Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Main article: Subdivisions 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.^[1] Therefore, in many contexts Kinshasa is regarded as the 26th province.

Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Provinces de la République démocratique du Congo (French)
Also known as: Mikoa ya Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo (Swahili) Bitúká bya Kongó-Kinsásá (Lingala)
Category	1st-level administrative division of a unitary state
Location	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Number	26 provinces (1 is a city-province)
Populations	1,250,000 (Bas-Uele) – 13,916,000 (Kinshasa)
Areas	9,545 km2 (3,685 sq mi) (Kasaï-Oriental) – 199,567 km2 (77,053 sq mi) (Tshopo)
Government	Provincial government
Subdivisions	Territory and City (Commune in Kinshasa)

List

Map	Province	ISO 3166-2 Code	Capital	Area in km2 (sq mi)[2]	Population (2019)[2]	Population density (per km2in 2019)	Previous province	Time zone
1	Kinshasa	KN	–	9,965 (3,848)	13,916,000	1,396.5	Kinshasa	UTC+1
2	Kongo Central	BC	Matadi	53,920 (20,820)	6,365,000	118	Bas-Congo	UTC+1
3	Kwango	KG	Kenge	89,974 (34,739)	2,416,000	26.9	Bandundu	UTC+1
4	Kwilu	KL	Bandundu	78,533 (30,322)	6,169,000	78.6	Bandundu	UTC+1
5	Mai-Ndombe	MN	Inongo	127,243 (49,129)	2,082,000	16.4	Bandundu	UTC+1
6	Kasaï	KS	Tshikapa	95,631 (36,923)	3,165,000	33.1	Kasaï-Occidental	UTC+2
7	Kasaï-Central	KC	Kananga	59,500 (23,000)	3,743,000	62.9	Kasaï-Occidental	UTC+2
8	Kasaï-Oriental	KE	Mbuji-Mayi	9,545 (3,685)	3,601,000	377.3	Kasaï-Oriental	UTC+2
9	Lomami	LO	Kabinda	56,426 (21,786)	2,801,000	49.6	Kasaï-Oriental	UTC+2
10	Sankuru	SA	Lusambo	104,331 (40,282)	2,417,000	23.2	Kasaï-Oriental	UTC+2
11	Maniema	MA	Kindu	132,250 (51,060)	2,654,000	20.1	Maniema	UTC+2
12	South Kivu	SK	Bukavu	64,791 (25,016)	6,565,000	101.3	South Kivu	UTC+2
13	North Kivu	NK	Goma	59,483 (22,967)	7,574,000	127.3	North Kivu	UTC+2
14	Ituri	IT	Bunia	65,658 (25,351)	4,008,000	61	Orientale	UTC+2
15	Haut-Uele	HU	Isiro	89,683 (34,627)	2,046,000	22.8	Orientale	UTC+2
16	Tshopo	TO	Kisangani	199,567 (77,053)	2,582,000	12.9	Orientale	UTC+2
17	Bas-Uele	BU	Buta	148,331 (57,271)	1,250,000	8.4	Orientale	UTC+2
18	Nord-Ubangi	NU	Gbadolite	56,644 (21,870)	1,425,000	25.1	Équateur	UTC+1
19	Mongala	MO	Lisala	58,141 (22,448)	1,950,000	33.5	Équateur	UTC+1
20	Sud-Ubangi	SU	Gemena	51,648 (19,941)	2,755,000	53.3	Équateur	UTC+1
21	Équateur	EQ	Mbandaka	103,902 (40,117)	1,712,000	16.5	Équateur	UTC+1
22	Tshuapa	TU	Boende	132,957 (51,335)	1,789,000	13.5	Équateur	UTC+1
23	Tanganyika	TA	Kalemie	134,940 (52,100)	3,570,000	24.5	Katanga	UTC+2
24	Haut-Lomami	HL	Kamina	108,204 (41,778)	3,444,000	31.8	Katanga	UTC+2
25	Lualaba	LU	Kolwezi	121,308 (46,837)	2,993,000	24.7	Katanga	UTC+2
26	Haut-Katanga	HK	Lubumbashi	132,425 (51,130)	5,378,000	40.6	Katanga	UTC+2

History

When Belgium annexed the Belgian Congo as a colony in November 1908, it was initially organised into 22 districts. Ten western districts were administered directly by the main colonial government, while the eastern part of the colony was administered under two vice-governments: eight northeastern districts formed Orientale Province, and four southeastern districts formed Katanga. In 1919, the colony was organised into four provinces:

• Congo-Kasaï (five southwestern districts),
• Équateur (five northwestern districts),
• Orientale Province and Katanga (previous vice-governments).^[3]

In 1932, the colony was reorganised into six provinces. Initially they were named after their capital cities, but in 1947 regional names were adopted.^[3]

The Belgian Congo became an independent country in 1960, named Republic of the Congo. Under the first constitution, the Loi Fondementale, six provinces were provided for: Equateur, Kasai, Katanga, Kivu, Leopoldville, and Orientale.^[4] The provinces were organized with their own elected assemblies and parliamentary governments responsible to them.^[5] Provincial authorities had the power to organise the "political structures of the province within the framework of the general principles contained in the Loi Fondementale", manage provincial police and judicial officials, establish educational systems lower than higher education, tend to agricultural and mining concessions, construct and maintain local railways, roads, and public works, and manage their own finances,^[6] though their funding was heavily subsidized by the central government.^[7] Social legislation and national minimum wages were to be concurrent powers shared with central authorities. All other duties and responsibilities rested with the central government.^[6] As central authority collapsed due to the outbreak of the Congo Crisis following an army mutiny in July, provincial governments were able to leverage the situation to increase their political autonomy.^[8]

The disintegration of central authority led to numerous political discussions aimed at reconciliation and territorial reorganization marked by various political leaders arguing for the creation of new provinces from which many of them sought to personally benefit.^[9] In August 1962, 16 additional provinces were promulgated.^[10] By 1963, the country was organised into 21 provinces (informally called provincettes) plus the capital city of Léopoldville, similar to the original 22 districts under colonial rule.^[3] This framework was confirmed in the Luluabourg Constitution, promulgated in 1964.^[11]

Following a coup on 24 November 1965, Colonel Joseph Mobutu became president of the country and the constitution was suspended.^[12] Measures were instituted to reduce provincial autonomy and increase political centralisation.^[13] On 6 April 1966, a presidential decree reduced the number of provinces to 12.^[14] On 24 December, Mobutu declared that the number of provinces would be further reduced to eight.^[15] Under the constitution of 27 June 1976, provincial assemblies and ministers were eliminated in favor of appointed governors and advisory bodies. The constitution also left the organisation of provinces to be determined by law.^[15][16]

In 1971, the country was renamed Zaire, and three provinces were also renamed. In 1975, the capital city of Kinshasa obtained the status of a province. In 1988, the province of Kivu was split into three. In 1997, the country was renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the three provinces that had been renamed in 1971 either retook their previous name or took another.^[3]

Article 2 of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, adopted in 2006, specifies a territorial organisation into 26 provinces,^[17] again resembling the previous provincettes and original colonial districts. The reorganisation was scheduled to take effect within three years of the new constitution's promulgation, however progress was slow.^[18] In October 2007 the Minister for Decentralisation, Denis Kalume Numbi, presented a bill for decentralisation in the National Assembly. The subsequent debate turned up a variety of issues that first had to be addressed with changes to related laws.^[19] In an October 2010 conclave of the ruling AMP coalition, it was proposed to revise Article 226, which calls for the creation of 26 provinces out of the current 11, in order to allow more time for the transition.^[20] On 9 January 2015 the National Assembly passed a law on the new administrative divisions of the country, according to which new provinces should be installed in period of 12 months.^[21][22]

Maps

• 
  Districts of the Belgian Congo in 1914
• 
  Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1997–2015
• 
  Provinces since 2015 (officially formed in 2006)

Approximate correspondence between historical and current provinces

Approximate correspondence between historical and current provinces

Belgian Congo				First Republic		Second Republic (Zaire)		Third Republic
1908	1919	1932	1947	1963	1966	1971	1988	1997	2015
22 districts	4 provinces	6 provinces	6 provinces	21 provinces + capital	8 provinces + capital	8 regions + capital	11 regions	11 provinces	26 provinces
Tanganika-Moero	Katanga	Élisabethville	Katanga	Nord-Katanga	Katanga	Shaba		Katanga	Tanganyika
									Haut-Lomami
Lulua				Lualaba					Lualaba
Haut-Luapula				Katanga-Oriental					Haut-Katanga
Lomami		Lusambo	Kasaï	Lomami	Kasaï-Oriental				Lomami
Sankuru	Congo-Kasaï			Sankuru					Sankuru
Kasaï				Sud-Kasaï					Kasaï-Oriental
				Luluabourg	Kasaï-Occidental				Kasaï-Central
				Unité-Kasaïenne					Kasaï
Moyen-Congo		Léopoldville		Léopoldville	Kinshasa
Bas-Congo				Congo-Central		Bas-Zaïre		Bas-Congo	Kongo Central
Kwango				Kwango	Bandundu				Kwango
				Kwilu					Kwilu
Lac Léopold II	Équateur			Mai-Ndombe					Mai-Ndombe
Équateur		Coquilhatville	Équateur	Cuvette-Centrale	Équateur				Équateur
									Tshuapa
Lulonga				Moyen-Congo					Mongala
Bangala
Ubangi				Ubangi					Nord-Ubangi
									Sud-Ubangi
Bas-Uele	Orientale	Stanleyville	Orientale	Uele	Orientale	Haut-Zaïre		Orientale	Bas-Uele
Haut-Uele									Haut-Uele
Ituri				Kibali-Ituri					Ituri
Stanleyville				Haut-Congo					Tshopo
Aruwimi
Maniema		Costermansville	Kivu	Maniema	Kivu		Maniema
Lowa
Kivu				Nord-Kivu			Nord-Kivu
				Kivu-Central			Sud-Kivu

See also

• History of the administrative divisions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (in French)
• List of provincial governors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Lists of provincial governors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• List of provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by Human Development Index
• Districts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Districts of the Belgian Congo
• Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• ISO 3166-2:CD

References

1. "Constitution de la Republique Democratique du Congo" [The Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo] (PDF). LEGANET.CD (in French). 20 January 2011. Article 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 February 2019. Retrieved 11 Jan 2020.
2. "Annuaire statistique RDC 2020" [Statistical Yearbook DRC 2020] (PDF) (in French). National Institute of Statistics of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. March 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-12-11. Retrieved 2022-12-11.
3. Provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo Archived 2012-02-05 at the Wayback Machine, Statoids, accessed 1 May 2016.
4. Willame 1972, p. 42.
5. Leibholz 1966, p. 652.
6. Lemarchand 1964, p. 216.
7. Leibholz 1966, p. 653.
8. Leibholz 1966, p. 652–653.
9. Willame 1972, pp. 36–44.
10. Willame 1972, p. 45.
11. Kahombo 2019, p. 189.
12. Kahombo 2019, p. 190.
13. Willame 1972, pp. 134–135.
14. Willame 1972, p. 135.
15. Willame 1972, p. 136.
16. Kahombo 2019, p. 191.
17. Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, article 2 Archived 2011-10-25 at the Wayback Machine, Wikisource. (in French)
18. "Provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo Kinshasa)". Statoids. Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
19. "La décentralisation dans l'impasse". Le Potentiel. 23 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
20. JASON STEARNS (October 12, 2010). "The AMP conclave: Another step towards 2011 elections". Archived from the original on 2011-07-26. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
21. The National Assembly adopts the laws regarding the limits of the provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Archived 2015-01-27 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 10 January 2015. (in French)
22. Election of governors: definite results expected on 18 April Archived 2016-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Okapi, 27 March 2016. (in French)

Bibliography

• Gwillim Law (1999). "Democratic Republic of the Congo". Administrative Subdivisions of Countries: A Comprehensive World Reference, 1900 through 1998. US: McFarland & Company. pp. 92–94. ISBN 0786407298.
• Jean-Claude Bruneau [in French] (2009). "Les nouvelles provinces de la République Démocratique du Congo: construction territoriale et ethnicités". L'Espace politique (in French). 7 (7). doi:10.4000/espacepolitique.1296 – via Revues.org.
• Kahombo, Balingene (2019). "Chapter 7 : Regionalism under the Congolese Constitution of 18 February 2006". Decentralization and Constitutionalism in Africa. Oxford University Press. pp. 183–211. ISBN 9780192585035.
• Leibholz, Gerhard, ed. (1966). "Constitutionalism and Constitutions in the Congo". Jahrbuch des Offentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart. Neue Folge. Vol. 15. Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 9783166159522.
• Lemarchand, René (1964). Political Awakening in the Belgian Congo. University of California Press.
• Willame, Jean-Claude (1972). Patrimonialism and Political Change in the Congo. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0793-0.