Kinshasa << KIHN shah sah >> is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The municipality of Kinshasa has a population of 11,586,914. A municipality may include rural areas as well as the urban center. The city lies on the south bank of the Congo River, in the far western part of the country. Kinshasa is the nation’s center of government, light industry, and transportation.
The city.
The main section of Kinshasa stretches along the river bank and includes government offices, stores, high-income housing, and the University of Kinshasa. Industrial zones spread east and west of this area.
An area of older, low-income housing extends south from the river, and most of Kinshasa’s people live there. A wealthy suburb is southwest of the city. Squatter zones, where Kinshasa’s poorest people live in mud-brick dwellings, form an arc around the city.
The population of Kinshasa has grown rapidly for many years. This growth has caused a water shortage, poor sanitation and transportation, and other problems.
Economy
of Kinshasa is based chiefly on the activities of the DRC’s national government, the city’s largest employer. Industries include the production of beverages, processed foods, soap, textiles, and tires. Many of Kinshasa’s people earn their livings by selling items they make in their homes. Trains and trucks carry cargo between Kinshasa and Matadi, the country’s chief Atlantic Ocean seaport. Kinshasa has the nation’s busiest airport.
History.
By the late 1400’s, settlements based on fishing and trade had developed in the area that is now Kinshasa. During the 1700’s and 1800’s, the area flourished as a trading center. In 1881, the British explorer Henry M. Stanley set up an outpost there for King Leopold II of Belgium, his employer. The settlement was named Leopoldville after the king, who ruled the area as a personal possession from 1885 to 1908. Belgium took control in 1908 and made Leopoldville the capital in 1930. Congo became independent in 1960, and the capital was renamed Kinshasa in 1966.
