Kalemie Medal Parade (12235622173).jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kalemie, formerly Albertville or Albertstad, is a town on the western shore of
Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The town is next to the outflow of the Lukuga River from Lake Tanganyika to the Lualaba River.


History

From 1886 to 1891, the Society of Missionaries of Africa had founded catholic missions at the north and south ends of
Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
.
Léopold Louis Joubert Léopold Louis Joubert (or Ludovic Joubert) (22 February 1842 – 27 May 1927) was a French soldier and lay missionary. He fought for the Papal States between 1860 and 1870 during the Italian unification, which he opposed. He later assisted the W ...
, a
French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
soldier and armed auxiliary, was dispatched by Archbishop Charles Lavigerie's Society of Missionaries of Africa to protect the missionaries. The missionaries abandoned three of the new stations due to attacks by Tippu Tip and Rumaliza. By 1891 the Arab slave traders had control of the entire western shore of the lake, apart from the region defended by Joubert around ''Mpala'' and ''St Louis de Mrumbi''. The anti-slavery expedition under Captain
Alphonse Jacques Lieutenant-general Baron Jules-Marie-Alphonse Jacques de Dixmude (24 February 1858 – 24 November 1928), often known as General Jacques, was a Belgian military figure of World War I and colonial advocate. Congo Free State He founded Albertv ...
—financed by the Belgian Anti-Slavery Society—came to the relief of Joubert on 30 October 1891. When the Jacques expedition arrived Joubert's garrison was down to about two hundred men, poorly armed with "a most miscellaneous assortment of chassepots, Remingtons and muzzle-loaders, without suitable cartridges." He also had hardly any medicine left. Captain Jacques asked Joubert to remain on the defensive while his expedition moved north.


Founding of Albertville

On 30 December 1891 Captain
Alphonse Jacques Lieutenant-general Baron Jules-Marie-Alphonse Jacques de Dixmude (24 February 1858 – 24 November 1928), often known as General Jacques, was a Belgian military figure of World War I and colonial advocate. Congo Free State He founded Albertv ...
' anti-slavery expedition founded the military post of Albertville on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and tried to put an end to the Arab slave trade in the region. Albertville was located south of the Lukuga River. Sergeant Alexis Vrithoff was killed on 5 April 1892 when defending Albertville against an attack by Arab slavers under Rumaliza. His troops, based at Kataki, surrounded Albertville on that day and besieged the outpost for several months, from 16 August 1892 until 1 January 1893. Eventually, Rumaliza's forces had to retreat because of the arrival of the Long-Duvivier-Demol Anti-Slavery expedition, a relief column sent from Brussels at captain Alphonse Jacques's aide. After the Arabs left the territory, the original Albertville was gradually abandoned, and the name became attached to the military post of M'Toa to the north of the Lukuga, the site of present-day Kalemie.


World War I and the East African campaign

In 1914 Albertville was the base for the Belgo-Congolese forces in the East African campaign. The railway reached Albertville in 1915, and in 1916 the port was constructed and the coalworks at Greinerville opened. At the end of 1940 a military base was established at Albertville, initially
South African __NOTOC__ South African may relate to: * The nation of South Africa * South African Airways * South African English * South African people * Languages of South Africa * Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the Afric ...
and later British, to manage troops in Kenya and Abyssinia.


Post-independence and name change to Kalemie

Albertville was attacked by mercenaries under Major Mike Hoare during operations against the Simba Rebellion in August 1964. In the late 1960s and early 1970s under the regime of
Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...
the Zairianization policy was implemented, this included numerous changes to the state and to private life, including the renaming of the Congo and its cities, as well as an eventual mandate that Zairians were to abandon their Christian names for more "authentic" ones. In addition, Western-style attire was banned and replaced with the Mao-style tunic labeled the "
abacost The abacost, a blending of the French ''"à bas le costume"'' (), was the distinctive clothing for men that was promoted by Mobutu Sese Seko as part of his '' authenticité'' programme in Zaire, between 1972 and 1990. Zairians were banned from ...
" and its female equivalent. The policy began to wane in the late 1970s and had mostly been abandoned by 1990. In 1971, as a result of the Zairianization, Albertville changed its name to Kalemie. The Town of Kalemie also hosts the major University of Kalemie, which maintains the largest library in the region.


Climate

Kalemie has a tropical savanna climate ( Köppen: ''Aw'').


Economy

Kalemie serves as an important town in the
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 ...
, Manufactures include cement, food products, and textiles.


Mining

The town consequently serves as a distribution centre for such minerals as copper, cobalt, zinc, tin, and coal.


Transport


Airport

The town is served by Kalemie Airport, with flights to other airports in the country.


Rail

Kalemie lies at the centre of railway lines to Nyunzu, Kindu, Kabalo and Lubumbashi. The construction of a railway Kalemie to Bukavu through the town of Baraka to open up the Kivu region was proposed.


Water

Kalemie lies at the centre of water lines to Kigoma, Tanzania, Mpulungu, Zambia, Uvira, DRC and Bujumbura, Burundi.


Language(s)

Although French is the official language, the main in Kalemie is a dialect of Kiswahili found in Tanzania. This dialect, known as Kingwana, is spoken along the east side of Congo (including the provinces of North Kivu,
South Kivu South Kivu (''Jimbo la Kivu Kusini'' in Swahili), (french: Sud-Kivu) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Bukavu. History South Kivu Province was created from Sud-Kivu District in 1989, when the exis ...
, Maniema, Katanga and
Oriental The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the ...
, Western Kasai and Eastern Kasai) and almost all the way across to the Katangan border with Angola.


Sports

Lubumbashi is home to
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
clubs
Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...
, FC Etoile Jaune (Yellow Stars) and many more.


Kalemie Port

The port at Kalemie was built to connect the Great Lakes rail line (from the Kabalo junction on the Lualaba River) to the Tanzanian lake port and railhead at Kigoma, from where the Tanzanian Central Railway Line runs to the seaport of
Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...
. The port was built with a wharf and 3 mobile cranes, giving it a capacity of per day with two shifts. Currently, the cranes are not functional, and vessels cannot reach the wharf due to silting up of the lake next to it. The buildings of the port also require rehabilitation. Moreover, the railway line for west of Kalemie is 'very degraded' and not fully operational. Kalemie Port is also used by boat services to the northern Lake Tanganyika ports of Kalundu-Uvira and
Bujumbura Bujumbura (; ), formerly Usumbura, is the economic capital, largest city and main port of Burundi. It ships most of the country's chief export, coffee, as well as cotton and tin ore. Bujumbura was formerly the country's normal capital. In late ...
in
Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...
, and southwards to Moba and
Mpulungu Mpulungu is a town in the Northern Province of Zambia, at the southern tip of Lake Tanganyika.Camerapix: "Spectrum Guide to Zambia." Camerapix International Publishing, Nairobi, 1996. From Mpulungu, boats reach DR Congo, Tanzania and Burundi. Th ...
in Zambia. Kalemie Port is operated by the railway company SNCC which also operates the railways in DR Congo (except for the Matadi-Kinshasa line) as well as boat services on the eastern waterways in the country.


Town partnerships

Kalemie maintains partnership links with the following places: * Steinheim, Germany


2005 earthquake

The Lake Tanganyika earthquake struck on December 5, 2005. The epicentre was approximately below the surface of
Lake Tanganyika Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
, some south-east of Kalemie. At least dozens of houses were destroyed.


References


Sources

* * *


External links

*
Web site of Kalemie / Bukavu / Kalima areaA Trans-Africa Inland Waterway System?Democratic Republic of Congo Waterways Assessment
* * {{authority control Populated places in Tanganyika Province Populated places on Lake Tanganyika