Sankuru is one of the 21 new

provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Article 2 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo divides the country into the capital city of Kinshasa and 25 named provinces. It also gives the capital the status of a province. Therefore, in many contexts Kinshasa is r ...

created in the 2015 repartitioning. Sankuru,

Kasaï-Oriental Kasaï-Oriental (French for "East Kasai") is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Kasaï-Oriental, Lomami, and Sankuru provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the form ...

, and

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, ...

provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Kasaï-Oriental province. Sankuru was formed from the

Sankuru District Sankuru District (french: District du Sankuru, nl, District Sankuru) was a district of the Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It went through various changes in extent, but roughly corresponded to the modern Sankuru Province. L ...

whose town of

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 P ...

was elevated to capital city of the new province.

Administration

The

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

of the province is

. While Sankuru's territories are governed by Territorial Administrators and his Deputy, including various Counselors, cities in Sankuru are governed by

Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

Townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

or collectivities have always Mayors with Council and

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

are mainly governed by traditional

Kingdoms Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

according to succession legacy. Administered from 1966-2009 as the District of Sankuru, the province is now divided into 6 territories: * Katako Kombe - with the town of

Katako-Kombe Katako-Kombe is a territory of Sankuru Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and is part of the region known as Kasaï. It is traditionally considered the homeland of the Tetela people. It is also the birthplace of the Congo’s first ...

and the City of Lumumbaville *

Kole Kole Weathers is a fictional superheroine in DC Comics. She is a former member of the Teen Titans. Fictional character biography Professor Abel Weathers, paranoid of an impending nuclear holocaust, was attempting to find a way for humanity to ...

- with the town of

Lodja Lodja is a remote town in the Sankuru (formerly Kasaï-Oriental) province in central Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is serviced by the Lodja Airport which is about from town. Lodja is a hub for both rice production in the province and dia ...

- with the City of

Lomela Lomela is a city in Kasaï-Oriental 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, th ...

- with the town of

Lubefu Lubefu is a community in Sankuru province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the administrative center of the Lubefu territory. Lubefu was established as a government station by the Belgian colonial administration, lying on the Lubef ...

- with the town of Tshumbe Ste Marie and the city of

- with the City of

History

Sankuru was administered as a province from 1962 to 1966. However, from 1966 to 2015, Sankuru was administered as a district as part of the

province.

Land

The major geographical features are

Sankuru River The Sankuru River is a major river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its approximate length of 1,200 km"Sankuru River" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 10, p. 278. ...

Lomami River The Lomami River is a major tributary of the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The river is approximately long. It flows north, west of and parallel to the upper Congo. The Lomami rises in the south of the country, near Kamina ...

Lubefu River The Lubefu River is a tributary of the Sankuru River, which in turn is a tributary of the Kasai River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One of the first Europeans to visit the river was Alexandre Delcommune in 1887 during an epic explorati ...

and

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 ...

. There are typically three natural environments in the province:

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

and

bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

. There are numerous mountains, valleys, and striking natural obstacles. This province has some of the richest Congolese fauna with its various species of animal including from

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...

antelope The term antelope is used to refer to many species of even-toed ruminant that are indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelope comprise a wastebasket taxon defined as any of numerous Old World grazing and browsing hoofed mammals ...

kudu The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus '' Tragelaphus'': * Lesser kudu, ''Tragelaphus imberbis'', of eastern Africa * Greater kudu, ''Tragelaphus strepsiceros'', of eastern and southern Africa The two species look similar, th ...

hippopotami The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...

, various species of tropical

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...

s, various species of

monkeys Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

, an array of

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

species, various

birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

, and

chimpanzees The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative the ...

. Sankuru has very rich

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Fauna

Coming soon.

Flora

Coming soon.

Tourism

Coming soon.

Economy

Sankuru is mainly an agricultural and farming region. Staple crops are rice, banana, pineapple, potatoes, sugar cane, coffee, sorghum, casavas, corns and various local agricultural produce. Due to the lack of

energy In physics, energy (from Ancient Greek: ἐνέργεια, ''enérgeia'', “activity”) is the quantitative property that is transferred to a body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of work and in the form of heat a ...

, Sankuru's industry is poorly developed and limited to traditional

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

production,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and construction

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

factories for local consumption and agricultural freights transportation. It's important to mention that Sankuru province has significant airlifting, waterways and routes

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

potentialities that need to be fully developed. The lack of developed

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

, clean

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

and viable

transportation infrastructure Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

is significantly challenging Sankuru's development. The economy is essentially focused on imported trading goods and freights moving due to the lack of developed

, clean

and viable

that significantly challenge local people. Sankuru has rich mineral ground:

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

cassiterite Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite was the chief tin ore throughout ancient history and remains t ...

as well as various other mineral resources. To an important extent, the province depends on imports of primary supplies from large Congolese cities such as

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 ...

Mbuji Mayi Mbuji-Mayi or Mbujimayi (formerly Bakwanga) is a city and the capital of Kasai-Oriental Province in the south-central Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the second largest city in the country, following the capital Kinshasa but ahead of Lubumb ...

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi (former names: ( French), (Dutch)) is the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital and principal city of the Haut-Katanga ...

Kindu Kindu is a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the capital of Maniema province. It has a population of about 200,000 and is situated on the Lualaba River at an altitude of about 500 metres, and is about 400 km west of Bukavu. Kindu is ...

and recently from

Goma Goma is the capital of North Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the Albertine Rift, the weste ...

People

Former prime Minister Patrice Emery Lumumba and musicians such as

Papa Wemba Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba (14 June 1949 – 24 April 2016), known professionally as Papa Wemba (), was a Congolese singer and musician who played Congolese rumba, soukous, and ndombolo. Dubbed the "King of Rumba Rock", he was one of the ...

(Shungu Wembadio Pene Kekumba),

Koffi Olomide Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba (13 July 1956), known professionally as Koffi Olomidé, is a Congolese Soukus singer, dancer, producer, and composer. He has had several gold records in his career. He is the founder of the Quartier Latin Internati ...

, and

Franco Luambo Makiadi François Luambo Luanzo Makiadi (6 July 1938 – 12 October 1989) was a Congolese musician. He was a major figure in 20th-century Congolese music, and African music in general, principally as the leader for over 30 years of TPOK Jazz, the most ...

(Lokanga La Ndju Pene) are from Sankuru Province. The first Congolese Army General,

Victor Lundula Victor Richard Lundula or Lundula Okoko Ta Mongo was a Congolese politician and soldier who served as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Armée Nationale Congolaise. He was a civilian who had been a medical orderly in the Force Publique during t ...

, General Otshudi and General Francois Olenga are also all from Sankuru.

Education

Sankuru's primary and secondary schools are mainly organised by the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

and the

Kimbanguist , native_name_lang = , image = Simon Kibangu.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Simon Kimbangu , abbreviation = , type = New christian religious movement ...

Churches. However, The Congolese Government also organises public schools via its Education Department. From around 2010, the province of Sankuru has recently welcomed many newly families and private individuals owned Elementary and High Schools. Sankuru have several universities: Patrice Emery Lumumba University with a Campus in

and Tshume-Ste-Marie, Saint Anne University with a campus in Tshumbe-Ste-Marie and

, several Colleges and University in Lumumbaville.

References

{{Authority control Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Administration

History

Land

Fauna

Flora

Tourism

Economy

People

Education

See also

References