Orientale Province

Province in Democratic Republic of the CongoOrientale Province Province OrientaleProvinceBelgian Congo provinces in 1920Orientale from 1933Country Democratic Republic of the CongoCapitalKisanganiArea • Total503,239 km2 (194,302 sq mi)Population (2010 est.) • Total8,197,975 • Density16.2904/km2 (42.1920/sq mi)Official languageFrenchNational languageSwahili, Lingala, Pa-Zande (Zande language) Orientale Province (French: Province orientale, lit. 'Eastern 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 into smaller units. The District of Orientale Province was created from Stanley Falls District on 15 July 1898. The district was expanded to become Orientale Province in 1913. It was divided in 1933 into Costermansville (later Kivu) and Stanleyville Province. Stanleyville Province was renamed Orientale Province from 1947 to 1963, when it was broken up into Kibali-Ituri, Uélé and Haut-Congo provinces. Orientale Province was reconstituted in 1966. Between 1971 and 1997 it was called Haut-Zaïre, th