Editing Kinshasa (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Kinshasa|Timeline of Kinshasa|Kinshasa (commune)#History}}
[[File:Stanley Founding of Congo Free State 186 View of Leopoldville Station and Port 1884 The Baptist Mission on the summit of Leopold Hill.jpg|thumb|left|View of Léopoldville station and port (1884)]]
[[File:Bateke Village, Kinshasa - Starr, Frederick, Congo natives - an ethnographic album (1912).png|thumb|left|Kinshassa village (1912)]]

Prior to the establishment of  Kinshasa, the area was for a time part of the [[Anziku Kingdom]]. By about 1698, it had become an essentially independent domain known as [[Nkonkobela]].<ref>John K. Thornton. ''History of West Central Africa''. Cambridge University Press, 2020. p. 208</ref>

The city was established as a trading post by [[Henry Morton Stanley]] in 1881.<ref>Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 144</ref> It was named Léopoldville in honor of Stanley's employer [[Leopold II of the Belgians|King Leopold II of the Belgians]]. He would then proceed to take  control of most of the [[Congo Basin]] as the [[Congo Free State]], not as a colony but as his private property. The post flourished as the first navigable port on the Congo River above [[Livingstone Falls]], a series of rapids over {{convert|300|km|abbr=off}} below Leopoldville. At first, all goods arriving by sea or being sent by sea had to be carried by porters between Léopoldville and [[Matadi]], the port below the rapids and {{cvt|150|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} from the coast. The completion of the [[Matadi-Kinshasa Railway|Matadi-Kinshasa]] [[portage railway]], in 1898, provided an alternative route around the rapids and sparked the rapid development of Léopoldville. In 1914, a pipeline was installed so that crude oil could be transported from Matadi to the upriver steamers in Leopoldville.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Kinshasa – national capital, Democratic Republic of the Congo |encyclopedia=britannica.com |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318863/Kinshasa/9050/History |access-date=25 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018021639/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318863/Kinshasa/9050/History |archive-date=18 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 1923, the city was elevated to capital of the [[Belgian Congo]], replacing the town of [[Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Boma]] in the Congo estuary, pursuant to the Royal Decree of 1 July 1923, countersigned by the [[Minister of the Colonies (Belgium)|Minister of the Colonies]], Louis Franc.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="britannica.com" /> Before this, Léopoldville was designated an "urban district", encompassing exclusively the [[Communes of Kinshasa|communes]] of [[Kintambo]] and the current [[Gombe, Kinshasa|Gombe]], which burgeoned around [[Ngaliema Bay]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Moulin |first=Léon de Saint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEWQYgEACAAJ |title=Les anciens villages des environs de Kinshasa |date=1971 |publisher=Université Lovanium |location=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |language=fr |access-date=9 April 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162455/https://books.google.com/books?id=gEWQYgEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Luaka |first=Evrard Nkenku |date=2005 |title=La gestion et la gouvernance des déchets dans la ville-province de Kinshasa |trans-title=Waste management and governance in the city-province of Kinshasa |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/05/07/461/m_gestion-gouvernance-dechets-ville-province-kinshasa5.html |access-date=2024-04-09 |publisher=University of Kinshasa |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |archive-date=9 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409114108/https://www.memoireonline.com/05/07/461/m_gestion-gouvernance-dechets-ville-province-kinshasa5.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Then the communes of [[Kinshasa (commune)|Kinshasa]], [[Barumbu]], and [[Lingwala]] emerged. In the 1930s, these communes predominantly housed employees of Chanic, Filtisaf, and [[TEXAF|Utex Africa]].<ref name=":9" />

In 1941, legislative ordinance n°293/AIMO of 25 June 1941, conferred Kinshasa the status of a city and established an Urban Committee (''Comité Urbain''), with an allocated area of 5,000 hectares and a population of 53,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamb |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |trans-title=Monograph of the city of Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |access-date=2024-04-09 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |page=43 |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |archive-date=27 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":9" /> Concurrently, it became the colony's capital, the [[Congo-Kasaï|Congo-Kasaï Province]]'s capital, and the [[Mongala|Moyen Congo]] district. The city was demarcated into two zones: the urban zone, comprising Léo II, Léo-Ouest, Kalina, Léo-I, or Léo-Est, and Ndolo; and the indigenous zone to the south. The urban populace swelled in 1945 with the cessation of [[Forced labour|forced labor]], facilitating the influx of native Africans from rural regions. Léopoldville then became predominantly inhabited by the [[Kongo people|Bakongo]] ethnic group.<ref name=":9" />

In the 1950s, [[Planned community|planned urban centers]] such as [[Lemba, Kinshasa|Lemba]], [[Matete]], and a segment of Ndjili were established to accommodate workers from the [[Limete]] industrial zone.<ref name=":9" /> [[Lovanium University]], the colony's inaugural university, was founded in 1954.<ref name=":9" /> By 1957, Léopoldville comprised eleven communes and six adjunct regions: [[Kalamu]], [[Kasa-Vubu, Kinshasa|Dendale]] (present-day [[Kasa-Vubu, Kinshasa|Kasa-Vubu commune]]), [[Lingwala|Saint Jean]] (now [[Lingwala]]), [[Ngiri-Ngiri]], [[Kintambo]], [[Limete]], [[Bandalungwa]], [[Gombe, Kinshasa|Léopoldville]] (current [[Gombe, Kinshasa|Gombe]]), [[Barumbu]], [[Kinshasa (commune)|Kinshasa]], and [[Ngaliema]]; along with the adjunct regions of Lemba, [[Binza group|Binza]], [[Makala]], [[Kimwenza]], [[Kimbanseke]], and Kingasani. Subsequently, the adjunct regions of Ndjili and Matete were incorporated.<ref name=":9" />

After gaining its independence on 30 June 1960, following [[Léopoldville riots|riots in 1959]], the [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Republic of the Congo]] [[Belgian Congo general election, 1960|elected]] its first prime minister, [[Patrice Lumumba]] whose perceived pro-Soviet leanings were viewed as a threat by Western interests. This being the height of the Cold War, the U.S. and Belgium did not want to lose control of the strategic wealth of the Congo, in particular its uranium. Less than a year after Lumumba's election, the Belgians and the U.S. bought the support of his Congolese rivals and set in motion the events that culminated in Lumumba's assassination.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja |author-link=Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja |date=17 January 2011 |title=Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th century |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination |access-date=9 February 2020 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023072741/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1964, [[Moïse Tshombe]] decreed the expulsion of all nationals of [[Republic of the Congo]], [[Burundi]] and [[Mali]], as well as all political refugees from [[Rwanda]].<ref>Jules Gerard-Libois and Benoit Verhaegen, ''Congo 1964: Political Documents of a Developing Nation'', Princeton University Press, 2015, p. 450</ref><ref name=NYT >{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/22/archives/congo-starts-expulsions.html |language=en |title=Congo Starts Expulsions |work=The New York Times |date=22 August 1964 |access-date=19 May 2021 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519132855/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/22/archives/congo-starts-expulsions.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Daouda Gary-Tounkara, ''1964 : le Mali réinsère ses ressortissants expulsés'', In: '' Plein droit 2016/1 (n° 108)'', GISTI, 2016, p. 35-38</ref><ref>United States. Central Intelligence Agency, ''Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts'', Issues 11–15, 1967</ref> In 1965, with the help of the U.S. and Belgium, [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Joseph-Désiré Mobutu]] seized power in the Congo. He initiated a policy of "[[Authenticité (Zaire)|Authenticity]]", attempting to renativize the names of people and places in the country. On 2 May 1966, the government announced that the nation's major cities would be restored to their pre-colonial names, effective on 30 June, the sixth anniversary of independence.<ref>"Congo Cities Get Back Old Names", ''Vancouver Sun'', May 3, 1966, p.11</ref> Léopoldville was renamed ''Kinshasa'', for [[Kinshasa (commune)|a village named Kinshasa]] that once stood near the site. Kinshasa grew rapidly under Mobutu, drawing people from across the country who came in search of their fortunes or to escape ethnic strife elsewhere, thus adding to the many ethnicities and languages already found there.

In 1991 the city had to [[1991 Zaire unrest|fend off rioting soldiers]], who were protesting the government's failure to pay them. Subsequently a rebel uprising began, which in 1997 finally brought down the regime of Mobutu.<ref name="britannica.com" /> Kinshasa suffered greatly from Mobutu's excesses, mass corruption, nepotism and the civil war that led to his downfall. Nevertheless, it is still a major cultural and intellectual center for Central Africa, with a flourishing community of musicians and artists. It is also the country's major industrial center, processing many of the natural products brought from the interior.

[[Joseph Kabila]], president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019, was not overly popular in Kinshasa.<ref name=Trapido2016 /> Violence broke out following the announcement of Kabila's victory in the contested [[Democratic Republic of the Congo general election, 2006|election of 2006]]; the European Union deployed troops ([[EUFOR RD Congo]]) to join the UN force in the city. The announcement in 2016 that a new election would be delayed two years led to large protests in September and [[December 2016 Congolese protests|December]] which involved [[barricade]]s in the streets and left dozens of people dead. Schools and businesses were closed down.<ref>"[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37406407 DR Congo election: 17 dead in anti-Kabila protests] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616023724/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37406407 |date=16 June 2018 }}", ''BBC'', 19 September 2016.</ref><ref>Merritt Kennedy, "[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/21/506449446/congo-a-powder-keg-as-security-forces-crack-down-on-whistling-demonstrators Congo A 'Powder Keg' As Security Forces Crack Down On Whistling Demonstrators] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153108/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/21/506449446/congo-a-powder-keg-as-security-forces-crack-down-on-whistling-demonstrators |date=17 May 2018 }}", ''NPR'', 21 December 2016.</ref>