Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It has an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plant of the HVDC Inga-Shaba.[4] The population is approximately 573,000.
Kolwezi | |
|---|---|
Provincial capital and city | |
| Ville de Kolwezi | |
 Former district until 2015 | |
  Kolwezi Location in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| Coordinates: 10°43′S 25°28′E / 10.717°S 25.467°E 10°43′S 25°28′E / 10.717°S 25.467°E | |
| Country |  DR Congo |
| Province | Lualaba |
| Founded | 1938 |
| City status | 1971 |
| District | 1976–2015 |
| Founded by | Union Minière |
| Communes | Dilala, Manika |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jacques Masengo[1] |
| Area | |
• City | 213 km2 (82 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,448 m (4,751 ft) |
| Population (2015[2]) | |
• City | 572,942 |
| • Density | 2,700/km2 (7,000/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 480,000 |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (Central Africa Time) |
| Climate | Cwa |
Before the creation of Lualaba province in 2015 Kolwezi had two territories attached to it and the whole was known as the Kolwezi District.
History
editThe settlement was created in 1938 to be the headquarters for the western mining group of the Union Minière du Haut Katanga. In 1971 it obtained city status and consisted of the communes of Dilala and Manika. In 1976 the territories of Lubudi and Mutshatsha, both previously part of Lualaba District, were attached to it to form the Kolwezi District (districts were called sub-regions at the time). In the 2015 repartitioning this was undone, the two territories and the city proper became separate parts of Lualaba province with the city as capital of the new province.[5][6][7]
Battle of Kolwezi (1978)
editOn Saturday, 13 May 1978, ex-Katangese soldiers supported by Angola occupied the city. The government of Zaire asked Belgium, France, Morocco and the United States to restore order. The 2e REP, an elite paratroopers unit of the French Foreign Legion, were sent in to drive out the rebels and rescue any hostages. The Belgian army also deployed a force of some 750 Paracommando Regiment paratroopers and moved out just over 1,800 Europeans to other cities in the region. 700 Africans, including 250 rebels,[8] 170 European hostages and 6 paratroopers died.
Orientation
editKolwezi is set on an arid plain in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Upon its establishment in 1937 by the Union Minière du Haut-Katangahe, the company cleared the land of the acacias and miombo trees that once grew atop Kolwezi’s rich mineral deposits. They subsequently built a simple low-rise town across the area’s rolling hills, with wide streets and bungalows for Europeans, whose neighborhoods were segregated from the poorly built ones where Congolese workers lived.
The N39 highway runs through the center of town on a northwest-southeast axis. Large open pit cobalt mines are located to the west and north of the city center. Rond Point de L'Indépendance is the traditional center of the city with more formally laid out neighborhoods located to the west of the traffic circle. The center of the city contains administrative offices, dozens of guesthouses and hotels, banks and restaurants. Mutoshi Technical Institute is located on the eastern edge of the city. Kolwezi has several medical clinics and hospitals along with dozens of primary and secondary schools.
Dilala
editIs an upscale neighborhood located in the center of Kolwezi. The area is home to several foreign workers and a number of guest houses. Manika Stadium is located in the Dilala neighborhood. Kolwezi's Central Train Station is located on the eastern edge of the neighborhood with train service to Likasi and Lubumbashi.
Economy
edit
Kolwezi is an important mining centre for copper and cobalt. There are also uranium, radium, oxide ores, and lime deposits. The Musonoi mine is a set of open-cut pits near Kolwezi from which copper and other metals have been extracted since the 1940s.[10] The nearby Lake Nzilo was created by damming the Lualaba River to provide a source of hydroelectric power and a reservoir of water for the mining activities.[11][12] Kolwezi and its cobalt mining economy was profiled in the May 24, 2021 edition of The New Yorker by writer Nicolas Niarchos. The acute financial and environmental impacts on the city and its economy were highlighted in the article. The rapid growth of the cobalt mining industry has caused a recent surge in the city's population.
Climate
editKolwezi has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa). The city has a dry-winter humid subtropical climate (Cwa, according to the Köppen climate classification), with warm rainy summers and pleasant, dry winters, with most rainfall occurring during summer and early autumn. Annual average rainfall is 45.8 inches.
| Climate data for Kolwezi | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26 (79) |
27 (80) |
27 (80) |
27 (80) |
27 (80) |
25 (77) |
26 (79) |
28 (83) |
30 (86) |
30 (86) |
27 (80) |
26 (79) |
27 (81) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 16 (60) |
16 (60) |
16 (60) |
15 (59) |
13 (56) |
11 (51) |
11 (51) |
13 (55) |
14 (58) |
16 (60) |
16 (60) |
16 (60) |
14 (58) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 130 (5.2) |
170 (6.5) |
230 (9) |
66 (2.6) |
5.1 (0.2) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
5.1 (0.2) |
66 (2.6) |
260 (10.2) |
240 (9.3) |
1,160 (45.8) |
| Source: Weatherbase[13] | |||||||||||||
Transportation
editRoad
editThe city is crossed by Transafrican Highway 9 (TAH 9), which connects it to the cities of Lubumbashi and Dilolo.
Rail
editThe city of Kolwezi has one of the main railway stations in Congo, from where mineral loads and passengers board every day. The station receives trains from the Benguela railway.
Air
editThe Kolwezi Airport serves Kolwezi and the surrounding area. The airport is located about 6 km (4 mi) south of Kolwezi.[14]
Notable people
edit- Grace Geyoro (1997), footballer for France and captain of Paris Saint-Germain[15]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Mfumu, Marcelo (24 January 2023). "Kolwezi : Le maire sortant laisse une dette de plus de 4.700.000$". 7sur7.cd (in French). Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ "Cellule d'Analyses des Indicateurs de Développement".
- ^ PopulationStat.com
- ^ "Dalarnas Tidningar – Ludvika". Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2007.
- ^ Kumwimba Musao, Joseph (2009). La problématique de l'exploitation minière artisanale dans la province du Katanga (cas du district de Kolwezi) (Licence en sociologie industrielle) (in French). Institut Supérieur d'Etudes Sociales. 2e partie, chap. I, sections 2–3. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ "Des députés du Katanga désapprouvent le rattachement de Kolwezi à la province de Lualaba". Radio Okapi (in French). 13 January 2015. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ Kakesa, Ya (17 February 2016). "A Kolwezi, le maire et son adjoint limogés". AfricaNews (in French). Retrieved 6 September 2020.
- ^ Général Gaussères. Les enseignements de Kolwezi – Mai 1978, in les Cahiers du Retex n° 12, supplément à Objectif doctrine 37 (published by Centre de doctrine de l'emploi des forces, Ministère de la Défense). On line : "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), 37-31 - ^ Kolwezite Mineral Data
- ^ "Musonoi Mine, Kolwezi, Katanga Copper Crescent, Katanga (Shaba), Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaïre)". Mindat.org. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
- ^ Davies, Bryan Robert; Walker, Keith F. (1986). The Ecology of river systems. Springer. p. 203. ISBN 90-6193-540-7.
- ^ KEITH E. BANISTER, ROLAND G. BAILEY (July 1979). "Fishes collected by the Zaire River Expedition, 1974–75" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 66 (3): 205–249. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1979.tb01909.x. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
- ^ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo". Weatherbase. 2011. Retrieved on 24 November 2011.
- ^ "Distance and heading from Kolwezi to airport". WikiMapia. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- ^ Maqsood, Faham (14 June 2023). "Everything You Need to Know About Grace Geyoro". Sporting Throw. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
External links
edit
- "The French Foreign Legion in Kolwezi"(Broken Promise) [1] Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine By Roger Rousseau aux Editions Rexy ISBN 2-9526927-1-8