Équateur District was a former district of the

Congo Free State The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

and

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. In 1914, it became part of former Équateur Province. The district went through various changes of extent and name over the years. The original district roughly corresponds to the current provinces of Équateur and

Tshuapa Tshuapa is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the Subdivisions of the DR Congo#New provinces, 2015 repartitioning. Tshuapa, Équateur Province, Équateur, Mongala, Nord-Ubangi, and Sud-Ubangi provinces are ...

Congo Free State

Article 3 of the decree of 16 April 1887 provided for the Congo Free State to be divided into administrative districts headed by district commissioners, assisted by one or more deputies. The decree of 1 August 1888 divided the Congo Free State into eleven districts including Équateur District, with its headquarters in Coquilhatville. An 1897 map of the

shows Équateur District extending east from the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

to the north of the Stanley Pool District. Most of its southern border adjoined Lac Léopold II District, with a small section in the southeast adjoining Stanley Falls District. To the east it bordered Aruwimi District and to the north it bordered Bangalas District, which stretched along the Congo.

Belgian Congo

The Congo Free State was annexed by Belgium in 1908 to become the

. At first the structure of districts was retained. An ''arrêté royal'' of 28 March 1912 divided the Congo into 22 districts. The northern part of Équateur District was separated to form Lulonga District. An ''arrêté royal'' of 28 July 1914 grouped the districts into the provinces of

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 Province, Léopoldville and Lusambo Province, Lusambo. Lo ...

, Équateur,

Orientale Province Orientale 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 changes between 1898 and 2015, when it was divided ...

and Katanga, with the objective of improving responsiveness through decentralization. Équateur Province contained the districts of Ubangi, Bangala, Lulonga, Équateur and Lac Léopold II. In 1933 the provinces were reorganized into six, named after their capitals, and the central government assumed more control. Équateur Province became Coquilhatville Province. The number of districts was reduced to 15, with 102 territories. Coquilhatville Province had lost Lac Léopold II to the new Léopoldville Province. It now held two districts: Lulonga had been merged with Équateur in the south to form Tshuapa District, while Ubangi and Bangala had been merged to form Congo-Ubangi District. By 1954 Coquilhatville Province had regained its former name of Équateur Province, and the districts had again been split into Ubangi, Mongala, Tshuapa and Équateur. A 1955–1957 map shows Equateur District bordering Ubangi District to the north, Mongala District to the northeast, Tshuapa District to the east, Lac Léopold II District to the south and the French territories across the Congo River to the west. The area was out of a total of for Equateur province as a whole.

Post-independence

On 14 August 1962 Équateur province was split into the provinces of Cuvette Centrale, Ubangi, and a centrally administered portion that became Moyen-Congo on 5 February 1963. Léon Engulu served as the only president (later, governor) of Cuvette-Centrale from September 1962 to 25 April 1966. On 25 April 1966 Cuvette Centrale, Moyen-Congo and Ubangi were reunited as Équateur province. The territories in the pre-2015 Équateur District were

Basankusu Basankusu is a town in Province of Équateur, Équateur Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the main town and administrative centre of the Basankusu Territory. In 2004, it had an estimated population of 23,764. It has a gravel Basank ...

Bikoro Bikoro is a market town in Équateur Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lying on Lake Tumba, south of Mbandaka. It is the administrative center of Bikoro Territory. In 2012, the estimated population was 7,426. Bikoro was the ...

, Bolomba, Bomongo, Ingende,

Lukolela Lukolela is a town in Équateur Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the Congo River bank. It is opposite the Republic of Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Cong ...

and Makanza. On 11 July 2015 Équateur Province was split into the present provinces of Équateur,

, Mongala,

Nord-Ubangi Nord-Ubangi (French for "North Ubangi") is one of the 21 newest provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Nord-Ubangi, Équateur, Mongala, Sud-Ubangi, and Tshuapa provinces are the result of the dis ...

and Sud-Ubangi. Équateur District was merged with the city of Mbandaka to form the new, smaller Équateur Province.

Gallery

File:1888 districts Congo Free State cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, Districts of the Congo Free State in 1888 File:1910 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1910 districts File:1912 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1912 districts. Équateur and Lulonga Districts separated File:1933 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1933 districts. Équateur province recreated as Tshapa File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Équateur.svg, Current province of Équateur File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Tshuapa.svg, Current province of Tshuapa

References

Sources