Kinshasa

Kinshasa
/kin shah"seuh, kin"shah seuh/, n.
a port in and capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the NW part, on the Congo (Zaire) River. 5,293,643. Formerly, Léopoldville.

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formerly Léopoldville

Capital and largest city (pop., 1994 est.: 4,655,313), Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Situated on the southern bank of the Congo River, it was founded as Léopoldville in 1881 by Henry Morton Stanley. It became the capital of the Belgian Congo in the 1920s. After World War II it emerged as the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa and became the capital of the independent republic in 1960. It was given its present name in 1966. A major river port and a commercial centre, it is the seat of the University of Kinshasa (1954).

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Introduction
formerly (until 1966)  Léopoldville 
 largest city and capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo). It lies about 320 miles (515 km) from the Atlantic Ocean on the south bank of the Congo River. One of the largest cities of sub-Saharan Africa, it is a special political unit equivalent to a Congolese region, with its own governor. The city's inhabitants are popularly known as Kinois.

      Kinshasa is not only the capital but also the centre of the dynamic and contradictory influences that have shaped the country's character in modern Africa. The only city not clearly identified with any particular region of the country, it was until 1997 the seat of a long-lasting Zairean military government based, on the one hand, on the strength of the armed forces and, on the other, on a technique of political and social compromise that until its later years gained the rather grudging collaboration of most of the citizens. Caught between spectacular wealth and massive poverty, most Kinois must spend a considerable amount of their time scrambling for necessities that are in erratic supply. Nevertheless, they have found the means to make Kinshasa a source of distinctive influence in intellectual and popular culture felt throughout Africa.

      The most heavily inhabited area of Kinshasa covers 58 square miles (about 150 square km). The total area subject to city government, much of it sparsely populated, is 3,848 square miles (9,965 square km). Pop. (2005 est.) 5,717,000.

Landscape

City site and climate
      Kinshasa spreads out southward from the shoreline of the Congo River at Malebo Pool, a widening of the river. The plain on which the city lies varies mostly between 918 and 1,148 feet (280 and 350 metres) above sea level and is partly encircled by higher ground. The surrounding countryside is heavily farmed savanna and gallery forest; the chief crops are cassava, sugarcane, oil palms, plantains, corn (maize), peanuts (groundnuts), and beans.

      The climate is hot year-round, with a dry season from May to September and a rainy season from October to May. The mean annual rainfall is slightly more than 60 inches (1,520 mm). Violent rainstorms occur frequently but seldom last more than a few hours. The hottest month is April, with mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures of 89 °F (32 °C) and 71 °F (22 °C), respectively. The corresponding figures for July, the coolest month, are 81 °F (27 °C) and 64 °F (18 °C). The higher suburbs are somewhat cooler than the central city.

City layout
      The built-up area of Kinshasa is divided into industrial, residential, and commercial zones. Along the western edge of the central city an industrial zone (before 1966 called Léo-Ouest) flourishes near the site of the first depot established by the British-American explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley (Stanley, Sir Henry Morton). To its east lies the riverside residential and administrative district of Gombe, which houses most of the European population and the Congolese elite; the central government buildings and the embassy district are located there. The eastern sector (known before 1966 as Léo-Est), of which the wide Boulevard du 30-Juin forms the main artery, is a major commercial area. The waterfront, along Kinshasa's northern edge, is lined with quays and large warehouses. Ndolo, east of Gombe, comprises a complex of port facilities and industrial plants. The poorer areas extend southward on the east and west of Kinshasa. Among Kinshasa's satellite cities, Ndjili, to the southeast, has become a residential area, while Kimpoko upstream has been developed as an outer port. During the 1970s wealthy businessmen and politicians built mansions, often of spectacular opulence, in Binza, an area in the western hills overlooking the city.

      There are a variety of architectural styles in Kinshasa. High-rise apartment blocks, luxuriously appointed banks, stores, and the offices of large corporations and government agencies characterize the centre of town. Some date from shortly after World War II, but the most prominent were constructed during the economic boom of the early 1970s. They include the Parliament, the president's palace (built by the Chinese), the headquarters of the national broadcasting corporation (Radio-Télévision Nationale Congolaise), the International Trade Center, the headquarters of the mineral marketing agency, and an unfinished tower dedicated to nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba (Lumumba, Patrice). Spacious villas surrounded by ornamental shrubs and flower gardens, and often also by high walls and iron bars, stand on tree-lined, paved boulevards that mark the elite residential districts. Dwellings in the less affluent communities often consist of tin-roofed concrete-block houses and multiunit dwellings on unpaved streets, often inaccessible to vehicles. These in turn give way to hastily assembled shelters and rough pathways in the extensive squatting zones of the city, where many of the most recent immigrants reside.

People
      The population of Kinshasa grew slowly at first (from 5,000 people in 1889 to 23,000 in 1923) but increased rapidly after 1940; after 1950 it doubled about every five years and by the beginning of the 21st century was approaching 5,000,000, a great many of whom lived in the squatting zones. Much of the population growth has been the result of Congolese migration and government expansion, but widening of the city's boundaries has caused some of the increase. Kinshasa has a young population. More than half the people are under 22 years of age, and only a tiny proportion of the population is over 50.

      Migration of peoples from the rural areas intensified greatly after independence as colonial restrictions were relaxed. Political troubles and the economic decline of rural areas and their lack of amenities and opportunities, as well as the attractions of the city, have contributed to this rural exodus. In its early years the city received immigrants from western Africa and the various neighbouring countries of Central Africa; since independence, however, most new inhabitants have come from within Congo, especially the nearby regions of Bandundu to the west and Bas-Congo (Lower Congo) to the south and east.

Economy

Industry and commerce
      Kinshasa is the most important consumer centre of the republic and the core of its industrial and commercial activity. The city serves as the headquarters of major public corporations and of privately owned industrial and commercial companies. It dominates the financial and commercial life of the republic and houses the head offices of the principal banks. Among Kinshasa's main industries are food processing and those producing consumer goods (e.g., beer, textiles, and footwear), generally for domestic markets. Construction and various service industries also contribute to the city's economy. However, the political turmoil that has gripped the country since the downfall of the Zairean regime in 1997 has been debilitating for the city's economic activities.

      The rapid expansion of Kinshasa's population has created serious problems in supplying the city with food; there is a constant threat of shortages, posing an implicit political problem as well. The situation has been exacerbated by the country's economic woes since the late 1990s. In normal times the busy central market is complemented by suburban markets lined with wooden stalls and by hawkers and street vendors selling in minute quantities to passersby. The region of Bas-Congo supplies at least half of the food consumed in the capital. Other foodstuffs come from more distant regions of Congo or are imported. For those who can afford it, South Africa has been an important source of meat and fruits and vegetables, which are flown in. For the poor, however, Kinshasa is in some ways like an overgrown village, whose people forage at a considerable distance for firewood and keep gardens where they can find good soil. The demands of this vast urban population have caused extensive erosion in the surrounding countryside, as the soil is exhausted from overcultivation and trees cut for charcoal have not been replanted.

Transportation
      Kinshasa's transportation system is inadequate in many respects. Economic problems and a shortage of foreign exchange have caused severe deterioration, and there has been a continual need for spare parts and replacement vehicles. Kinshasa is well served by roads, but its dense and rapidly increasing population causes much congestion. The city is connected by a paved road to Matadi, Congo's principal port, at the head of navigation on the Congo estuary, and by another to Kikwit, to the east. The railway line from Matadi, bypassing the rapids on the river below Kinshasa, brings in most of the country's imports, some of which are then conveyed upriver. The Congo is navigable to Kisangani, some 1,000 miles (1,600 km) upstream, and a vast network of navigable stretches on its tributaries, connected by railways, brings almost all inland traffic carrying exports destined for Matadi down the Congo and through the port of Kinshasa. Ndjili International Airport, to the southeast, is one of Africa's largest airports. A busy ferry connects Kinshasa to Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of the Congo (Congo), across Malebo Pool. Within Kinshasa, public transportation consists of grossly overcrowded buses, minibuses, taxis, and fula-fula (trucks adapted to carry passengers).

Administration and society

Government and services
      Kinshasa remains the place where all administrative decisions of importance are made; consequently, it is the centre of the nation's political life. The city houses the national government: the office of the president and the executive and legislative councils. Since 1982 the urban administration has consisted of a governor and two vice-governors, appointed by the president. They head the city council, consisting of the 24 zone commissioners appointed, also by the president, from among the councillors elected in each zone.

      The administration is unable to provide adequate services such as running water, electricity, and sanitation throughout the city; town-planning and building-control agencies have had difficulty coping with the rapid growth of the city, much of which consequently lacks basic urban facilities. Some areas suffer from eroded housing lots and roadways, clogged open drains, and accumulated trash. The rate of violent crime, relatively low during the period of Zairean rule, has increased with the breakdown of central authority under the successor regime.

Health and education
      Medical facilities, like other city services, are overwhelmed by population growth. The hospitals, clinics, and dispensaries of the public health system are insufficient in number and unevenly distributed, which, coupled with the problems of transportation, limits the health care they can provide for the public.

      The primary and secondary education system is similarly overextended, lacking sufficient facilities and teachers to cope with population growth. Institutions of higher education include the University of Kinshasa (formerly Lovanium University), the largest of the country's three universities; a teacher-training college; a national school of administration and law; a school of telecommunications; and an academy of fine arts. There are also institutes of social research, political party indoctrination, medical training, and commerce. Kinshasa's School of Catholic Theology is internationally distinguished.

Cultural life
      Kinshasa is the dynamic centre of the nation's popular culture, the language of which is Lingala, the urban lingua franca. Congo's popular music is renowned throughout Africa; well-established bands from the country tour abroad to Europe and the Americas as well. Popular music celebrities receive wide attention, and it is not unusual for their latest hit songs to be used to name fashions in women's dress materials, a medium of intense social competition. Like the popular songs, paintings sold on sidewalks express the social themes of the day. Daily papers and several periodicals are available to the populace. Television is an important medium of official communication, broadcasting news, speeches, a form of propaganda entertainment called “animation,” popular bands, and occasional old European films. Radio and television broadcasting is in French—the official language—and local languages. The city is known for some excellent restaurants and is the site of numerous nightclubs and motion-picture theatres.

      Modern Kinshasa has produced a considerable flowering of literature in novels, plays, and poetry by local writers. Painting and sculpture produced by artists of the Académie des Beaux-Arts are exhibited and sold at the academy. The collection of the Institut des Musées Nationaux is of great archaeological, ethnographic, and musicological as well as aesthetic interest, and it is of immense importance for scholars of traditional African art. Although traditional art of value may no longer be available in the city, workshops in the suburbs turn out imitations of masks and sculptures that represent all parts of Africa, as well as carved work in ivory and malachite.

History
      The land on which Kinshasa grew was inhabited in ancient times, as were all the shores of Malebo Pool. The present city evolved from two villages, Nshasa and Ntamo (later known as Kintamo), dominated by the Bahumbu and frequented by Bateke fishermen and traders. Sir Henry Morton Stanley (Stanley, Sir Henry Morton), on his visit in 1877, formed an alliance with the ruler of Kintamo, a wealthy ivory trader, and, despite French efforts to forestall him, was able to acquire a trading post site on his return in 1881. He named this post Léopoldville, for his patron, Léopold II (Leopold II), king of the Belgians. Although Stanley succeeded in opening river traffic as far north as Stanleyville (Kisangani since 1966) by portaging prefabricated steamers around the cataracts of the lower river, Léopoldville remained unimportant until the completion of the railway line from downstream Matadi in 1898. A pipeline from Matadi to carry crude oil to the upriver steamers at Léopoldville was completed in 1914, and air service was inaugurated between Léopoldville and Stanleyville in 1920. As a result, the administrative headquarters of the then Belgian Congo was transferred there from Boma in 1923.

      As industries were established, residential zones grew up around them. In the 1930s the zones of Kinshasa, Barumbu, and Lingwala grew up near the port. After 1950 Lemba, Matete, and parts of Ndjili, to the southeast, were built to house the workers of the new industrial district of Limete, but the more centrally located communes (now zones) of Dendale (now Kasa-Vubu), Bandalungwa, and Ngiri-Ngiri became the social and political heart of the city.

 In 1960 Léopoldville became the capital of the new republic. Its name was changed to Kinshasa in 1966. The city prospered in the independence period, its population growing rapidly. In the mid-1990s Kinshasa became the focus of the rebel uprising against the Zairean regime of Mobutu Sese Seko, who was forced out of power in 1997. The successor regime, however, was also besieged by insurgents, and the city—overburdened with newcomers—entered a period of severe economic hardship that persisted into the 21st century. In 2006 the country promulgated a new constitution and held presidential and parliamentary elections—the country's first free elections in more than four decades—bringing hope of a brighter future to the Kinois.

James Oladipo Adejuwon Wyatt MacGaffey Janet MacGaffey Dennis D. Cordell Ed.

Additional Reading
A full description of Kinshasa is contained in Marc Pain, Kinshasa: écologie et organisation urbaines, 3 vol. (1978–79). The Republic of Zaire's Atlas de Kinshasa (1975), issued by the Institut Géographique du Zaïre, Bureau d'Études d'Aménagements Urbaines, contains an excellent descriptive text supporting the 44 thematic maps. Works of historical significance include Henry M. Stanley, The Congo and the Founding of Its Free State, 2 vol. (1885, reprinted 1970); and Crawford Young, Politics in the Congo: Decolonization and Independence (1965). Jean S. La Fontaine, City Politics: A Study of Leopoldville, 1962–63 (1970), describes the city's social organization; and Mbumba Ngimbi, Kinshasa, 1881–1981: 100 ans après Stanley: problèmes et avenir d'une ville (1982), describes its administrative history and problems. Kankuenda M'baya, Les Industries du pôle de Kinshasa (1977), discusses the city's economic role.James Oladipo Adejuwon Wyatt MacGaffey Janet MacGaffey Ed.

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Universalium. 2010.

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