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Article 2 of the Constitution 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 ...
divides the country into the capital city of
Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...
and 25 named provinces. It also gives the capital the status of a province. Therefore, in many contexts Kinshasa is regarded as the 26th province.


List


History

When Belgium annexed 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 ...
as a colony in November 1908, it was initially organised into 22 districts. Ten western districts were administered directly by the main colonial government, while the eastern part of the colony was administered under two vice-governments: eight northeastern districts formed Orientale Province, and four southeastern districts formed Katanga. In 1919, the colony was organised into four provinces: *
Congo-Kasaï Congo-Kasaï was one of the four large provinces of the Belgian Congo defined in 1914. It was formally established in 1919, and in 1933 was divided into the new provinces of Léopoldville and Lusambo. Location Congo-Kasaï was named after the Ka ...
(five southwestern districts), * Équateur (five northwestern districts), *
Orientale Province Orientale Province ( French: ''Province orientale'', "Eastern province") is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary ...
and Katanga (previous vice-governments).Provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Statoids, accessed 1 May 2016.
In 1932, the colony was reorganised into six provinces. Initially they were named after their capital cities, but in 1947 regional names were adopted. The Belgian Congo became an independent country in 1960, named
Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
. By 1963, the country was organised into 21 provinces (informally called ''provincettes'') plus the capital city of Léopoldville, similar to the original 22 districts under colonial rule. In 1966, the 21 ''provincettes'' were grouped into eight provinces, and the capital city was renamed Kinshasa. In 1971, the country was renamed
Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
, and three provinces were also renamed. In 1975, the capital city of Kinshasa obtained the status of a province. In 1988, the province of Kivu was split into three. In 1997, the country was renamed
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 ...
, and the three provinces that had been renamed in 1971 either retook their previous name or took another. Article 2 of the
Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo () is the basic law governing the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Constitution has been changed and/or replaced several times since its independence in 1960. Current Constitution Th ...
, adopted in 2006, specifies a territorial organisation into 26 provinces, again resembling the previous ''provincettes'' and original colonial districts. The reorganisation was scheduled to take effect within three years of the new constitution's promulgation, however progress was slow. In October 2007 the Minister for Decentralisation, Denis Kalume Numbi, presented a bill for decentralisation in the
National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
. The subsequent debate turned up a variety of issues that first had to be addressed with changes to related laws. In an October 2010 conclave of the ruling
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coalition, it was proposed to revise Article 226, which calls for the creation of 26 provinces out of the current 11, in order to allow more time for the transition. On 9 January 2015 the National Assembly passed a law on the new administrative divisions of the country, according to which new provinces should be installed in period of 12 months.Election of governors: definite results expected on 18 April
Radio Okapi, 27 March 2016.


Maps

Image:Mapcongo1914.jpg, Districts of the Belgian Congo in 1914 Image:DCongoNumbered.png, Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1997–2015 File:2006 Nouvelles provinces de la République Démocratique du Congo.png, Provinces since 2015 (officially formed in 2006)


Approximate correspondence between historical and current provinces


See also

* History of the administrative divisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * List of provincial governors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo *
Lists of provincial governors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Lists of provincial governors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are lists of governors of the provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors (Zaire, Republic of the Congo, Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: ...
*
List of provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Human Development Index This is a list of 11 former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (from 1997 to 2015) by Human Development Index as of 2019. See also *List of countries by Human Development Index References

{{reflist Human Development Index, ...
*
Districts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 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 ...
*
Districts of the Belgian Congo The Districts of the Belgian Congo were the primary administrative divisions when Belgium annexed the Congo Free State in 1908, each administered by a district commissioner. In 1914 they were distributed among four large provinces, with some bound ...
*
Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are divided into territories (fr. ''territoires'', sing. ''territoire'') and cities (fr. ''villes'', sing. ''ville''). The 145 territories are listed below, in alphabetical order, along ...
* ISO 3166-2:CD


References


Bibliography

* * {{DRC topics Subdivisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo, Democratic Republic of, Provinces Congo, Democratic Republic of Provinces, Congo, Democratic Republic of Democratic Republic of the Congo geography-related lists