Lubumbashi

"Elisabethville" redirects here. For the Belgian ocean liner, see SS Elisabethville. For the Belgian community in Birtley, County Durham, see The Birtley Belgians.
Ville de Lubumbashi

Seal
Nickname(s): L'shi – Lubum

Location in the Congo
Country  Democratic Republic of the Congo
Province Katanga
Founded 1910
Government
 • Mayor Jean Oscar Sanguza Mutunda
Area
 • Total 747 km2 (288 sq mi)
 • Land 747 km2 (288 sq mi)
Elevation 1,208 m (3,963 ft)
Population (2012)
 • Total 1,786,397
 • Density 2,400/km2 (6,200/sq mi)
Time zone DRC2 (UTC+2)
Climate Cwa
Lubumbashi
Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Lubumbashi (formerly official names: Élisabethville (French) and  Elisabethstad  (Dutch)) in the southeastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the second-largest city in the country, after the capital Kinshasa. Lubumbashi is the mining capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, acting as a hub for many of the country's biggest mining companies.[1] The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga Province, lying near the border with Zambia. Population estimates vary widely but average around 1.5 million.

Government

From 2000–2006, Floribert Kaseba Makunko served as mayor of Lubumbashi. He was later elected to the National Assembly in 2006.

History

Élisabethville under Belgian rule

The Belgian government established the modern-day government in 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. By that time, the government had taken over the colony from King Leopold II, and renamed it as the Belgian Congo. This site was chosen by Vice-Governor-General Emile Wangermée because of its 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 major 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.[2] Huge investments in the 1920s, both in the mining industry and in transport infrastructure (railline Elisabethville-Port Francqui and Elisabethville-Dilolo), developed 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 Belgian Quarter in Lubumbashi

As was customary in sub-Saharan colonies, the city centre of Elisabethville was reserved for the white (European) population. This consisted mainly of Belgian nationals, but the city also attracted important British and Italian communities, as well as Jewish Greeks. Congolese were allowed in the white city only during the day, except for the house servants ("boys") who often lived in shanty dwellings ("boyeries") located in the backyards of the European city houses. Many men in the black population were labour immigrants from neighbouring regions in the Belgian Congo (Northern Katanga, Maniema, Kasaï), from Belgian Rwanda and Burundi, and from British Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).[3] 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. These still form the main suburbs of present-day Lubumbashi: Kenia, Katuba, Ruashi. The work and businesses related to the mines made Elisabethville the most prosperous region of the Congo during the final decade of Belgian rule. In 1954 there were 8,000 black home owners in the city while thousands more were skilled workers. It was estimated that black Africans living in Elisabethville had a higher standard of living than anywhere else on the continent at that time.[4]

Lubumbashi: 1920s Palace of Justice

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".[5] A rally in the Union Minière football stadium 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 a mutiny of the Force Publique (army) in Luluabourg.[6]

Starting in 1933, the Belgian colonial authorities experimented with a limited form of self-governance by establishing the cité indigène of Elisabethville as a so-called "centre extra-coutumier" (a centre not subject to customary law). It was administered by an indigenous council and presided over by an indigenous chief. But, due to constant interference from the Belgian authorities, the experiment soon proved a failure.[7] The first indigenous chief – Albert Kabongo – appointed in 1937, was dismissed in 1943 and not replaced.

In 1957 Elisabethville was established as a fully autonomous city; it held the first free municipal elections in which the Congolese could vote. The people of Élisabethville gave a vast majority to the nationalist Alliance des Bakongo, which demanded immediate independence from Belgium.

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 missionary 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).

Lubumbashi: cathedral St Pierre et Paul

Lubumbashi from 1960

Élisabethville served as the capital and centre of the secessionist independent state of Katanga during the 1960–1963 Congolese civil war. Moise Tshombe 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. 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 of the Congo, which he renamed Zaïre. He renamed Élisabethville as "Lubumbashi" in 1966 and, in 1972 renamed Katanga as "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, he decided 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.[8] On 23 March 2013 a militia group of 100 fighters attacked Lubumbashi and seized a United Nations compound, which was surrounded by Congolese soldiers and members of the president's Republican Guard.[1]

Religion

The city was the seat since 1910 of the Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Katanga, which became the Apostolic Vicariate of Katanga in 1932. The first apostolic vicar, the formidable and authoritarian Mgr Jean-Felix de Hemptinne, occupied this post until his death in 1958. He is buried in the city's cathedral, St Pierre et Paul. In 1959, the till then exempt missionary jurisdiction was promoted to Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Elisabethville, renamed Lubumbashi in 1966, chief of one of the republic's six ecclesiastical provinces.

Small numbers of Jehovah's Witnesses are present in the city.[9] Simon Kimbangu, founder of Kimbanguism, an African Christian sect, was imprisoned near Lubumbashi (then Elizabethville) for about three decades after organizing mass protests.[9]

Jewish people arrived in Lubumbashi along with other Europeans. In 1930 a synagogue was erected in the city. Most of the few hundred Jews remaining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo reside in Lubumbashi.[9]

In 2013, the Bahá'í World Centre released an hour-and-a-half-long video in five languages entitled Frontiers of Learning, showing Bahá'í community-building activities for people of all religions taking place in four cities from different continents, the second of which was Lubumbashi.[10]

Geography

Lubumbashi lies at around 1,208 meters (3,963 ft.) above sea level. The high altitude serves to cool the climate, which would otherwise be very hot. The Kafue River rises along the Zambian border near the city and meanders through north-central Zambia to the Zambezi River, cutting a long, deep, panhandle into the country.

Climate

Lubumbashi has a humid subtropical climate (Cwa, according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm rainy summers and pleasant, dry winters, with most rainfall occurring during summer and early autumn. Annual average rainfall is 1,238 mm (48.75 inches).

Lubumbashi
Climate chart (explanation)
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Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: World Climate Guide

Economy

Lubumbashi serves as an important commercial and national industrial centre. Manufactures include textiles, food products and beverages, printing, bricks, and copper smelting. The city is home to the Simba brewery, producing the famous Tembo beer.

The city hosts the headquarters of one of the country's largest banks, Trust Merchant Bank. The airline Korongo Airlines, a joint-venture between Brussels Airlines and the Belgian multinational Groupe George Forrest International, also maintains its head office in Lubumbashi. The area also has a daily newspaper.

Storefronts in Lubumbashi

Mining

Lubumbashi, the mining capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a base for many of the country's biggest mining companies. The Democratic Republic of Congo produces "more than 3 percent of the world's copper and half its cobalt, most of which comes from Katanga."[1]

Transport

Rail

Lubumbashi lies at the centre of railway lines to Ilebo, Kindu, Sakania and Kolwezi.

In the 1960s, the section from Mutshatsha to Lubumbashi was electrified at 25 kV AC.

Air

Lubumbashi is home to the modern Lubumbashi International Airport. The city serves as a distribution centre for such minerals as copper, cobalt, zinc, tin, and coal.

Public Transport

Every day, thousands of people have to move by public transport. The business and commercial center, located in Lubumbashi district, is the main destination of most people. As a result, all the transport lines lead to the city centre.

The busiest stop downtown is “Kasapa” for minibuses and “Le Château” near the Post office for taxis.

Motorcycles in Lubumbashi

Sites and tourism

Attractions in the city include a botanical garden, 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 Catholic cathedral St Pierre et Paul, have been restored since the late 20th century.

The city hosts the major University of Lubumbashi, which maintains a library.

University of Lubumbashi

Zoo

The zoo of Lubumbashi is one of the most visited tourist attractions. It was created during the colonial period, and is considered the nicest zoo in the country. During the years of war, it deteriorated but it has been rehabilitated by AZLU, a non-profit organization. By 2007, great animals had been acquired for the zoo. AZLU is keeping the zoo “for education purposes, and the protection of the natural heritage of the country,” as it can be read on signs. Today, it has almost been restocked with lions, tigers, monkeys, apes, pelicans, wart hogs, crocodiles, snakes, turtles, monitor lizards, eagles, parrots, ostriches, gazelles, etc. Apart from animals, the zoo features a restaurant, a veterinary center, and a termite museum.

Parks and farms

Muyambo Kyasa popularized the concept of park. “Muyambo Park” opened in 2010. Located at 15 km from Lubumbashi, it is a quite large garden where children can play games, and adults relax. Other parks (or farms) include Mikembo and Futuka on Kasenga Road in the city’s outskirts.

Culture

Language(s)

French is the official language, but the main spoken lingua franca in Lubumbashi is Kiswahili. The dialect of Kiswahili spoken all down the east side of Congo (including the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, Maniema, Katanga and Oriental, Western Kasai and Eastern Kasai) and almost all the way across to the Katangan border with Angola is called Kingwana.[11] As many people have moved into Lubumbashi for employment from rural areas, they have brought many other local languages including Kiluba, Chokwe, Bemba and Kisanga. Kiswahili has been the chief language shared by most people.[12]

Art

B. Jewsiewicki says that contemporary Lubumbashi art making is weak, especially when compared to the Kinshasan. He writes,

“No Lubumbashi popular painter has had an international career like that of the Kinshasa artist Chéri Samba, and there are in fact a number of artists and musicians in Kinshasa whom the whirlwind of international success has whisked farther from local audiences than any artist in Lubumbashi, and not only in Lubumbashi but in the surrounding province of Katanga.” [13]

He names painters like Pilipili, Mwenze, Angali, Nkulu wa Nkulu, Maka, Tshimbumba, Dekab, and others.

Cinema

Ciné Bétamax, formerly “Ciné Palace” and “Ciné Eden”,[14] are the only modern movie theaters in the city. They generally show popular recent Hollywood productions as well as NC-17 films. However, they also show movies about Congolese and African recent history like Mister Bob, Sniper: Reloaded, SEAL Team 8: Behind Enemy Lines, and Tears of the Sun. Before films, they both showed Congolese and international music videos, and US wrestling. Ciné Bétamax primarily addresses the young adults of Lubumbashi. Children are exposed to huge NC-17 posters, but seldom get in. The communication department of the University of Lubumbashi has collaborated with the movie theater to show students’ films.

Ciné Bétamax in particular also screens great football matches, and local singers’ concerts and Christian meetings are regularly held here. All over the city, especially in crowded neighborhoods, are spread small rooms in which children are exposed to violent movies from morning to night.

Nigeria's Nollywood films are also, as in many other parts of the DRC and Africa, popular among the residents. These films are often sold on VCD and DVD platforms.

Music

The popular music from Kinshasa is much appreciated and played in Lubumbashi. Jean-Bosco Mwenda is likely the most famous Katangese musician. Many of his songs have become classical, and are endlessly remixed by new young artists. Modern Lubumbashi singers fall into two groups: those who play Soukous, such as Jo Kizi and Képi Prince, and those who play international urban musicsuch as Ced Koncept, Tshumani, M-Joe, RJ Kanyera, Oxygène, Agresivo, Nelson Tshi, and Da Costa on the other. Most artists are influenced by successful Dj Spilulu's productions, Kinshasa singers Fally Ipupa, Ferre Gola and World Music.

Lubumbashi music is characterized by the use of many languages (Swahili, Lingala, Tshiluba, French and some English) in the lyrics. It is rare to hear songs composed in only one language. This code switching and mixing expresses the cosmopolitan character of the city, but some critics think it weakens the lyrics, which seem to be particularly made for teenagers anyway. Serge Manseba and Karibyona are humorist-singers featured by Dj G'Sparks Spilulu.

French cultural influence

The “Institut Français” (formally known as “Centre Culturel Français”), located in the heart of the city, contributes a great deal to the cultural and artistic life of Lubumbashi. Students and researchers spend time in its library; it shows European and other French-language films; produces plays and other shows in its theater; and features local singers’ records for sale on display at the entrance.

Okapi Radio’s cultural participation

Okapi Radio’s Lubumbashi presenters participate each Saturday evening in “métissage,” the cultural program of the radio. The whole country is informed of the cultural activities in the city.

Media

National channel (RTNC/Katanga)

RTNC (Congolese National Radio and Television) has a provincial station located in Lubumbashi district at the junction of Lubilanshi and Sandoa. It has been very influential from the 1960s to the mid-1990s, at the end of the one-party system, and before the information technology revolution.

Independent channels

Zenith Radio, the first independent radio station in the city, started broadcasting in 1996; since then numerous radio and television stations have been established. They can be classified in three groups: religious channels (Zenith, RTIV, Cannal de Vie, RNS, etc.), commercial channels (RTA, Mwangaza, Nyota, RTLJ, Malaïka, Kyondo, etc.), and mixed ones like Wantanshi Radio and Television.

Sports

Lubumbashi is home to football clubs TP Mazembe, FC Saint Eloi Lupopo and CS Don Bosco. Chairman of Mazembe is the current governor of the province of Katanga Moïse Katumbi Chapwe.

Basketball players Myck Kabongo and Bismack Biyombo are from Lubumbashi.[15]

Commercial Bank of Congo

Sister city

References

  1. 1 2 3 Michael J. Kavanagh (23 March 2013). "Congolese Militia Seizes UN Compound in Katanga's Lubumbashi". Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Brion, R. and J.-L. Moreau (2006), De la mine à Mars, La genèse d'Umicore, Tielt : Lannoo.
  3. ↑ Fetter, Bruce (1976), The Creation of Elisabethville, 1910–1940, Stanford: Hoover Institution Press.
  4. ↑ John Gunther,Inside Africa, Hamish Hamilton Ltd. London, 1955, page 640
  5. ↑ Dibwe dia Mwembu, Donatien (2001), Histoire des conditions de vie des travailleurs de l'Union Minière du Haut-Katanga et Gécamines, 1910–1999, Lubumbashi : Presses Universitaires de Lubumbashi.
  6. ↑ Rubens, Antoine (1945), Dettes de guerre, Lubumbashi: L'essor du Congo.
  7. ↑ Grévisse, F. (1951), Le Centre Extra-Coutumier d’Elisabethville, Elisabethville-Bruxelles: CEPSI-Institut Royal Colonial Belge.
  8. ↑ "UN voices concern after mass prison outbreak in DR Congo". UN News Center. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  9. 1 2 3 Rorison, Sean (22 May 2008). Congo: Democratic Republic, Republic (1st ed.). Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire, UK: Bradt Travel Guides. pp. 13–15. ISBN 1841622338.
  10. ↑ "Frontiers of Learning". Bahai.org. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑
  13. ↑ Brassinne, J. and Kestergat, J. (1991). Qui a tué Patrice Lumumba? Paris : Duculot. P 141. ISBN 2-8011-0979-7.
  14. ↑ Jewsiewicki, B. (1999). A Congo Chronicle: Patrice Lumumba in Urban Art. New York: The Museum for African Art. P 13. ISBN 0-945802-25-0
  15. ↑ Rothbart, Davy. "What's Your Deal? This month's guest: Bismack Biyombo". Grantland. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
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Coordinates: 11°40′S 27°28′E / 11.667°S 27.467°E / -11.667; 27.467

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