{"id":47,"date":"2024-03-23T19:58:25","date_gmt":"2024-03-23T19:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/?p=47"},"modified":"2026-08-01T00:06:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:06:49","slug":"kasai-central","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/kasai-central\/","title":{"rendered":"Kasa\u00ef-Central"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kasa\u00ef-Central is a province in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, with its capital at Kananga. It covers 59,111 km² and holds a projected 3,743,000 people, one of the 26 provinces created when the country was repartitioned in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Capital<\/th>\nKananga<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Population<\/th>\n3,743,000 (2019 projection)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Area<\/th>\n59,111 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Territories<\/th>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cities<\/th>\nKananga<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Languages<\/th>\nFrench (official); Tshiluba<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Neighbours<\/th>\nKasa\u00ef, Sankuru, Kasa\u00ef-Oriental, Lomami, Lualaba, Angola<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Towns, Cities and Territories<\/h2>\n

The province has five territories plus the city of Kananga, which is administered separately from the territories around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Territory or city<\/th>\nHeadquarters<\/th>\nArea<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Kananga<\/td>\nCity (ville)<\/td>\n847 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Demba<\/td>\nDemba<\/td>\n8,961 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dibaya<\/td>\nDibaya<\/td>\n8,601 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Dimbelenge<\/td>\nDimbelenge<\/td>\n13,223 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kazumba<\/td>\nKazumba<\/td>\n12,881 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Luiza<\/td>\nLuiza<\/td>\n14,702 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Kananga dominates the province: an estimated 1,524,000 people lived there in 2021, more than every territory headquarters combined. Tshimbulu, in Dibaya territory south-east of Kananga, is the next town of any size and the main market centre of the Lulua heartland. Demba lies north-west of Kananga on the Lulua River, Dimbelenge sits toward the Sankuru boundary in the north-east, and Kazumba and Luiza run south toward the Angolan border.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

Kananga stands near the Lulua River, a tributary of the Kasa\u00ef. The province is wooded savanna on sandy soils, cut by the Lulua and its feeder streams, with gallery forest along the watercourses and more closed forest toward the northern boundary. Kasa\u00ef-Central borders Kasa\u00ef<\/a> to the west, Sankuru<\/a> to the north, Kasa\u00ef-Oriental<\/a> and Lomami<\/a> to the east, and Lualaba<\/a> to the south-east. Its southern edge is the international border with Lunda Norte, Angola. Kananga sits roughly 200 km east of Tshikapa and about 190 km west of Mbuji-Mayi along National Road 1.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

Average density is about 63 people per km², high for interior Congo, and it climbs steeply around Kananga. There has been no national census since 1984, so every figure is a projection; a 2024 estimate puts the province above 4.2 million. Tshiluba is the everyday language of nearly the whole province and one of DR Congo’s four national languages; French is used in schools, courts and administration. The main peoples are the Lulua (Bena Lulua) around Kananga and Demba, the Luba-Kasa\u00ef in the east, the Kete and Lwalwa in the south, and Kuba communities toward the Kasa\u00ef boundary.<\/p>\n

Economy and Local Life<\/h2>\n

This is a farming province rather than a mining one. Cassava is the staple crop, grown alongside maize, groundnuts, beans, palm oil, and pineapples in the market gardens ringing Kananga. Territory headquarters like Demba, Dibaya and Luiza run weekly markets that gather produce for the road into Kananga, and Kananga itself is the commercial and administrative hub for the whole of the old Lulua district. Artisanal diamond digging happens in the south, near the Angolan border, but on a far smaller scale than in neighbouring Kasa\u00ef or Kasa\u00ef-Oriental. Household incomes lean on trade, transport and small workshops; formal industry is limited.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

Kasa\u00ef-Central was created in 2015 out of the former Kasa\u00ef-Occidental province, which split into Kasa\u00ef-Central and Kasa\u00ef<\/a>. The new province joined the old Lulua district to the city of Kananga, which had been administered on its own. Its boundaries match the short-lived Luluabourg province of 1963 to 1966. Kananga was itself called Luluabourg until 1966, when Mobutu’s Africanisation campaign renamed it.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

Kananga Airport takes domestic flights from Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi and Tshikapa, and is the practical way in. Kananga is a station on the Ilebo–Lubumbashi railway, the line that links the Kasa\u00ef river port to the Katanga mines, though services are slow and irregular. National Road 1 runs east–west through the province, connecting Tshikapa, Kananga and Mbuji-Mayi; it is the spine of all road travel here. Roads to the territory headquarters are earth tracks and turn difficult in the rains, which run from about October to May.<\/p>\n

FAQ<\/h2>\n

What is the capital of Kasa\u00ef-Central?<\/h3>\n

Kananga, formerly Luluabourg, near the Lulua River. It is the province’s only statutory city and its largest town by a wide margin.<\/p>\n

How many territories does Kasa\u00ef-Central have?<\/h3>\n

Five: Demba, Dibaya, Dimbelenge, Kazumba and Luiza, plus the separately administered city of Kananga.<\/p>\n

What language is spoken in Kasa\u00ef-Central?<\/h3>\n

Tshiluba, one of DR Congo’s four national languages, is spoken across the province. French is the official language of government and schooling.<\/p>\n

What is the difference between Kasa\u00ef and Kasa\u00ef-Central?<\/h3>\n

They are two separate provinces, both carved from the old Kasa\u00ef-Occidental in 2015. Kasa\u00ef-Central’s capital is Kananga; Kasa\u00ef’s is Tshikapa.<\/p>\n

How big is Kananga?<\/h3>\n

An estimated 1,524,000 people in 2021, which makes it one of DR Congo’s largest cities. The city itself covers 847 km².<\/p>\n

Does Kasa\u00ef-Central border Angola?<\/h3>\n

Yes. Its southern boundary runs along the Angolan province of Lunda Norte.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kasa\u00ef-Central is a province in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, with its capital at Kananga. It covers 59,111 km² and holds a projected 3,743,000 people, one of the 26 provinces created when the country was repartitioned in 2015. Capital Kananga Population 3,743,000 (2019 projection) Area 59,111 km² Territories 5 Cities Kananga Languages French (official); […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Kasa\u00ef-Central: Towns, Cities & Territories, DR Congo","_seopress_titles_desc":"Kasa\u00ef-Central province, DR Congo: capital Kananga, its 5 territories from Demba to Luiza, population, area, Tshiluba, farming towns and how to get there.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-dr-congo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}