Masisi Territory is a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

located within the North Kivu Province 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 ...

. Its political headquarters are located in the town of Masisi. Masisi Territory has constantly been subjected to the conflict between the Congolese army and militias, which has plagued the eastern Congo since the ending of the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War,, group=lower-alpha also known as the Great War of Africa or the Great African War and sometimes referred to as the African World War, began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in August 1998, little more than a year a ...

. militias originating from the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...

and the Congolese civil war, and Ugandan rebel groups, are involved in these episodes of conflict, which also relates to

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n border security and the control of eastern Congo's minerals by rebel groups and business interests. Armed groups have systematically targeted the civilian population. Masisi Hospital, run by aid agency

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...

, treats civilians and fighters from all sides of the conflict. The town is inaccessible much of the time, due to fighting, despite the presence of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

peacekeeping mission known as

MONUSCO The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was estab ...

. In July 2014, an

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

in the Masisi and Walikale Territories by the Congolese army and UN forces liberated 20 rebel controlled towns, freeing the local residents. Masisi territory has an area of 4734 km. Some of the local languages spoken are French, Swahili, and

Hunde Hunde (''Kihunde''; also ''Luhunde'', ''Kobi'', ''Rukobi'') is a Great Lakes Bantu language spoken by the Hunde people or Bahunde in Nord-Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is primarily spoken in the territories of Masisi ...

Administrative divisions

Masisi Territory is administratively subdivided into four sectors: Bahunde, Bashali, Katoyi, and Osso.

References

Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Populated places in North Kivu {{DRCongo-geo-stub