Baraka, Democratic Republic of the Congo

The city stretches from the Lweba River to the Mutambala River, and along the shores of Lake Tanganyika. An aerodrome lies at the heart of the city, surrounded by modern villas. Baraka is situated south of Bukavu, Goma, and Uvira, north of Kalemie and Lubumbashi, east of Kindu, and west of Kigoma and Bujumbura.{{Cite news |last=Wolfcarius |first=Eveline |date=September 5, 2008 |title=UNHCR helps Congolese refugees return home across Lake Tanganyika |work=Unhcr.org/us/news/ |url=https://www.unhcr.org/us/news/stories/unhcr-helps-congolese-refugees-return-home-across-lake-tanganyika |access-date=2023-11-28}}{{Cite web |editor-last=Ali-Dinar |editor-first=Ali B. |title=BURUNDI: OCHA Burundi Information Bulletin 16-31 May [19990607] |url=https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Hornet/irin6799c.html |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=www.africa.upenn.edu}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Foreign Trade in the DR Congo |url=https://hauniversity.org/en/RDCongo.shtml |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=Africa EENI Global Business School |language=en}}

Baraka is located at 04° 05′ 38" S 29° 04′ 58" E, on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, at an average altitude of 820 meters. The climate is of the tropical type, providing abundant sunshine throughout the year, with an average temperature of 23 °C. The highest temperatures reach 26 - 30 °C during the hottest periods. Baraka experiences two distinct seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.{{Citation |last1=Balolage |first1=Elisée Cirhuza |title=Interconnections between War, Armed Conflict and Demonstrations in the Peri-urban Towns of Baraka and Uvira in DR Congo |date=2023-04-17 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004542402/BP000014.xml |work=Rebellious Riots |pages=162–179 |access-date=2023-06-13 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-54240-2 |last2=Bushenyula |first2=Parfait Kaningu}}{{Cite web |last=Victor |first=Ekyoci Mshikana |date=2015 |title=Responsabilites societales et ethiques de la cooperative miniere de Baraka dans le development du Territoire de Fizi |trans-title=Societal and ethical responsibilities of the Baraka mining cooperative in the development of the Fizi Territory |url=https://www.africmemoire.com/read-responsabilites-societales-et-ethiques-de-la-cooperative-miniere-de-baraka-dans-le-developpement-du-territoire-de-fizi-681.html |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=www.africmemoire.com |language=French}}

Baraka's territory is encompassed by the drainage basin of Lake Tanganyika, along with two major rivers: Mutambala and Nemba. There are other rivers, including Lweba, Lwindi, Luke, Mukera, Mwemezi, Kiriza and Rubana. The water from these rivers flows into Lake Tanganyika, creating a vast plain along the riverbanks and the lake. The oil field is located near the mouths of the Mutambala and Nemba Rivers. The lime deposits extend across the entire Ubwari Peninsula to the east of the city and the western regions of Baraka, including Mwasombo, Mwambangu, Mongemonge and Mwatembo. The high plateaus of Baraka Island contain deposits of gold, diamonds, coltan, tin, bauxite, iron, manganese, coal, cobalt, nickel, and peat.{{Cite web |last=David |first=Enoch |date=2020-04-09 |title=Monde: qui sont les Ba bembe, et voici l'histoire de cette tribu originaire du Sud-kivu |url=https://fizimedia.com/2020/04/monde-qui-sont-les-ba-bembe-et-voici-lhistoire-de-cette-communaute-originaire-du-sud-kivu/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=FiziMedia |language=fr-FR}}

File:Bembe 1002.jpg women involved in the Uhulana ceremony, ca. 1950s by Daniel P. Biebuyck.  ]]

Historically, the area was inhabited by the Bembe, Bwari, and Buyu peoples.{{Cite book |last=Biebuyck |first=Daniel P. |title=Statuary from the Pre-Bembe Hunters: Issues in the Interpretation of Ancestral Figurines Ascribed to the Basikasingo-Bembe-Boyo |publisher=Royal Museum of Central Africa |year=1982 |location=Tervuren, Belgium |language=English, French, Dutch}} According to Bembe's oral tradition, Baraka was their ancestral domain, where they descended from the Kivu highlands to engage in piscatorial pursuits for sustenance, and utilizing the beaches for rituals, marking them a propitious locale for navigation to explore the distant shores of Lake Tanganyika. During this period, the Bembes named the lake "Étanga 'ya ni'a," which is often believed to be the etymological precursor to "Tanganyika."{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RJFIAAAAYAAJ&dq=Bembe+people+named+tanganyika&pg=PA539 |title=Scottish Geographical Magazine: Volume 3 |publisher=Royal Scottish Geographical Society |year=1887 |location=Perth, Scotland |pages=539 |language=English}}{{Cite web |last=Foster |first=Anne |date=2018-02-22 |title=Des métamorphoses pour l'au-delà {{!}} Gazette Drouot |url=https://www.gazette-drouot.com/article/des-metamorphoses-pour-l-au-dela/4535 |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=gazette-drouot.com |language=fr}}

During the mid-19th century colonial era, Baraka, Ubwari, and Kibanga were collectively named "Burton Bay" in honor of the famed European explorer Richard Francis Burton.{{Cite book |last=Lockyer |first=Sir Norman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EqNFAAAAYAAJ |title=Nature, Volume 13 |publisher=Macmillan Journals Limited |year=1876 |location=London, United Kingdom |pages=123 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Littell |first=Blaine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDwbAAAAMAAJ&q=Burton%20Bay%20congo |title=South of the Moon: On Stanley's Trail Through the Dark Continent |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1966 |location=Manhattan, New York City, New York State, United States |pages=189 |language=en}} At the same time, the Catholic missionaries, including P. Théophile Dromaux, Fr. François Coulbois, and Fr. Henri Delaunay, chose to call Kibanga as Lavigerieville. Lavigerieville derived from a congregation of Belgian missionaries in Africa and a former bishop. The Catholic missionaries of that time agreed upon the name Lavigerieville. Meanwhile, other settlers considered naming Baraka as Ligerzville, as it resembled Ligerz.{{Cite book |last=Littell |first=Blaine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDwbAAAAMAAJ&q=Baraka%20Burton%20Bay |title=South of the Moon: On Stanley's Trail Through the Dark Continent |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1966 |location=Manhattan, New York City, New York State |pages=189 |language=English}}{{Cite book |last=Francis Burton |first=Sir Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDo9AAAAYAAJ |title=The Lake Regions of Central Africa: A Picture of Exploration, Volume 1 |publisher=Harper |year=1860 |location=New York City |pages=347–355 |language=English}}{{Cite web |last=Avec Vous nous Pouvons |date=2016 |title=Baraka |url=https://www.facebook.com/644677232314014/photos/a.762539983861071/1096878890427177/ |access-date=2023-06-13 |website=www.facebook.com |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Stanley |first=Henry Morton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z1LMWQx7_gQC |title=Through the Dark Continent Or The Sources of the Nile Around the Great Lakes of Equatorial Africa and Down the Livingstone River to the Atlantic Ocean, Volumes 1-2 |publisher=Harper |year=1878 |location=New York City |language=English}}

Baraka was founded by the Arab-Swahilis in the 19th century for the purpose of triangular trade. Up until 1894, when the Arab-Swahili slave traders—mainly warlords engaged in the Indian Ocean slave trade—were driven out from Maniema by the Force Publique, the Fizi Territory was intersected by a slave route that stretched from Nyangwe, through Kabambare and Kalembelembe, to Baraka, where slaves were brought in.{{Cite book |title=Traveler's Guide to the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi |publisher=Tourist Bureau for the Belgian Congo and Ruanda-Urundi |year=1956 |location=Brussels, Belgium |pages=396 |language=English}}

File:Nyangwe.jpg, July 15th, 1871]]

Baraka emerged as a major trading center with a large port for holding enslaved people from Kasongo and transporting them to Ujiji in Tanzania. Around 1890, the Force Publique removed Arab-Swahili presence along Lake Tanganyika to prevent interference with their colonization of Congo Free State (État indépendant du Congo). Using the pretext of anti-slavery efforts, they launched a military expedition to protect indigenous populations from the slave trade in the eastern part of the Congo Free State. Military operations were carried out in late 1894, resulting in Baraka becoming a Congo Free State colony after a battle between the Arab-Swahilis and the Force Publique.{{Cite book |last=Richmond Wollaston |first=Alexander Frederick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlMMAAAAYAAJ |title=From Ruwenzori to the Congo: A Naturalist's Journey Across Africa |publisher=J. Murray |year=1908 |location=London, United Kingdom |pages=224–225 |language=English}}

During World War I, the Belgians drove out the Germans from Baraka by occupying Kigoma and Tabora in Tanzania, as well as Bujumbura and Rumonge in Burundi, in 1916 under the command of the Force Publique.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CwbPAAAAMAAJ&dq=german+east+africa+baraka+congo&pg=RA4-PA74 |title=Reports of the Missionary and Benevolent Boards and Committees to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America |publisher=Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. |year=1917 |location=Louisville, Kentucky |language=English}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SoI7AQAAMAAJ |title=Board of Trade Journal: Volume 86 |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |year=1914 |location=London, United Kingdom |pages=760–761 |language=English}} File:PHOTO DU JOUR DU LUNDI 28 FEVRIER 2022.jpgThe region also played a key role in the 20th century by supporting the independence movement, hosting the Lumumbists and the Mulelists. In 1957, a revolt against the oppressive system led by Mr. Émbolo of the Bembe ethnic group erupted in the Katanga commune. Émbolo was later arrested, imprisoned in Bukavu, and released after one year of penance. In the 1960s, the city was at the center of cross-border Maoist insurgency started by Laurent-Désiré Kabila. It continued well until the 1980s. The population of the city considerably decreased during the Civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during which the city was under control of the Rwanda-backed Rally for Congolese Democracy. After the end of the war, people started to return and take jobs, mainly in the trade.{{Cite book |last=Hudson |first=Andrew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yaRwEAAAQBAJ |title=Congo Unravelled: Military Operations from Independence to the Mercenary Revolt 1960–68 |publisher=Helion Limited |date=July 19, 2012 |isbn=9781909384330 |location=Warwick, England |language=English}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XsDeDwAAQBAJ&dq=Independence+in+Fizi-baraka+congo&pg=PT103 |title=Cuba and Africa, 1959-1994: Writing an Alternative Atlantic History |publisher=Wits University Press |date=November 2020 |isbn=9781776146352 |editor-last=Delmas |editor-first=Adrien |location=Johannesburg, South Africa |language=English |editor-last2=Bonacci |editor-first2=Giulia |editor-last3=Argyriadis |editor-first3=Kali}}

In 2014, the city drew attention as a pilot project for the Missing Maps project.

As of 2015, in Baraka there were no paved roads, no running water, and no electricity.{{cn|date=March 2020}}

In October 2021 MONUSCO opened a base nearby that allowed 7,000 people to return. In February 2022 they created a temporary base north of Baraka to deal with Mai-Mai attacks.{{Citation |last=Photos |first=MONUSCO |title=PHOTO DU JOUR DU LUNDI 28 FEVRIER 2022 |date=2022-02-28 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/monusco/51909061358/ |access-date=2022-02-28}}

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Category:Populated places in South Kivu

Category:Populated places on Lake Tanganyika