Katanga Province
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Katanga Province
| native_name = {{native name|fr|paren=omit|Province du Katanga}}
| image_map = File:BelgianCongoProvinces-1920.svg
| map_caption = Congo provinces in 1914
| coordinates = {{Coord|09|S|26|E|type:adm1st_region:CD|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|COD|name=DR Congo}}
| established_title = Established
| established_date = {{start date|1966}}
| extinct_title = Dissolved
| extinct_date = {{end date|2015}}
| seat_type = Capital
| seat = Lubumbashi
| leader_title = Governor
| area_total_km2 = 496871
| population_total = 5608683
| population_as_of = 2010 est.
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym = Katangese
| blank_name_sec1 = Official:
| blank_info_sec1 = French
| blank1_name_sec1 = National:
| blank1_info_sec1 = Swahili
| blank2_name_sec1 = Other:
| blank2_info_sec1 =English
| type = Former province
| seat1_type = Largest city
| seat1 = Lubumbashi
}}
File:Malachite Kolwezi Katanga Congo.jpg specimen, showing the original botryoidal form and a polished face of the opposite half of the specimen. Mines in the vicinity of Kolwezi supply much of the polishing-grade malachite in the world.]]
File:Malachite Katanga ROM.jpg.]]
Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914.
It was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba, and Haut-Katanga provinces. Between 1971 and 1997 (during the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko when Congo was known as Zaire), its official name was Shaba Province.{{cite news |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Katanga-province-Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo |title=Katanga {{!}} province, Democratic Republic of the Congo |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=2018-02-26 |language=en |archive-date=27 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227100238/https://www.britannica.com/place/Katanga-province-Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo |url-status=live }}
Katanga's area encompassed {{convert|497000|km2|sqmi}}. Farming and ranching are carried out on the Katanga Plateau. The eastern part of the province is a rich mining region which supplies cobalt, copper, tin, radium, uranium, and diamonds. The region's former capital, Lubumbashi, is the second-largest city in the Congo.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QdBtBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 |title=China and Africa Love Affair |last=George |first=Mr Francis Stevens |date=2014-02-06 |publisher=Francis Stevens George |isbn=9781494998516 |language=en |access-date=18 October 2020 |archive-date=23 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923024242/https://books.google.com/books?id=QdBtBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA143 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/biggest-cities-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo.html |title=Biggest Cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo |work=WorldAtlas |access-date=2018-02-26 |language=en |archive-date=27 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227051049/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/biggest-cities-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo.html |url-status=live }}
History
{{main|History of Katanga}}
Copper mining in Katanga dates back over 1,000 years, and mines in the region were producing standard-sized ingots of copper for international transport by the end of the 10th century CE.{{cite book |editor-first=Amy |editor-last=McKenna |title=The History of Central and Eastern Africa |publisher=Rosen Education Service |series=Britannica Guide to Africa |date=2011 |isbn=978-1615303229 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofcentral0000unse_p8v3/page/9 9] |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofcentral0000unse_p8v3/page/9}}
In the 1890s, the province was beleaguered from the south by Cecil Rhodes' Northern Rhodesia, and from the north by the Belgian Congo, the personal possession of King Leopold II of Belgium. Msiri, the King of Katanga, (no such title exist, Msiri is a title for local authority in area controlled by Kazembe) held out against both, but eventually Katanga was subsumed by the Belgian Congo.{{cite book |first=Daniel |last=Crawford |title=Thinking Black: 22 Years Without a Break in the Long Grass of Central Africa |location=New York |publisher=George H. Doran |date=1912 |url=https://archive.org/details/thinkingblackye00crawgoog}}{{page needed|date=January 2019}}
After 1900, the Societe Generale de Belgique practically controlled all of the mining in the province through Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK). This included uranium, radium, copper, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, germanium, manganese, silver, gold, and tin.
In 1915, a deposit of pitchblende and other uranium minerals of a higher grade than had ever been found before anywhere in the world and higher than any found since were discovered at Shinkolobwe. The discovery was kept secret by UMHK. After World War I ended a factory was built at Olen; the secrecy was lifted at the end of 1922 with the announcement of the production of the first gram of radium from the pitchblende.[https://web.archive.org/web/20050325035647/http://www.world-nuclear.org/ushista.htm Uranium's scientific history - Part 2] By the start of World War II, the mining companies "constituted a state within the Belgian Congo". The Shinkolobwe mine near Jadotville (now Likasi) was at the centre of the Manhattan Project.{{cite book |first=Susan |last=Williams |title=Spies in the Congo |publisher=Public Affairs |location=New York |date=2016 |isbn=9781610396547 |pages=76–77, 289 |author-link=Susan Williams (historian)}}
Image:Shinkolobwe.jpg and the Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from Shinkolobwe mine.]]
In 1960, after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called Republic of the Congo) gained independence from Belgium, the UMHK, Moise Tshombe and Godefroid Munongo supported the secession of Katanga province from the Congo. This was supported by Belgium but opposed by the Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. This led to the assassination of Lumumba and the Katanga Crisis (or "Congo Crisis"), which lasted from 1960 to 1965. The breakaway State of Katanga existed from 1960 to 1963, then was reintegrated.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23422038 |title=Fighting for DR Congo's cash cow to secede |first=Maud |last=Jullien |date=2013-08-12 |work=BBC Africa |access-date=2019-01-16 |language=en-GB |archive-date=8 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108050148/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-23422038 |url-status=live }}
In 2005, the new constitution specified that Katanga was to be split up into separately administered provinces.{{cite web |url=http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_de_la_R%C3%A9publique_d%C3%A9mocratique_du_Congo#Article_2 |title=Constitution de la République démocratique du Congo: Article 2 |publisher=Wikisource |access-date=24 May 2016 |archive-date=25 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025124200/http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_de_la_R%C3%A9publique_d%C3%A9mocratique_du_Congo#Article_2 |url-status=live }}
Militias such as Mai Mai Kata Katanga led by Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga fought for Katanga to secede, and his group briefly took over the provincial capital Lubumbashi in 2013.
In 2015, Katanga Province was split into the constitutional provinces of Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba, and Haut-Katanga.[http://www.assemblee-nationale.cd/v2/?p=4551 The National Assembly adopts the laws regarding the limits of the provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150127065041/http://www.assemblee-nationale.cd/v2/?p=4551 |date=27 January 2015 }}, National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 10 January 2015. {{in lang|fr}}[http://www.radiookapi.net/2016/03/27/actualite/politique/election-des-gouverneurs-les-resultats-definitifs-attendus-le-18 Election of governors: definite results expected on 18 April] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328191445/http://www.radiookapi.net/2016/03/27/actualite/politique/election-des-gouverneurs-les-resultats-definitifs-attendus-le-18 |date=28 March 2016 }}, Radio Okapi, 27 March 2016. {{in lang|fr}}
Economy
Copper mining is an important part of the economy of Katanga province.{{cite web |url=http://www.congo-pages.org/katart/copper.htm |title=COPPER |publisher=congo-pages.org |access-date=23 October 2015 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223502/http://www.congo-pages.org/katart/copper.htm |url-status=live }} Cobalt mining by individual contractors is also prevalent. A number of reasons have been advanced for the failure of the vast mineral wealth of the province to increase the overall standard of living. The local provincial budget was US$440 million in 2011.{{cite news |url=http://radiookapi.net/economie/2010/09/21/katanga-le-budget-2011-s%E2%80%99eleve-a-396-milliards-de-francs-congolais |date=21 September 2010 |title=Katanga: le budget 2011 s'élève à 396 milliards de Francs congolais |publisher=Radio Okapi |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723234325/http://radiookapi.net/economie/2010/09/21/katanga-le-budget-2011-s%E2%80%99eleve-a-396-milliards-de-francs-congolais/ |archive-date=23 July 2012}}{{cite report |url=http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/fataltransactions.pdf |title=The State vs. the People: Governance, mining and the transitional regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo |publisher=Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa |location=Amsterdam |date=2006 |isbn=90-78028-04-1 |access-date=25 March 2013 |archive-date=8 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508203634/http://friendsofthecongo.org/pdf/fataltransactions.pdf |url-status=live }}
Mining
{{Main|Copper mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
Lubumbashi, the mining capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a hub 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".{{cite news |title=Congolese Militia Seizes UN Compound in Katanga's Lubumbashi |first=Michael J. |last=Kavanagh |date=23 March 2013 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-23/congolese-militia-seizes-un-compound-in-katanga-s-lubumbashi.html |access-date=23 March 2013 |archive-date=25 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325235457/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-23/congolese-militia-seizes-un-compound-in-katanga-s-lubumbashi.html |url-status=live }}
Major mining concessions include Tilwezembe and Kalukundi.
=Mining companies=
- Gécamines, (La Générale des Carrières et des Mines, the former UMHK), the state-owned copper-cobalt mining company, had monopoly concessions in the province.
- Katanga Mining Ltd TSX:KAT operates a major mining complex in Katanga province, producing refined copper and cobalt with the "potential of becoming Africa’s largest copper producer and the world’s largest cobalt producer".{{cite web |url=http://www.katangamining.com/kat/about_us/history |title=History: dead link |publisher=Katanga Mining |access-date=16 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110080329/http://www.katangamining.com/kat/about_us/history |archive-date=10 November 2011}} Katanga Mining Ltd is majority-owned by Swiss commodity trader Glencore DCC.{{cite report |title=Katanga Mining |url=http://www.glencore.com/katanga-mining.html |access-date=25 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607074359/http://www.glencore.com/katanga-mining.html |archive-date=7 June 2011 |url-status=dead}} A joint venture of Katanga Mining (75%) and Gécamines (25%) began mining Tilwezembe, an open-pit copper and cobalt mine, in 2007.{{cite web |url=http://www.investis.com/kat/operations/reportsoperational/techreport-mar09.pdf |title=An Independent Technical Report on the Material Assets of Katanga Mining Limited... |date=17 March 2009 |publisher=SRK Consulting |access-date=6 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506114820/http://www.investis.com/kat/operations/reportsoperational/techreport-mar09.pdf |archive-date= 6 May 2012}}
Geography
The province bordered Angola and formed the entire Congolese border with Zambia. It also bordered Tanzania – although on Lake Tanganyika rather than on land. Katanga has a wet and dry season. Rainfall is about {{convert|49|in|mm|order=flip|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-313150/Katanga |title=Katanga, or Shaba (province, Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia |access-date=23 June 2022 |archive-date=25 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725184644/http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-313150/Katanga |url-status=live }}
The province was divided in 2015 into five successor provinces, based on the districts of Katanga at that time:
File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Lualaba.svg |Lualaba Province
File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Lomami.svg |Lomami Province
File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Haut-Lomami.svg |Haut-Lomami Province
File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Haut-Katanga.svg |Haut-Katanga Province
File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Tanganyika.svg|Tanganyika Province
Education and medical care
The University of Lubumbashi, located in the northern part of Lubumbashi city, is the largest university in the province and one of the largest in the country.
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 French School, Lycée Français Blaise Pascal, which suspended operations in 1991 with a new French School starting in 2009.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070426161451/http://web.mac.com/hoovmoss/iWeb/TESOL/Home.html English-speaking School of Lubumbashi (TESOL)], page from 2007, Internet Archive, Accessed 3 March 2013.
Katanga province has the highest rate of infant mortality in the world, with 184 of 1000 babies born expected to die before the age of five.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17769472 |title=DR Congo eyes a greater share of its mineral riches |work=BBC News Online |access-date=22 April 2012 |date=22 April 2012 |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425022438/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17769472 |url-status=live }}
Transportation
The Congo Railway provides Katanga Province with limited railway service centered on Lubumbashi. Reliability is limited. Lubumbashi International Airport is located northeast of Lubumbashi. In April 2014, a train derailment killed 63 people.{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/04/dozens-killed-dr-congo-train-crash-2014423153141961150.html |title=Scores killed in DR Congo train crash |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=23 April 2014 |access-date=23 April 2014 |archive-date=17 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140817024810/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/04/dozens-killed-dr-congo-train-crash-2014423153141961150.html |url-status=live }}
People
- Laurent-Désiré Kabila, former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Moise Tshombe, former president of the breakaway State of Katanga
- Barbara Kanam, popular singer
- Frédéric Kibassa Maliba, former opposition leader and president of UDPS
- Odilon Kafitwe wa pa Bowa, former national minister of Zaire and leader of UFERI
- Lunda Bululu, former prime minister of Zaire
- Godefroid Munongo, politician
See also
{{Portal|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Katanga}}
- [http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/united_nations_congo.htm The United Nations and the Congo]
- [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Congo-K_Provinces_1960-1966.html#Katanga WorldStatesmen- Congo (Kinshasa)]
- [http://www.pjsymes.com.au/katanga.htm The Bank Notes of Katanga]
- [http://www.eldis.org/go/display/?id=16722&type=Document Rush and Ruin: The Devastating Mineral Trade in Southern Katanga] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926234438/http://www.eldis.org/go/display/?id=16722&type=Document |date=26 September 2011 }}
{{Katanga}}
{{Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1966–2015)
Category:1966 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Category:2015 disestablishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo