Kasaï-Oriental (French for "East Kasai") is one of the 21
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 ...
created in the
2015 repartitioning. Kasaï-Oriental,
Lomami Lomami may refer to:
* Lomami River, a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Lomami Province, a province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
* Lomami Province (former), a former province of Zaire
{{Disambig ...
, and
Sankuru provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the
former Kasaï-Oriental province.
Kasaï-Oriental was formed from the
Tshilenge district and the independently administered city of
Mbuji-Mayi which retained its status as a provincial capital.
The new province's territory corresponds to most of the historic
Sud-Kasaï province which existed in the early period after
independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
between 1963 and 1966.
History
Kasai-Oriental is inhabited by members of the
Luba tribe.
Congo obtained independence from
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in 1960. Friction with Congo's other ethnic groups and encouragement by
Belgian corporations hoping to keep their mining concessions led to the secession of the province of
South Kasai as a separate state headed by
Albert Kalonji.
After being repulsed, the Congo occupied the province in September 1961. Several thousand people were killed during the "pacification" of South Kasai, which lasted through the spring of 1962.
The population of
Mbuji-Mayi grew rapidly with the immigration of Luba people from other parts of the country.
Diamond mining
The region in which Mbuji-Mayi is situated annually produces one-tenth in weight of the world's industrial diamonds, with mining managed by the Société Minière de Bakwanga. This is the largest accumulation of diamonds in the world, more concentrated than those at
Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
Queensland
* Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas
South Australia
* County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia
Ta ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. Mbuji-Mayi handles most of the industrial diamonds produced in the Congo.
Political divisions
The province consists of the following five territories:
*
Kabeya-Kamwanga
*
Katanda
*
Lupatapata
*
Miabi
*
Tshilenge
Languages
French is the official language.
Tshiluba is one of the four national languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tshiluba is spoken by about 6.3 million people in the Kasai-Oriental,
Kasai-Occidental and
Kasaï-Central provinces.
See also
*
Kasai region
*
List of governors of Kasaï Oriental Province
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasai-Oriental
Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo