{"id":83,"date":"2024-03-27T12:26:17","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T12:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/?p=83"},"modified":"2026-08-01T00:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T00:06:48","slug":"lualaba-province","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/lualaba-province\/","title":{"rendered":"Lualaba Province"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lualaba is the south-western corner of the Congolese Copperbelt, bordering Angola, with Kolwezi as its capital. One of the 26 provinces created by the 2015 repartitioning, it covers 121,308 km² and had a projected population of about 3,183,300 in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Capital<\/th>\nKolwezi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Population<\/th>\n3,183,300 (projected, 2020)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Area<\/th>\n121,308 km²<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Territories<\/th>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cities (villes)<\/th>\nKolwezi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Languages<\/th>\nFrench (official), Swahili (national), Ruund, Chokwe, Kaonde, Kiluba<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Neighbours<\/th>\nHaut-Katanga, Haut-Lomami, Kasaï; Angola<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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

Lualaba has five territories, each named after its headquarters town, plus the city of Kolwezi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Territory or city<\/th>\nHeadquarters<\/th>\nNote<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Dilolo<\/td>\nDilolo<\/td>\nAngola border, Benguela rail<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kapanga<\/td>\nKapanga<\/td>\nLunda heartland, Musumba<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lubudi<\/td>\nLubudi<\/td>\nCement works, copper belt<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mutshatsha<\/td>\nMutshatsha<\/td>\nRail town west of Kolwezi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sandoa<\/td>\nSandoa<\/td>\nUpper Lulua valley farming<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kolwezi<\/td>\nCity (ville)<\/td>\nProvincial capital, two communes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Kolwezi is split into the communes of Dilala and Manika. In Kapanga Territory the settled core is a cluster of three places — Kapanga, Musumba and Ntita — Musumba being the seat of the Mwant Yav, the Lunda paramount ruler. Fungurume and Tenke, on the copper belt about 180 km north-west of Lubumbashi, give their names to the Tenke Fungurume concession. Kasaji, on the rail line in Dilolo Territory, and Kisenge, the old manganese town, are the other names that come up most often.<\/p>\n

Geography<\/h2>\n

Lualaba is high, open miombo woodland and savanna, thinning to sandy Kalahari-type soils in the west. Haut-Katanga<\/a> lies to the east, Haut-Lomami<\/a> to the north-east and Kasaï<\/a> to the north. Angola runs along the west and south; the Angola–Zambia–DRC corner sits at the province’s southern tip, below Dilolo.<\/p>\n

The Lualaba River, the main headstream of the Congo, rises in this province and gives it its name. The Lulua and the Kasaï also head here before turning north. Kayo Falls is the best-known drop. Dilolo Territory alone had about 333,852 people over 24,963 km² in 2020, which is a fair picture of how empty the west is.<\/p>\n

Demographics<\/h2>\n

Density averages roughly 26 people per km², the lowest of the four ex-Katanga provinces. Almost all of the weight sits in Kolwezi and the mining strip east of it; Kapanga and Sandoa are rural. No census has been held since 1984, so these are projections.<\/p>\n

The Lunda (Ruund) are the dominant people in the west, with the Chokwe, Kaonde, Luba, Luntu and Lwalwa also long settled. Ruund and Chokwe are the home languages there; Swahili is the trade and mining language, and French is used in schools and offices.<\/p>\n

Economy and Local Life<\/h2>\n

Copper and cobalt dominate. Kolwezi has been mined since the 1940s — the Musonoi open pits sit inside the city — and the province holds some of the world’s richest cobalt ground. Tenke Fungurume, operated by China Molybdenum with Gécamines holding 20%, produced 209,120 tonnes of copper and 18,501 tonnes of cobalt in 2021. Lubudi runs the main CIMENKAT cement plant. Artisanal cobalt digging employs large numbers around Kolwezi and is the subject of most reporting on the province.<\/p>\n

Outside the belt the economy is cassava, maize, groundnuts and beans, with palm oil and honey traded at Sandoa and Kapanga. Cross-border trade with Angola moves through Dilolo, and the railway is the cheapest way to shift anything heavy.<\/p>\n

History<\/h2>\n

Lualaba was created in 2015 when the old Katanga province was split into four — Lualaba, Haut-Katanga<\/a>, Haut-Lomami<\/a> and Tanganyika<\/a>. It joined the Lualaba district to the Kolwezi district, with the city of Kolwezi becoming the capital. An earlier Lualaba province existed from 1963 to 1966 under Dominique Diur before being folded into Sud-Katanga. Long before either, the Lunda empire ruled from Musumba, and its court still stands.<\/p>\n

Getting There<\/h2>\n

Kolwezi Airport lies about 6 km south of the city, with flights to Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. The railway through Kolwezi is one of the country’s main stations: east to Likasi and Lubumbashi, west along the Benguela line through Mutshatsha and Dilolo to the Angolan port of Lobito. Trans-African Highway 9 is the road spine, linking Lubumbashi to Kolwezi and on to Dilolo. Roads north to Kapanga and Sandoa are unpaved and slow, and the December–March rains close sections outright.<\/p>\n

FAQ<\/h2>\n

What is the capital of Lualaba?<\/h3>\n

Kolwezi, a mining city of roughly 573,000 people, divided into the communes of Dilala and Manika.<\/p>\n

How many territories does Lualaba have?<\/h3>\n

Five: Dilolo, Kapanga, Lubudi, Mutshatsha and Sandoa, plus the city of Kolwezi.<\/p>\n

What language is spoken in Lualaba?<\/h3>\n

French is official and Swahili is the trade language. Ruund (Lunda), Chokwe, Kaonde and Kiluba are the main home languages.<\/p>\n

What is Lualaba known for?<\/h3>\n

Copper and cobalt. Kolwezi and the Tenke Fungurume concession make it one of the largest cobalt-producing areas on earth.<\/p>\n

Which countries border Lualaba?<\/h3>\n

Angola, along the west and south. The Angola–Zambia–DRC three-way corner lies at its southern tip.<\/p>\n

Where is the Lunda king based?<\/h3>\n

At Musumba in Kapanga Territory, the seat of the Mwant Yav.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lualaba is the south-western corner of the Congolese Copperbelt, bordering Angola, with Kolwezi as its capital. One of the 26 provinces created by the 2015 repartitioning, it covers 121,308 km² and had a projected population of about 3,183,300 in 2020. Capital Kolwezi Population 3,183,300 (projected, 2020) Area 121,308 km² Territories 5 Cities (villes) Kolwezi Languages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Lualaba: Towns, Cities & 5 Territories in DR Congo","_seopress_titles_desc":"Lualaba province, DR Congo: capital Kolwezi, all 5 territories with headquarters towns, plus population, languages, the cobalt belt 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-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-dr-congo","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","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=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/dr-congo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}