Bandundu, formerly known as Banningville or Banningstad, is the capital city of

Kwilu Province Kwilu is a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It's one of the 21 provinces created in the 2015 repartitioning. Kwilu, Kwango, and Mai-Ndombe provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Bandundu province. Kwil ...

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 ...

Location

Bandundu is located on the east bank of the

Kwango River The Cuango or Kwango ( pt, Rio Cuango) is a transboundary river of Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the largest left bank tributary of the Kasai River in the Congo River basin. It flows through Malanje in Angola. The Kwango Riv ...

, just north of the juncture of the Kwango and the Kwilu, and south from the mouth of the Kwango on the

Kasai River The Kasai River ( ; called Cassai in Angola) is a tributary (left side) of the Congo River, located in Central Africa. The river begins in central Angola and flows to the east until it reaches the border between Angola and the Democratic Republi ...

. It is around from

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 ...

by air, or about by road. In 2009, Bandundu had an estimated population of 133,080.

Economy

Bandundu was once a significant river port, as it is the largest town on the river between Kinshasa and

Kikwit Kikwit is the largest city of Kwilu Province, lying on the Kwilu River in the southwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kikwit is also known in the region under the nickname "The Mother". The population is approximately 458,000 ( ...

. However, traffic on the Kasai and Kwango Rivers dropped dramatically as a result 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 ...

, and has yet to recover. Bandundu does have intermittent passenger and freight service to Kinshasa,

Mushie Mushie is a town in Mai-Ndombe province, Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the administrative center of Mushie territory. It lies at an elevation of 1118 ft (340 m), on the northern bank of the Kasai River at its confluence with the F ...

and Kikwit. Since 2008, there is a car/truck ferry service running several times per day across the Kwango. An unpaved road, roughly 250 km long, runs from this point to the main (paved) highway between Kinshasa and Kikwit. Bandundu is served by

Bandundu Airport Bandundu Airport is an airport serving Bandundu, capital of the Kwilu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Bandundu non-directional beacon (Ident: BAN) is located on the field. Airlines and destinations Passenger Cargo * ...

, with direct flights to Kinshasa. Unlike many cities in the Congo, Bandundu has a fairly constant supply of electricity. However, this has nothing to do with Inga-Shaba HVDC line, as this line has no intermediate terminals.

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Bandundu has a

tropical wet and dry climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...

(''Aw'').

Sister cities

Attert Attert (; lb, Atert; wa, Ater) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 70.94 km², had 4,802 inhabitants, giving a population density of 67.7 inhabita ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

)

Gallery

File:Siège de l'assemblée provinciale de Bandundu.jpg, Seat of the Provincial Assembly File:Bandundu Centre.jpg, Road in the town center File:Marché de Bandundu.jpg, Market File:Bandundu clothing market.jpg, Clothing market File:Rivière Kwilu à Bandundu.jpg, River Kwilu at Bandundu File:Au bord de la rivère Kwilu à Bandundu.jpg, Beside the River Kwilu

References