beer.
The city hosts the headquarters of one of the country's largest banks, Trust Merchant Bank
. The area also has a daily newspaper
.
The airline Congo Express
has its head office in the Bâtiment Banque Congolaise in central Lubumbashi.
, Kindu
, Sakania
and Kolwezi
.
In the 1960s, the section from Mutshatsha
to Lubumbashi was electrified at 25 kV AC
.
. The city consequently serves as a distribution center for such minerals as copper
, cobalt
, zinc
, tin
, and coal
.
, a zoo
and the regional archaeological and ethnological National Museum of Lubumbashi. Some of the most prominent examples of colonial architecture, such as the art-déco style Palace of Justice, the Grand Hotel or the cathedral St Pierre et Paul, have been restored over recent years.
The city also hosts the major University of Lubumbashi
, which maintains a library
.
, founded in 1939. Their home stadium is Stade de la Kenya. Chairman of the club is the current Governor of the province of Katanga Moïse Katumbi. TP Mazembe was the first African club to reach the FIFA Club World Cup finals in 2010, which it lost in Abu Dhabi to Inter Milan on 18 December 2010.
NBA power forward, Bismack Biyombo
is from Lubumbashi.
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...
, second only to the nation's capital Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
, and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province
Katanga Province
Katanga Province is one of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was Shaba Province. Under the new constitution, the province was to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009; this did not actually take place.Katanga's regional...
, lying near the Zambian
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
border. Population estimates vary widely but average around 1.5 million.
Geography
Lubumbashi lies at around 1,000 metres above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. The Kafue River
Kafue River
The Kafue River sustains one of the world's great wildlife environments. It is a major tributary of the Zambezi, and of Zambia's principal rivers, it is the most central and the most urban, and the longest and largest lying wholly within Zambia....
rises along the Zambian border near the city and meanders through parts of Zambia to the Zambezi River.
Climate
Lubumbashi has a humid subtropical climateHumid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a climate zone characterized by hot, humid summers and mild to cool winters...
(Cwa, according to the Köppen climate classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
), with warm summers and pleasant, dry winters, with most rainfall occurring mainly during summer.
Government
From 2000-2006, Floribert Kaseba MakunkoFloribert Kaseba Makunko
Floribert Kaseba Makunko serves as ambassador to Zambia for the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From 2006 he served as a member of the National Assembly for the city of Lubumbashi in Katanga Province and as mayor of Lubumbashi from 1997 to 2006.A decree of November 15, 2005 the President of...
served as mayor of Lubumbashi; he was later elected to the National Assembly
National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Composition of the National Assembly...
in 2006.
Elisabethville under Belgian rule
The BelgiansBelgians
Belgians are people originating from the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe.-Etymology:Belgians are a relatively "new" people...
founded the city of Élisabethville (sometimes Elizabethville, both in French, or Elisabethstad in Dutch) in 1910, named in honour of their queen Elisabeth, wife to king Albert I.
The location of the city was chosen by Vice-Governor-General Emile Wangermée because of the proximity to the copper mine of Etoile du Congo and the copper ore smelting oven installed by Union Minière du Haut Katanga
Union Minière du Haut Katanga
The Union Minière du Haut Katanga was a Belgian mining company, once operating in Katanga, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
on the nearby Lubumbashi river.
The Comité Spécial du Katanga (CSK), a semi-private concessionary company set up in 1906, had its headquarters in Elisabethville throughout the colonial era. It enjoyed large privileges, mainly in terms of land and mining concessions, in the Katanga province.
The city prospered with the development of a regional copper mining industry. Huge investments in the 1920s, both in the mining industry and in transport infrastructure (railline Elisabethville-Port Francqui and Elisabethville-Dilolo), turned the Katanga province into one of the world's major copper ore producers. The population of the city grew apace from approx. 30,000 in 1930, to 50,000 in 1943 and 180,000 in 1957. It was the second city of the Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
, after Léopoldville.
The city was the seat of the apostolic vicariat of Katanga. The first apostolic vicar, the formidable and authoritarian Mgr Jean-Felix de Hemptinne, occupied this post from the 1930s until his death in 1958. He is buried in the city's cathedral St Pierre et Paul.
As was customary in sub-saharan colonies, the city centre of Elisabethville was reserved for the white (European) population. This consisted mainly of Belgians, but there were also important British and Italian communities, as well as Jewish Greeks. Congolese were only allowed to be present in the white city during the day, except for the house servants ("boys") who often lived in precarious dwellings ("boyeries") in the backyards of the European city houses.
The black population consisted of labour immigrants from neighbouring regions in the Belgian Congo (Northern Katanga, Maniema, Kasaï), from Belgian Rwanda and Burundi and from British Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). The black population lived initially in a so-called cité indigène, called quartier Albert (now: Kamalondo), south of the city centre and separated from the white city by a 700 metres wide neutral zone. With population growth new indigenous quarters were created, that still form the main suburbs of present-day Lubumbashi: Kenia, Katuba, Ruashi.
Miners in Élisabethville conducted a strike in December 1941 to protest the increasingly severe forced-labor regime that the Belgians imposed on the population, because of the "war efforts".. A rally in the Union Minière football stadion got out of hand. Police opened fire and numerous protesters were killed. In early 1944 the city was again in the grip of severe tensions and fear of violent protests, following the mutiny of the Force Publique in Luluabourg.
Starting in 1933, the Belgian colonial authorities experimented with a limited form of self-governance by creating the cité indigène of Elisabethville into a so-called "centre extra-coutumier" (a centre not subject to customary law), administered by an indiginous council and presided over by an indiginous chief. However, through constant interference from the Belgian authorities, the experiment soon proved a failure. The first indigenous chief - Albert Kabongo - appointed in 1937, was dismissed in 1943 and not replaced. The system was abandoned in 1957, when Elisabethville was created a fully autonomous city and the first free municipal elections were organised in which the Congolese population participated. The people of Élisabethville gave a vast majority to the Nationalist Alliance de Bakongo, which demanded immediate independence from the Belgians.
Elisabethville functioned as the administrative capital of the Katanga province. It was also an important commercial and industrial centre, and a centre of education and health services. The Benedictine Order and Order of Salesians offered a wide range of educational facilities to Europeans and Congolese alike, including vocational training (Kafubu). The Belgians established the University of Élisabethville in 1954-1955 (now the University of Lubumbashi
University of Lubumbashi
The University of Lubumbashi is one of the largest universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in Lubumbashi, the capital city of Katanga province....
).
Lubumbashi from 1960
Élisabethville served as the capital and center of the secessionist independent state of Katanga during the 1960-1963 Congolese civil war. Moise TshombeMoise Tshombe
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe was a Congolese politician.- Biography :He was the son of a successful Congolese businessman and was born in Musumba, Congo. He received his education from an American missionary school and later trained as an accountant...
proclaimed Katangan independence in July 1960. Congolese leaders arrested him and charged him with treason in April 1961; however, he agreed to dismiss his foreign advisers and military forces in exchange for his release. Tshombe returned to Élisabethville but repudiated these assurances and began to fight anew. United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
troops opposed Katangan forces and took control of the city in December 1961 under a strong mandate. However, the city suffered much indiscriminate property damage and looting by UN troops. Roger Trinquier
Roger Trinquier
Roger Trinquier was a French Army officer during World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War, serving mainly in airborne and Special forces units...
, well known for his published works on counter-insurgency warfare, served as a French military advisor to President Tshombe until international pressure, led by Belgium, caused his recall to France.
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga , commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko , born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1965 to 1997...
ultimately assumed power and renamed Élisabethville "Lubumbashi" in 1966 and, in 1972 renamed Katanga "Shaba."
In May 1990, the university campus of Lubumbashi was the scene of a brutal killing among students by Mobutu's security forces. In 1991-92 ethnic tensions between the Luba from Katanga and the Luba from Kasaï resident in the city led to violent confrontations and the forced removal from the city of the latter.
Congo entered another genocidal civil war in the late 1990s. The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo
Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo
The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire was a coalition of Congolese dissidents, disgruntled minority groups and nations that toppled President Mobutu Sese Seko and brought Laurent Kabila to power in the First Congo War...
rebels captured Lubumbashi in April 1997. Rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila was President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from May 17, 1997, when he overthrew Mobutu Sese Seko, until his assassination by his bodyguards on January 18, 2001...
spoke from Lubumbashi to declare himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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 17 May 1997 after Mobutu Sese Seko fled Kinshasa.
When Laurent-Désiré Kabila decided to appoint a transitional parliament, in 1999, a decision was made to install the Parliament in Lubumbashi, in order to consolidate the fragile unity of the country. The parliament was installed in the building of the National Assembly of secessionist Katanga (the former city theatre), which had its capital in this city as well, in the 1960s. Lubumbashi was therefore the Legislative capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
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...
from 1999 to 2003, when all the country's central institutions were brought back to Kinshasa.
On 7 September 2010 a large prison break happened in Lubumbashi after gunmen attacked a prison on the outskirts of the city. 960 prisoners managed to escape, including the Mai-Mai leader Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga
Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga
Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga is a leader of the Mai-Mai militia group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. On 16 May 2006 he was detained. In 2009 he and his wife were convicted for committing crimes against humanity during the Second Congo War. Gédéon was sentenced to death...
.
Economy
Lubumbashi serves as an important commercial and national industrial center. Manufactures include textiles, food products and beverages, printingPrinting
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
, brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s, and copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
smelting. The city is home to the Brasimba brewery, producing the famous Tembo beer.
The city hosts the headquarters of one of the country's largest banks, Trust Merchant Bank
Trust Merchant Bank
Trust Merchant Bank or TMB, is an independent commercial bank based in the Democratic Republic of Congo , with its headquarters located in Lubumbashi. The bank began operations in 2004...
. The area also has a daily newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
.
The airline Congo Express
Congo Express
Congo Express is a regional airline in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that commenced operations on 1 February 2010 on two routes flying out of Kinshasa. It currently flies only one route, between Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. It is a partnership between BizAfrika Congo, a Congolese company, and...
has its head office in the Bâtiment Banque Congolaise in central Lubumbashi.
Rail
Lubumbashi lies at the centre of railway lines to IleboIlebo
Ilebo, formerly known as Port-Francqui, is a town in Kasaï District in the Democratic Republic of Congo, lying at the highest navigable point of the Kasaï River. As such, it is an important transport hub for ferries to Kinshasa and trains to Lubumbashi....
, Kindu
Kindu
Kindu is a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the capital of Maniema province. It has a population of about 200,000 and is situated on the Congo River at an altitude of about 500 metres, and is about 400 km west of Bukavu....
, Sakania
Sakania
Sakania is a town in Haut-Katanga District, in the far south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the border with Zambia.It is located at an elevation of 1278m asl ,therefore it has a cool climate....
and Kolwezi
Kolwezi
Kolwezi is a city in Katanga 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. The population is approximately 418,000....
.
In the 1960s, the section from Mutshatsha
Mutshatsha
Mutshatsha is a town in central Democratic Republic of the Congo.- See also :* Railway stations in DRCongo* Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo- External links :* * *...
to Lubumbashi was electrified at 25 kV AC
25 kV AC
The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...
.
Air
Lubumbashi is home to the modern Lubumbashi International AirportLubumbashi International Airport
Lubumbashi International Airport is an airport in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo .-Airlines and destinations:-History:Lubumbashi International Airport was founded in colonial times as the Elisabethville Airport....
. The city consequently serves as a distribution center for such minerals as copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
, zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
, and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
.
Tourism and culture
Attractions in the city include a botanical gardenBotanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
, a zoo
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
and the regional archaeological and ethnological National Museum of Lubumbashi. Some of the most prominent examples of colonial architecture, such as the art-déco style Palace of Justice, the Grand Hotel or the cathedral St Pierre et Paul, have been restored over recent years.
The city also hosts the major University of Lubumbashi
University of Lubumbashi
The University of Lubumbashi is one of the largest universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in Lubumbashi, the capital city of Katanga province....
, which maintains a library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
.
Sports
Lubumbashi is home to football club TP MazembeTP Mazembe
Tout Puissant Mazembe, formerly known as Englebert, are a Congolese football club based in Lubumbashi. Their home games are played at Stade Municipal de Lubumbashi. Its nickname is Les corbeaux despite having a crocodile with a ball in its mouth on the team crest...
, founded in 1939. Their home stadium is Stade de la Kenya. Chairman of the club is the current Governor of the province of Katanga Moïse Katumbi. TP Mazembe was the first African club to reach the FIFA Club World Cup finals in 2010, which it lost in Abu Dhabi to Inter Milan on 18 December 2010.
NBA power forward, Bismack Biyombo
Bismack Biyombo
Bismack Biyombo Sumba is a Congolese professional basketball player for the Charlotte Bobcats...
is from Lubumbashi.