Kinshasa
Kinshasa (formerly
Léopoldville) is the
capital and largest city of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.With a population of about 7.5 million (
2005 census), it ties with
Johannesburg for the status of the second largest city in sub-Saharan
Africa, behind
Lagos, and third largest in the whole continent, after Lagos and
Cairo..
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The boulevard of 30 June, in downtown Kinshasa |
Major areas of the city include the
Cité de l'OUA, home to the
Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zone de Matonge, known internationally for its
nightlife, and the residential area of
Gombe.
Notable features of the city include the
SOZACOM Building and
Hotel Memling skyscrapers, the central
market, the
Kinshasa Museum and the
Kinshasa Fine Arts Academy. The
Boulevard du 30 Juin links the areas of the city together. Kinshasa is home to the country's national stadium, the
Stade des Martyrs.
The city was founded as a trading post by
Henry Morton Stanley in
1881 and named Léopoldville in honor of King
Léopold II of Belgium, who ruled the vast territory that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The post flourished as the first navigable port along the Congo River above
Livingstone Falls: at first, all goods arriving at Léopoldville from the interior would have to be carried by porter to the port of
Matadi along the coast. The completion of a railroad in
1898 provided a viable means of transportation along the river's lower reaches and sparked the rapid development of Léopoldville. By 1920, the city was elevated to capital of the Belgian Congo, replacing the seaside town of
Boma.
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Image of Kinshasa and Brazzaville, taken by NASA |
In
1965 Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in the Congo in his second coup and initiated a policy of "Africanizing" the names of people and places in the country. In
1966 Léopoldville was renamed Kinshasa for a village named Kinchassa that once stood near the site. The city grew rapidly under Mobutu, drawing people from across the country who came in search of their fortunes or to escape ethnic strife elsewhere. This inevitably brought about a change to the city's ethnic and linguistic composition as well. Although it is situated in territory that traditionally belongs to the
Bakongo people, the
lingua franca in Kinshasa today is not
Kikongo but
Lingala. In
1974, Kinshasa hosted the "
Rumble in the Jungle" fight between
Muhammad Ali &
George Foreman, in which Ali defeated Foreman to regain the World Heavyweight Title.
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The La Gombe district, off of the boulevard of 30 June in Kinshasa, April 2003 |
Kinshasa suffered greatly due to Mobutu's excesses, mass corruption, nepotism and the civil war that led to his downfall. Nevertheless, it is still a major cultural and intellectual center for Central Africa, with a flourishing community of musicians and artists. It is also the country's major industrial center, processing many of the natural products brought from the interior. The city has recently had to fend off rioting soldiers who were protesting the government's inability to pay them.
Kinshasa is notorious for having the earliest documented
HIV-1 infection, which dates from 1959, and was discovered in the preserved blood sample of a local man (see
AIDS origin).
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The boulevard Lumumba in Masina |
Kinshasa is home to a large number of radio and TV stations. The National TV is housed in the city. Its 2 channels reach more or less the entire country. In addition to these stations, there are nearly a dozen terrestrial stations reaching the environs of the city, and sometimes a bit beyond.
Kinshasa is linked by ferry from the
river port (called the "Beach Ngobila"), across the Congo river, to Brazzaville. There are also river transports upstream to places inland, such as
Kisangani and
Bangui.
There are road and
rail links to
Matadi, the major
sea port on the
Atlantic Ocean.
There are no rail links inland and road connections to much of the rest of the country are poor.
Kinshasa's airport is at
N'Djili.
*
Kim Gjerstad, a blog and photos from Kinshasa*
Rumble In The Jungle - Muhammad Ali Kinshasa, 1974*
University of Kinshasa*
SDAROVIA Hospital in Kinshasa, DR Congo103167-Travel_Picture-Kinshasa.jpg *
List of television stations in Kinshasa
