Mai-Ndombe 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of pre-2015

Bandundu Province Bandundu is one of eleven former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It bordered the provinces of Kinshasa and Bas-Congo to the west, Équateur to the north, and Kasai-Occidental to the east. The provincial capital is also ca ...

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 ...

. It covered roughly the same area as the colonial-era

Lac Léopold II District Lac Léopold II District (french: District du Lac Léopold II, nl, District Leopold II Meer) was a district of the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It went through various changes in extent, but roughly corres ...

. In 2015, it was merged with Plateaux District, all in pre-2015

, to form the new

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 ...

Location

Mai-Ndombe extends north from the

Kasai River The Kasai River ( ; called Cassai in Angola) is a tributary (left side) of the Congo River, located in Central Africa. The river begins in central Angola and flows to the east until it reaches the border between Angola and the Democratic Repub ...

and is separated from 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 ...

to the east by the Plateaux District. The district takes its name from the large but shallow

Lake Mai-Ndombe Lake Mai-Ndombe (french: Lac Mai-Ndombe) is a large freshwater lake in Mai-Ndombe province in western Democratic Republic of the Congo. The lake is within the Tumba-Ngiri-Maindombe area, the largest Wetland of International Importance recognize ...

, which covers but expands to double or triple that size in the rainy season. The

Lukenie River The Lukenie River is a river in the central Congo basin of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). River barges from Kinshasa journey up the Congo, Kwah ( Kasai), and Fimi Rivers to the Lukenie as far as the landing at Kole, a journey of 6 ...

flows from the east and runs through the southern part of the district. The Lukenie joins with the

Fimi River The Fimi River is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It flows from Lake Mai-Ndombe to the Kasai River, which in turn empties into the Congo. One of the Fimi's tributaries is the Lukenie River The Lukenie River is a river in the c ...

, which drains Lake Mai-Ndombe and continues westward to join the Kasai at

Mushie Mushie is a town in Mai-Ndombe province, Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the administrative center of Mushie territory. It lies at an elevation of 1118 ft (340 m), on the northern bank of the Kasai River at its confluence with the F ...

. The district includes the Mai Ndombe Conservation Concession, an area of on the western shore of Lake Mai Ndombe in the Inongo Territory. The concession extends over the Ntomba, Baselenge, and Bolia sectors. This is the first

REDD Redd is a Turkish rock band established in 1996 by tenor opera singer Doğan Duru and guitarist Berke Hatipoğlu under the name ''Ten''. They used to play at bars until they set up their own studio in 2004. Their first album, titled ''"50/50" ...

+ community-based forest conservation project in the country.

Economy

Even by the standards of the country, Mai-Ndombe District is relatively undeveloped. During the colonial era the region was a major producer of rubber, copal, textile fibers, palm nuts and lumber. Since independence it has been neglected. Buildings such as schools, health centers, hospitals, offices and churches from the earlier period have been allowed to deteriorate. Although roads in Kutu territory have been maintained by non-government organizations, Oswhe territory in the east no longer has any roads or bridges. Ports have also been abandoned. The Forest Development Corporation

SODEFOR Sodefor (Société de Développement Forestier, or Forest Development Corporation) is a subsidiary of Nordsudtimber of Liechtenstein that undertakes logging operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There has been controversy about the im ...

employs several hundred workers, and a few other companies also operate in the district. Bokoro, Inongo, Kiri, Kutu, Nioki, Oshwe

Administrative divisions

Mai-Ndombe included the following territory-level division units:

Territories

* Inongo * Kiri * Kutu * Nioki *

Oshwe Oshwe is a community in Mai-Ndombe province, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is the headquarters of Oshwe territory. The town lies on the Lukenie River. The estimated population as of 2012 was 22,576. The town is served by Oshwe Airpo ...

The administrative center is the town of Inongo on the east shore of Lake Mai-Ndombe. Under the February 2006 constitution, Plateaux District, Mai-Ndombe District and the city of Bandundu were to be combined into a new

, with the change taking effect before 18 February 2009. As of October 2010, this had not taken place, and the ruling party was calling for a further extension to the deadline.

References

{{Districts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Districts of Bandundu Province Mai-Ndombe Province