Mongala

This article is about the current province. For the river, see Mongala River. For the former district, see Mongala District.

Mongala is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Mongala, Équateur, Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, and Tshuapa provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Équateur province.^[2] Mongala was formed from the Mongala District whose town of Lisala was elevated to capital city of the new province.^[3]

Mongala Province de la Mongala (French)
Province
Coordinates: 02°09′N 21°31′E
Country	DR Congo
Established	2015
Named after	Mongala River
Capital	Lisala
Government
• Governor	Jean-Collins Makaka[1]
Area
• Total	58,141 km2 (22,448 sq mi)
Population  (2020 est.)
• Total	2,114,100
• Density	36/km2 (94/sq mi)
Ethnic groups
• Native	AnaMongo, Ngombe, Budja
Time zone	UTC+1 (West Africa Time)
License Plate Code	CGO / 18
Official language	French
National language	Lingala
Website	https://www.provincemongala.com/index.html

Location

Mongala is located at the northwest of the country on the Congo River, and borders the provinces of Tshopo, Bas-Uele, Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, Équateur and Tshuapa. It is divided into three territories:

• Bongandanga
• Bumba, major town and site of a former secessionist state (1963) in the province.
• Lisala

The province includes the village of Yambuku.

History

From 1963–1966, Mongala Province was known as Moyen-Congo. However, under Mobutu, the province was reintegrated into the former Équateur province where it was administered as Mongala District, until 2015. Presidents (later governors) of the Moyen-Congo province were:

• 6 April 1963 – June 1964 Laurent Eketebi
  • (de facto from 15 September 1962)
• April 1963 – 30 July 1963 Denis Akundji
  • (president of secessionist province of Bumba)
• 23 June 1964 – 10 August 1965 Augustin Engwanda
• 10 August 1965 – 25 April 1966 Denis Sakombi (born 1929, died 1985)