Lualaba District was a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the pre-2015

Katanga Province 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 Province, Tanganyika, Hau ...

in 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 ...

. The district dates back to the days of the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

and the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

. The original Lualaba District was merged into Katanga in 1910, but in 1933 a new Lualaba District was formed within Katanga. After various significant boundary changes, in 2015 the district became the western part of the present

Lualaba Province Lualaba is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Lualaba, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, and Tanganyika provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Katanga province. ...

Congo Free State

Article 3 of the decree of 16 April 1887 provided for the Congo Free State to be divided into administrative districts headed by district commissioners, assisted by one or more deputies. The decree of 1 August 1888 divided the Congo Free State into eleven districts, of which the first five were in the lower Congo region. The east of the colony was divided into Aruwimi-Uele District in the north, Stanley Falls District in the center and Lualaba District in the south, with its headquarters in

Lusambo Lusambo is a territory in and capital of Sankuru province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town lies north of the confluence of the Sankuru River and the Lubi River. Lusambo is served by Lusambo Airport. In 1890 Lusambo was chosen by Paul ...

. A map of the Congo Free State as of 1895 shows Lualaba District bordered by British possessions to the south and east, Stanley Falls District to the northeast, and

Kasai District Kasai District (french: District du Kasai, nl, District Kasai) was a district of the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, named after the Kasai River. It was formed around 1885 and went through several large c ...

to the west.

Belgian Congo

Belgium annexed the Congo Free State in 1908 as the Belgian Congo. Parts of the Stanley Falls and Lualaba districts were combined to form Katanga in 1910, which was called a vice-government general. An ''arrêté royal'' of 28 March 1912 divided the Congo into 22 districts. The vice-government of Katanga now contained the districts of

Lomami Lomami may refer to: * Lomami River, a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Lomami Province Lomami is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Lomami, Kasaï-Oriental, ...

and Lulua in the west, and Tanganika-Moero and Haut-Luapula in the east. The original four provinces had considerable autonomy, but in 1933 they were reorganized into six provinces, named after their capitals, and the central government assumed more control. Katanga became

Elisabethville Province 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, ...

(Katanga). The number of districts was reduced to 15, with 102 territories. Elisabethville Province was divided into Lualaba in the west, and Tanganika and Haut-Katanga in the east. Lualaba contained more than half the population and land area of the province. Its administrative center was the industrial town of

Jadotville Likasi (formerly official names: Jadotville ( French) and Jadotstad (Dutch)) is a city in Haut-Katanga Province, in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Demographics Likasi has a population of around 635,000 (2015). During the 1990 ...

. It took its name from the

Lualaba River The Lualaba River flows entirely within the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi. The Lualaba is long. Its headwaters are in ...

, which rises in the south and flows north into Tanganika District. By 1955 Lualaba had been greatly reduced in size, with the northern part of the district split off as

Haut-Lomami District Haut-Lomami District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The district dates back to the days of the Belgian Congo. At its greatest extent it roughly corresponded to the northern part of the cu ...

and part of the east transferred to

Luapula-Moero District Luapula-Moero District was a district of the pre-2015 Katanga Province in the Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It roughly corresponded in area to the present Haut-Katanga Province. Belgian Congo The original four provinces of ...

. A 1955–1957 map shows Lualaba District bordering

to the north,

to the east, and British territories to the south. Lualaba now had an area of out of for Katanga as a whole.

Post-independence

On 11 July 1960, a few days after the Congo Republic had gained independence, the province of Katanga seceded as an independent state. In November 1961 the northern portion was reconquered by the national government and made the province of Nord-Katanga. On 21 January 1963 the remainder of Katanga was reconquered and divided into the provinces of Lualaba and Katanga Oriental. Nord-Katanga, Lualaba and Katanga Oriental were merged back into the province of Katanga on 28 December 1966. In 2015 the current

was created from the Lualaba and

Kolwezi Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plant of ...

districts.

Gallery

File:1888 districts Congo Free State cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, Districts of the Congo Free State in 1888. Lualaba in the southeast File:1910 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1910 districts. Lualaba replaced by Katanga File:1912 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1912 provinces and districts. Katanga expanded to the west and divided into districts File:1933 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1933 provinces and districts. Lualaba in the west of Katanga File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Lualaba.svg, The current Lualaba Province File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Haut-Lomami.svg, The current Haut-Lomami Province

References

Sources