Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi (formerly Élisabethville or Elisabethstad) is ranked as the second largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (capital Kinshasa, formerly Zaire) and the hub of the southeastern part of the country. The copper-mining city serves as the capital of the relatively prosperous Katanga (formerly Shaba) province, lying near the Zambian border. Population estimates vary wildly but average around 1.2 million.

Lubumbashi lies at around 1,000 metres above sea level. The Kafue River rises along the Zambian border near the city and meanders through parts of Zambia to the Zambezi River.
 

The Belgians founded the city of Élisabethville (sometimes Elizabethville, both in French, or Elisabethstad in Dutch) in 1910. The city prospered with the development of a regional copper mining industry.

The Belgians established the University of Élisabethville in 1954-1955 (now the University of Lubumbashi).


In municipal elections in December 1957, the people of Élisabethville gave a vast majority to the Nationalist Alliance de Bakongo, which demanded immediate independence from the Belgians.

Élisabethville served as the capital and center of the secessionist independent state of Katanga during the 1960-1963 Congolese civil war.

Moise Tshombe proclaimed Katangan independence in July 1960. Congolese leaders arrested him and charged him with treason in April 1961; however, he agreed to dismiss his foreign advisers and military forces in exchange for his release.


Tshombe returned to Élisabethville but repudiated these assurances and began to fight anew. United Nations troops opposed Katangan forces and took control of the city in December 1961 under a strong mandate. Mobutu Sese Seko ultimately assumed power and renamed Élisabethville "Lubumbashi" and, in 1972 renamed Katanga "Shaba." Congo entered another civil war in the 1990s. The Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo rebels captured Lubumbashi in April 1997.


Rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila spoke from Lubumbashi to declare himself president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on May 17, 1997 after Mobutu Sese Seko fled Kinshasa. When Laurent-Désiré Kabila decided to appoint a transitional parliament, in 1999, a decision was made to install the Parliament in Lubumbashi, in order to consolidate the fragile unity of the country.


The parliament was installed in the building of the National Assembly of secessionist Katanga, which had its capital in this city as well, in the 1960s. Lubumbashi was therefore the Legislative capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1999 to 2003, when all the countries central institutions were brought back to Kinshasa.
 

Lubumbashi serves as an important commercial and national industrial center. Manufactures include, food products and beverages, printing, bricks, and copper smelting.

Lubumbashi lies at the centre of railway lines to Ilebo, Kindu, Sakania and Kolwezi. Lubumbashi hosts the Luano International Airport and a daily newspaper. The city consequently serves as a distribution center for such minerals as copper, cobalt, zinc, tin, and coal. Attractions in the city include a botanical garden, a zoo, a brewery, and the regional archaeological and ethnological National Museum of Lubumbashi
 

The city hosts the major University of Lubumbashi, which maintains an interesting library.
TESOL was founded in 1987. It is a K-8 (some years K-9) school teaching in English, whereas the national language for education in the DRC is French. TESOL was founded to provide education for the children of missionaries and other persons who preferred to have their children taught in English. The kinds of families who send their children to TESOL include: Missionaries Diplomats Business people NGO workers.

The Belgian school provides education in French with European equivalence levels.
 

Kolwezi

Kolwezi is a city in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi in the province of Katanga. It is home to an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. The population is approximately 418,000. Kolwezi is an important mining centre for copper and cobalt. There are also uranium, radium, oxide ores, and lime deposits.

Likasi

Likasi formerly known as Jadotville or Jadotstad, is a town in Katanga Province, in the south-east region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (also known as Congo-DRC or Congo-Kinshasa). Likasi has a population of around 360,000 (Doctors Worldwide, 2005). Likasi remains a centre for industry, especially mining, and is a transport hub for the surrounding region. There are mines and refineries supplied by nearby deposits of copper and cobalt. Likasi is also the birthplace of former Congolese head of state, Laurent Kabila.