North Kivu

North Kivu (French: Nord-Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.[4] Its capital is Goma.

North Kivu Province

Province du Nord-Kivu
Province
Coordinates: 0°34′S 28°42′E
Country Democratic Republic of the Congo
CapitalGoma
Largest cityGoma
Government
 • GovernorCarly Nzanzu Kasivita[1]
 • Vice-governorLumoo Kahombo[2]
Area
 • Total59,483 km2 (22,967 sq mi)
Area rank18th
Population
 (2015)
 • Total6,655,000
 • Rank2nd
 • Density110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Demonym(s)North Kivutian
Official languageFrench
National languageSwahili
HDI (2017)0.440[3]
low
Websitewww.assembleenordkivu.org

North Kivu borders the provinces of Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the southwest, and South Kivu to the south. To the east, it borders the countries of Uganda and Rwanda.

The province consists of three cities—Goma, Butembo and Beni—and six territories—Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Rutshuru, Nyiragongo and Walikale. The province is home to the Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site containing the endangered mountain gorillas.

The region is politically unstable and since 1998 has been one of the flashpoints of the military conflicts in the region.

North Kivu was the site of an Ebola epidemic, which was compounded by political instability in the region.

History

North Kivu was formerly a "sub-region" or district in the region of Kivu.

The region was the scene of much fighting during the Second Congo War (1998–2003), and the Kivu conflict (2004–present).

Laurent Nkunda was offered the rank of Brigadier General and command of the new Congo Government's FARDC Eighth Military Region, covering North Kivu, by DRC government decree 019/2003 of August 19, 2003. However, he refused to take up the post. On May 26, 2004, General Obed Wibasira (RCD-Goma) was named to the position. However, Wibasira was suspected of complicity with the soldiers in Goma who had triggered a mutiny in Bukavu in February 2004, and on January 23, 2005, he was switched with Gabriel Amisi Kumba, at the time commander of the Fifth Military Region in Kasaï-Oriental.[5] Gabriel Amisi Kumba was named as a Brigadier General when taking up the post. General Louis Ngizo, a former commander of the Rally for Congolese Democracy, was appointed a commander in November 2006. However he was of little influence compared to powerful military figures from Kinshasa, U.S. diplomats said in comments released via WikiLeaks. Brigadier General Vainqueur Mayala was transferred from command of the Ituri operational zone, promoted to Major General, and appointed military region commander in May 2007.[6] Ngizo left Goma on May 13, 2007, his next posting not being known at the time. During late 2008, the FARDC maintained its dismal record in combat against Laurent Nkunda's CNDP faction, losing the Rumangabo military camp to the rebels.

The dissident Mai-Mai 85th Brigade, commanded by Colonel Samy Matumo, controlled the cassiterite mine at Bisie, just north of Manoire in Walikale, in the south-east of North Kivu.[7] The former RCD-K/ML also has fighters in the province; 'at the beginning of the transition [2002-3] the RCD-Mouvement de Libération president declared he had 8-10,000 Armée Patriotic Congolaise (APC) troops in the Beni-Lubero area of North Kivu.’ This exaggerated figure now seems to have been reduced to ‘several thousand’ (2-4,000?) as of early 2006 following demobilizations and men joining the integrated brigades.[8]

The Effacer le tableau and Beni massacre occurred in the province.

Approximate correspondence between historical and current province

Ituri

Approximate correspondence between historical and current province
Belgian Congo Republic of the Congo Zaire Democratic Republic of the Congo
1908191919321947196319661971198819972015
22 districts4 provinces6 provinces6 provinces21 provinces + capital8 provinces + capital8 provinces + capital11 provinces11 provinces26 provinces
Bas-Uele Orientale Stanleyville Province Orientale Uele Orientale Haut-Zaïre Orientale Bas-Uele
Haut-Uele Haut-Uele
Kibali-Ituri Ituri
Stanleyville Haut-Congo Tshopo
Aruwimi
Maniema Costermansville Kivu Maniema Kivu Maniema
Lowa
Kivu Nord-Kivu Nord-Kivu
Kivu-Central Sud-Kivu

Geography

North Kivu borders Lake Edward to its east with Uganda and Lake Kivu to its southeast with Rwanda. The Virunga Mountains extends through the province. The mountain range is the site of the volcanoes Mount Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira, where approximately 40% of Africa's volcanic activity takes place, and Virunga National Park, which hosts mountain gorillas, an endangered species.

Human rights issues
See also: 2012 East D.R. Congo conflict
A UN Mi-24 flight reconnaissance in North Kivu.

In October 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned of an increasing number of internally displaced people (IDP) in North Kivu related to the fighting there between the government army, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels and renegade troops, including Laurent Nkunda's forces, and a build-up of military supplies and forces, including the reported recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups across North Kivu. The UNHCR thought that there were over 370,000 people in North Kivu displaced since December 2006, and is expanding its camps in the Mugunga area where over 80,000 IDPs were estimated.[9] The brief capture of Goma, by M23 rebels caused "tens of thousands" of refugees. The town of Sake was abandoned.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Nord-Kivu : le gouverneur Carly Nzanzu a pris ses fonctions". Radio Okapi. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  2. "Nord-Kivu : Carly Nzanzu élu gouverneur". Radio Okapi. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  3. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
  4. Central Intelligence Agency (2014). "Democratic Republic of the Congo". The World Factbook. Langley, Virginia: Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved May 10, 2016.
  5. Jean Omasombo (ed.), RDC: Biographies des Acteurs de la Troisième République, Africa Museum, Bruxelles, 24-25.
  6. 07KINSHASA534, Congolese Military Replaces Commander In North Kivu Archived June 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Wed, May 16, 2007. See also Rwanda: War Rages in DRC as Government Forces Seek FDLR Support, The New Times, September 21, 2008
  7. Polgreen, Lydia (November 16, 2008). "Congo's Riches, Looted by Renegade Troops". The New York Times. Retrieved April 9, 2010.
  8. International Crisis Group, Security Sector Reform in the Congo, Africa Report N°104, February 13, 2006, p.14
  9. "DR Congo: UN agency concerned at military buildup in North Kivu". UN News Service. October 5, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2007.
  10. Gordts, Eline (November 23, 2012). "PHOTOS: Tens Of Thousands Of Civilians Flee Goma". Huffington Post.

Further reading
  • Denis Tull, The reconfiguration of political order in Africa: a case study of North Kivu (DR Congo), Volume 13 of Hamburg African studies, Institut für Afrika-Kunde (Hamburg, Germany), GIGA-Hamburg, 2005, ISBN 3-928049-90-9, ISBN 978-3-928049-90-0, 342 pages
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