Katanga is a southern province in the
Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in Central Africa, with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country in Africa...
. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was
Shaba* Shaba, Kenya* Shaba Province, name of Katanga Province in present DR Congo between 1971 and 1997* variant spelling of Shebaa`* Shaba Games* Shabo, a colony of French-speaking Swiss in Odessa Oblast, Ukraine...
Province. Under the new constitution, the province is to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009. Its regional capital is
LubumbashiLubumbashi 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 Haut-Katanga Province, lying near the...
(formerly Elisabethville in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, Elisabethstad in
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
). Its area is 518,000 km² (larger than
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
and 16 times larger than
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, its former colonial ruler).
Katanga is a southern province in the
Democratic Republic of the CongoThe Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country located in Central Africa, with a small length of Atlantic coastline. It is the third largest country in Africa...
. Between 1971 and 1997, its official name was
Shaba* Shaba, Kenya* Shaba Province, name of Katanga Province in present DR Congo between 1971 and 1997* variant spelling of Shebaa`* Shaba Games* Shabo, a colony of French-speaking Swiss in Odessa Oblast, Ukraine...
Province. Under the new constitution, the province is to be replaced by four smaller provinces by February 2009. Its regional capital is
LubumbashiLubumbashi 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 Haut-Katanga Province, lying near the...
(formerly Elisabethville in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
, Elisabethstad in
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
). Its area is 518,000 km² (larger than
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
and 16 times larger than
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
, its former colonial ruler). Katanga has a population of about 4.1 million. Farming and ranching are carried out on the
Katanga PlateauThe Katanga, or Shaba, Plateau is a farming and ranching region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Located in the southwestern Katanga Province, it reaches heights of 3,000 to 6,000 feet....
. The eastern part of the province is a rich mining region, which supplies
cobaltCobalt is a hard, lustrous, gray metal, a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. Although cobalt-based colors and pigments have been used since ancient times for making jewelry and paints, and miners have long used the name kobold ore for some minerals, the free metallic cobalt was...
,
copperCopper 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 rather soft and malleable and a freshly-exposed surface has a pinkish or peachy color...
,
tinTin 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, like the two possible oxidation states +2 and +4...
,
radiumRadium is a radioactive chemical element which has the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. Its appearance is almost pure white, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, turning black. Radium is an alkaline earth metal that is found in trace amounts in uranium ores. It is extremely radioactive...
,
uraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table that has the symbol U and atomic number 92. Besides its 92 protons, a uranium nucleus can have between 141 and 146 neutrons. The most common uranium isotopes are U-238 and U-235 . A uranium atom has...
, and
diamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is the second most stable form of carbon, after graphite; however, the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is...
s. The capital city, Lubumbashi, is the second largest city in the Congo.
New provinces
In 2009, the name of Katanga will survive only as
Haut-Katanga ProvinceHaut-Katanga, or Upper Katanga in English, is a new province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be established by 18 February 2009 by dividing Katanga Province into four parts. Its capital will be Lubumbashi.-Historical province:...
, one of the four new
provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congoof the , which came into effect on 18 February 2006, specifies twenty-five new provinces while retaining the capital city/province of Kinshasa. This new territorial organization is to take effect within thirty-six months of the new constitution's promulgation, i.e...
.
The other three new administrative divisions carved out of former Katanga are:
Tanganyika ProvinceTanganyika Province is one of the new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be established by 18 February 2009 by dividing Katanga Province into four parts, under the 2006 Constitution. It will succeed Katanga's Tanganyika District...
,
Lualaba ProvinceLualaba Province is one of the new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be established by 18 February 2009 by dividing Katanga Province into four parts, under the 2006 Constitution. The capital of Lualaba Province is Kolwezi....
and
Haut-Lomami ProvinceHaut-Lomani is one of the new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be established by 18 February 2009 by dividing Katanga Province into four parts, under the 2006 Constitution. The capital of Haut-Lomami province is the town of Kamina....
.
History
In the past,
Katanga has struggled significantly for independence from the rest of the country.
Government
Moïse Katumbi ChapweMoïse Katumbi Chapwe, is a Congolese businessman and politician. He is the governor of the Katanga Province which is located in the southern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He took office on 24 February 2007...
, a businessman, is the governor of Katanga province. He took office on 24 February 2007.
Economy
Copper mining is an important part of the economy of Katanga province. Cobalt mining by individual contractors is also prevalent. There are a number of reasons cited for the discrepancy between the vast mineral wealth of the province and the failure of the wealth to increase the overall standard of living. Gecamines is the state owned mining company which has monopoly concessions in the province.
Medical care
The Jason Sendwe Hospital is the largest hospital in the province. It is located in Lubumbashi.
Geography
The province forms the Congolese border with Angola and Zambia. The province also borders Tanzania, although Katanga province and Tanzania do not share a land border but the border is within Lake Tanganyika.
Education
The
University of LubumbashiThe 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....
is the largest university in the province and one of the largest in the country. The university is located in the northern part of Lubumbashi city. The Faculté Méthodiste de Théologie (FMT) is a Methodist seminary which is accredited within the university system.
TESOL, the English Language School of Lubumbashi, is a secondary school that serves the expatriate community. It was founded in 1987 on the grounds of the now defunct French School.
Transportation
Katanga Province has limited railway service centered around Lubumbashi. Reliability is limited. The area also has an airport called Luano Airport which is located northeast of Lubumbashi.
Media
Katanga province is served by television broadcasts. Radio-Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) has a transmitter in Lubumbashi that re-transmits the signal from Kinshasha. In 2005, new television broadcasts by Radio Mwangaza began in Lubumbashi.
External links