Katanga Province

Katanga was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was divided into the provinces of Tanganyika, Upper Lomami, Lualaba and Upper Katanga. Between 1971 and 1997 (during the government of Mobutu Sese Seko when Congo was known as Zaire), its official name was Shaba province.

Katanga covered an area of 518,000 km² and had a population of approximately 4.1 million inhabitants. Agriculture and livestock were carried out on the Katanga plateau, while the easternmost part of the province was an important mining area providing cobalt, copper, tin, radium, uranium, diamonds and coltan. The former capital of the region, Lubumbashi (formerly Elisabethville), is the second largest city in the Congo.

History

At the beginning of the 17th century, the province was controlled by the Luba and Lunda tribes. At the end of the 19th century, a Tanzanian merchant named M'Siri founded a short-lived state, the Yeke kingdom, which lasted until his assassination at the hands of the Belgians in 1891.

Belgian colonization

Under the control of Belgium from approximately 1884, mineral resources (copper, tin, manganese, zinc, platinum, uranium) were exploited by companies of this nationality (particularly the Upper Katanga Mining Union) and the province developed greatly. more than the rest of the country. The Belgian mining cartel employed both hired mercenaries and hired guards in order to subdue the local population and ensure the smooth transportation of minerals and other raw materials out of the country. The Baluba tribe often opposed mining operations in the province, resulting in many of its members being murdered.

Independence

Immediately after the independence of the Congo - in June 1960 - Katanga broke its relations with the new government of Patrice Lumumba and declared its independence under the leadership of Moise Tshombe, who was supported by the Mining Union and several Western powers.. Lumumba was replaced as head of the Congolese state in September 1960 following a coup d'état carried out by Joseph Mobutu.

In January 1962, Katanga created its own air force, led by Jan Zumbach. It had ten Harvard T-6 bombers and two Vampire jets, almost all of which were destroyed by Swedish soldiers in December 1962. Armed units under the supervision of the United Nations (UN) carried out a military campaign for two years with the objective of reintegrating Katanga into the Congo, operations that culminated in a National Reconciliation Plan in January 1963.

Reunification with the Congo

In 1966, the Congolese central government nationalized the Mining Union of Upper Katanga, under the name of Gécamines. In 1971, Katanga changed its name to Shaba (a word from Swahili meaning 'copper'). During the 1970s, frequent insurrections in Shaba province were crushed by the Congolese government with the help of foreign powers. On May 12, 1978, for example, the rebels occupied the town of Kolwezi, the province's mining center. Zaire then asked the United States, France and Belgium for help to restore order. The operation left 700 African and 170 European dead.

In 1997, after Mobutu Sese Seko left for exile, the province changed its name again to Katanga.