Territorial Organisation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Province (formerly "Région")
  • Mairies (in Urban Areas)
    • Cities
      • Commune or Incorporated Grouping (formerly "zone urbaine" (urban area))
        • Quartier (neighborhoods)
  • Territoriale (in Rural Areas)
    • District (formerly "Sub-region")
      • Territoire (formerly "rural zone")
        • Cité (Town)
          • Quartier (neighborhoods)
        • Chefferie (Chiefdom formerly "Collectivité chefferie") or Sector
          • Groupement (Grouping)
            • Village

• The province is led by a Governor
  Governor
  A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
  
  .
• The district is led by District Commissioner
  District Commissioner
  A District Commissioner is an executive post in Malawi for the appointee in charge of the Districts or administrative localities in Malawi. There are 28 Districts in Malawi. The role is similar to that of a governor. The position of DC is appointed by the President of Malawi...
  
  .
• The city is led by a Mayor
  Mayor
  In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
  
  .
• The commune is led by a Bourgmestre
  Burgomaster
  Burgomaster is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or chairman of the executive council of a sub-national level of administration...
  
   (Mayor).
• The territory is led by a Territory Administrator. The territory is generally named after its main town.

Specificities

• the city of Kinshasa is both a province and a city. Thus, it is not divided in cities and districts (except for internal police administration), and has no mayor. The Governor also fulfills the position of Mayor. The Rural part of Kinshasa is encompassed by the communes of Maluku and (partially) Nsele
  Nsele
  Nsele or N'Sele is a municipality in the Tshangu district of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo....
  
  ;
• The provinces resulting from the partition of the old Kivu Province, namely Maniema
  Maniema
  Maniema is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu.Following the 2005 Constitution , 25 new provinces were to be created from the 10 current provinces within 36 months . As of October 2010, this had not taken place...
  
  , Nord-Kivu
  Nord-Kivu
  Nord-Kivu is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its capital is Goma....
  
   and Sud-Kivu
  Sud-Kivu
  Sud-Kivu is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu.Following the 2005 Constitution , 25 new provinces were to be created from the 10 current provinces within 36 months . As of October 2010, this had not taken place...
  
   do not have districts;
• some territories are not under the jurisdiction of a district, but that of a city. In Muanda
  Muanda
  Muanda or Moanda is a town lying on the Atlantic Ocean coast of the Democratic Republic of Congo at the mouth of the Congo River. It is situated in Bas-Congo Province, and has a population of 50,000...
  
  's case, it is under the jurisdiction of the city of Boma
  Boma
  The port town of Boma in Bas-Congo province was the capital city of the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo from 1 May 1886 to 1926, when it was moved to Léopoldville . It exports tropical timber, bananas, cacao, and palm products...
  
  ;
• 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....
  
   is under the jurisdiction of the urban-rural district of Kolwezi;
• most existing districts, like Mongala (district) shall probably be recreated as provinces, with the disappearance of the district system in most of these new provinces. Other districts, like Plateaux (district) and Mai-Ndombe (district) will be merged, including the adjoined cities. Only Kongo Central
  Kongo Central
  Kongo Central is one of 25 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo specified in the country's 2005 Constitution , under Article 2. It was to be created from country's the existing 10 provinces within 36 months , according to Article 226...
  
   (formerly Bas-Congo) will continue to exist as a province divided into districts.

Decentralised Administrative Entities

• the Province
• the City
• the Territory
• the Commune (in the case of the city of Kinshasa
  Kinshasa
  Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
  
  )

External links

• http://www.congonline.com/geo/zonesadm.htm
• http://www.rodhecic.org/article.php3?id_article=279