Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: link=no, Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the Africa, African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions ...

in 1914. It was one of the eleven

provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo There are currently twenty-five provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital, Kinshasa city, is administratively equivalent to a province.Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: * Tanganyika (territory) Tanganyika was a territory located on the continent of Africa, and administered by the United Kingdom from 1916 until 1961. The UK initially administered the territory as an occupying power with ...

Haut-Lomami Haut-Lomami (French for "Upper Lomami") is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo There are currently twenty-five provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital, Kinshasa city, is administratively ...

, Lualaba, and

Haut-Katanga Haut-Katanga (French for "Upper Katanga") is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the Subdivisions of the DR Congo#New provinces, 2015 repartitioning. Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba Province, Lualaba, ...

provinces. Between 1971 and 1997 (during the rule of

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate titl ...

when Congo was known as

Zaïre Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was the name of a sovereign state between 1971 and 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Co ...

), its official name was Shaba Province. Katanga's area encompassed . Farming and ranching are carried out on the

Katanga Plateau The Katanga, or Shaba, Plateau is a farming and ranching region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Located in the southeastern Katanga Province, it is 1220 m (4,000 ft) above sea level and is rich in copper and uranium deposits. The altitude m ...

. The eastern part of the province is considered to be a rich mining region, which supplies

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical element ...

cobalt

copper Copper is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elem ...

copper

tin Tin is a with the Sn (from la, ) and 50. Tin is a silvery-colored metal that characteristically has a faint yellow hue. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent ...

tin

radium Radium is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elem ...

radium

uranium Uranium is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elem ...

uranium

, and

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. At Standard conditions for temperature and pressure, room temperature and pressure, another solid form of ...

diamond

s. The region's former capital,

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi (former names: (French) and (Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () *Dutch language , spoken in Belgium (also referred as ''flemish'') Dutch may ...

, is the second-largest city in the Congo.

History

Copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper Copper is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductility, ductile metal with very h ...

in Katanga dates back over 1,000 years, and mines in the region were producing standard-sized

ingots An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal A metal (from Greek#REDIRECT Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, , ), officially the Hellenic Republic, ...

of copper for international transport by the end of the 10th century CE. In the 1890s, the province was beleaguered from the south by

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes (5 July 1853 – 26 March 1902) was a British mining magnate A magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", is a noble or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ...

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a protectorate in southern Africa, south central Africa, formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia.''Commonwealth ...

, and from the north by the

, the personal possession of King

Leopold II of Belgium * german: Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (), was an Ernestine duchies, Ernestine, Thuringian states, Thuringian duc ...

Msiri Msiri (c. 1830 – December 20, 1891) founded and ruled the Yeke Kingdom (also called the Garanganze or Garenganze kingdom) in south-east Katanga Province, Katanga (now in DR Congo) from about 1856 to 1891. His name is sometimes spelled 'M'Siri' i ...

, the King of Katanga, held out against both, but eventually Katanga was subsumed by the Belgian Congo. 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

, copper,

zinc Zinc is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical element ...

zinc

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical eleme ...

cadmium

germanium Germanium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors silicon and tin. Pure germanium i ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical e ...

silver Silver is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical ele ...

silver

gold Gold is a chemical element In chemistry, an element is a pure Chemical substance, substance consisting only of atoms that all have the same numbers of protons in their atomic nucleus, nuclei. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elemen ...

gold

, and

. In 1915, a deposit of

pitchblende Uraninite, formerly pitchblende, is a Radioactive decay, radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely uranium dioxide, UO2 but because of oxidation typically contains variable proportions of Triuranium oct ...

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 Uranophane in malachite specimen from the Shinkolobwe mine">malachite.html" ;"title="Uranophane in malachite">Uranophane in malachite specimen from the Shinkolobwe mine Shinkolobwe, or Kasolo, or Chinkolobew, or Shainkolobwe, is a radium and ur ...

. The discovery was kept secret by UMHK. After

World War I World War I, often abbreviated as WWI or WW1, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war A world war is "a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world". The term is usually reserved for ...

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. By the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a global war A world war is "a war War is an intense armed conflict between states State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literatur ...

, the mining companies "constituted a state within the

". The

mine near

Jadotville Likasi (formerly official names: Jadotville (French language, French) and Jadotstad (Dutch language, Dutch)) is a city in Haut-Katanga Province, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Demographics Image:Likasi-congo-c1930.jpg, 200x2 ...

(now

Likasi Likasi (formerly official names: Jadotville (French) and Jadotstad (Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () *Dutch language , spoken in Belgium (also referred as ''f ...

Likasi

) was at the centre of the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development Research and development (R&D, R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in ...

. In 1960, after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called Republic of the Congo) gained independence from Belgium, the UMHK,

Moise Tshombe Moise is a given name and surname, with differing spellings in its French and Romanian origins, both of which originating from the name Moses (given name), Moses. Moïse is the French spelling of Moses, while Moise is the Romanian spelling of Mos ...

and Godefroid Munongo supported the

secession Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity A polity is an identifiable political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with Decision-making, making decisions in Soc ...

of Katanga province from the Congo. This was supported by Belgium but opposed by the Congolese Prime Minister

Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (; alternatively styled Patrice Hemery Lumumba; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese politician and independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Con ...

. 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 The State of Katanga (french: État du Katanga; sw, Inchi Ya Katanga), also sometimes denoted as the Republic of Katanga, was a breakaway state Breakaway or Break Away may refer to: Film, television and radio * ''Breakaway'' (1955 film), ...

existed from 1960 to 1963. In 2005, the new constitution specified that Katanga was to be split up into separately administered provinces. 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

in 2013. In 2015, Katanga Province was split into the constitutional provinces of

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: * Tanganyika (territory) Tanganyika was a territory located on the continent of Africa, and administered by the United Kingdom from 1916 until 1961. The UK initially administered the territory as an occupying power with ...

, Lualaba, and

Economy

Copper mining is an important part of the economy of Katanga province. 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.

Mining

, 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

, most of which comes from Katanga". 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". Katanga Mining Ltd is majority-owned by Swiss

commodity In economics Economics () is a social science Social science is the branch A branch ( or , ) or tree branch (sometimes referred to in botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plan ...

trader

Glencore DCC

. A

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership Equity sharing is another name for shared ownership or ''co-ownership (disambiguation), co-ownership''. It takes one property, ...

of Katanga Mining (75%) and Gécamines (25%) began mining Tilwezembe, an open-pit copper and cobalt mine, in 2007.

Geography

The province bordered Angola and formed the entire Congolese border with Zambia. It also bordered Tanzania – although on

Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal Lake Baikal (; russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Ba ...

rather than on land. Katanga has a wet and dry season. Rainfall is about . 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 Lualaba is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo There are currently twenty-five provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital, Kinshasa city, is administratively equivalent to a province.

File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Lomami.svg ,

Lomami Province Lomami is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the Subdivisions of the DR Congo#New provinces, 2015 repartitioning. Lomami, Kasaï-Oriental, and Sankuru provinces are the result of the dismemberment of ...

File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Haut-Lomami.svg ,

Province File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Haut-Katanga.svg ,

Haut-Katanga Province Haut-Katanga (French for "Upper Katanga") is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the Subdivisions of the DR Congo#New provinces, 2015 repartitioning. Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, Lualaba Province, Lualaba ...

File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Tanganyika.svg,

Tanganyika Province Tanganyika is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the Subdivisions of the DR Congo#New provinces, 2015 repartitioning. Tanganyika, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami and Lualaba Province, Lualaba provinces are ...

Education and medical care

The

University of Lubumbashi The University of Lubumbashi (), also known by the acronym UNILU, is one of the largest universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo ( french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC) ), also kno ...

, 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. Katanga province has the highest rate of

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five mortali ...

in the world, with 184 of 1000 babies born expected to die before the age of five. Katanga provincial parliament building

Transportation

The

Congo Railway Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to as "Congo-Kins ...

provides Katanga Province with limited railway service centered on

. Reliability is limited.

Lubumbashi International Airport Lubumbashi International Airport is an airport serving Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. History Lubumbashi International Airport was founded in colonial times as the Elisabethville Airport. It was also known as Luano airport. This ...

is located northeast of Lubumbashi. In April 2014, a train derailment killed 63 people.

People

Laurent-Désiré Kabila Laurent-Désiré Kabila () (27 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) or simply Laurent Kabila ( US: ), was a Congolese revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. Also, when used as an adjecti ...

, former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo *

, 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 Vincent de Paul Lunda Bululu (born 15 October 1942) is a Congolese former politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Zaire from 5 July 1990 to 1 April 1991. He previously served as First State Commissioner of Zaire from 4 May 1990 to 5 July 199 ...

, former prime minister of Zaire * Godefroid Munongo, politician

References

External links

The United Nations and the Congo

Rush and Ruin: The Devastating Mineral Trade in Southern Katanga
{{Authority control Former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1966–2015) Haut-Lomami Tanganyika Province 1966 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2015 disestablishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Provinces of the Belgian Congo