Bolobo is a town on the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

Mai-Ndombe Province Mai-Ndombe is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Mai-Ndombe, Kwango, and Kwilu provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Bandundu province. Mai-Ndombe wa ...

in the western part of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC). It is the administrative center of Bolobo Territory. As of 2009 it had an estimated population of 31,366.

People

The predominant tribe is that of the Banunu people, who originate from upriver and whose

Bobangi language The Bangi language, or ''Bobangi'', is a relative and main lexical source of Lingala spoken in central Africa. Dialects of the language are spoken on both sides of the Ubangi River and Congo River. Use in trade As the Bobangi people came to d ...

was the former trade language for the area.

Lingala Lingala (Ngala) (Lingala: ''Lingála'') is a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser degree in ...

, one of the four national languages of the DRC, is now used for trading and intertribal communication. Other local tribal groupings include the

Bateke The Teke people or Bateke, also known as the Tyo or Tio, are a Bantu Central African ethnic group that speak the Teke languages and that mainly inhabit the south, north, and center of the Republic of the Congo, the west of the Democratic Republi ...

(the natives of this area) and Batende, who have their own Bantu languages.

Early European visitors

Bolobo was visited by

Henry Morton Stanley Sir Henry Morton Stanley (born John Rowlands; 28 January 1841 – 10 May 1904) was a Welsh-American explorer, journalist, soldier, colonial administrator, author and politician who was famous for his exploration of Central Africa Cen ...

on his trip down the

in the 19th century.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , Vol. Two Pioneering missionary work was carried out by members of the

Baptist Missionary Society BMS World Mission is a Mission (Christian), Christian missionary society founded by Baptists from England in 1792. It was originally called the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen, but for most of its ...

, including

George Grenfell George Grenfell (21 August 1849, in Sancreed, Cornwall – 1 July 1906, in Basoko, Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) was a Cornish missionary and explorer. Early years Grenfell was born at Sancreed, near Penza ...

operating from the steamer "Peace". Another pioneering missionary was A.N. Whitehead (known as "Moteyi Nkasa" in Bobangi), who was responsible for the production of a grammar and dictionary in that language.

Mission activities

The Baptist Missionary Society established a hospital, primary and secondary schools, a printing press, and a Bible Institute for training pastors. It was served by expatriate personnel from Britain and some Peace Corps workers from the USA until economic and political conditions deteriorated in the 1990s. The Baptist churches are part of the

Communauté Baptiste du Fleuve Congo The Baptist Community of the Congo River (french: Communauté Baptiste du Fleuve Congo) is a Baptist Christian denomination in Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is affiliated with the Church of Christ in the Congo and the Baptist World Allianc ...

BFC a constituent member of the

Church of Christ in the Congo The Church of Christ in the Congo or CCC (in French, or ECC), is a union of 62 Protestant denominations, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it is often simply referred to as the Protestant Chu ...

(''Eglise du Christ au Congo'', ECC). There is also a Catholic church that was established by European missionary priests and sisters, including from Belgium, the former colonial power. Bobangi is used in worship in the two Protestant churches, Ngamakala and Ncasa; there are also smaller prayer chapels in the various wards of the town that are used for early morning prayers and for special services in the week during Holy Week.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in Mai-Ndombe Province Democratic Republic of the Congo–Republic of the Congo border crossings