Goma

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Goma (disambiguation) .

Goma
Coordinates	1 ° 41 ′  S , 29 ° 14 ′  E Coordinates: 1 ° 41 ′  S , 29 ° 14 ′  E
Basic data
Country	Democratic Republic of Congo
province	North Kivu
height	1489 m
Residents	2,000,000 (2019)
Goma on Lake Kivu

Goma with the Nyiragongo volcano (2015)

Goma is a city in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of North Kivu Province . Goma is located in Nyiragongo territory .

geography

The city lies between the Nyiragongo volcano in the north and the shores of Lake Kivu in the south on the East African Rift Valley (Central African Rift). Immediately to the east of Goma lies the state border with Rwanda and the Rwandan city of Gisenyi . The population has risen sharply in recent years as a result of civil war refugees and was around 500,000 in 2007, and around 2 million in 2019. North of Goma is the oldest national park in Africa, the Virunga National Park .

City structure

Goma Himbi 1 Himbi 2 Kahembe Karisimbi

Kasika Katindo Katoyi Kyeshero Lac-Vert

Les Volcans Mabanga north Mabanga South Majengo Mapendo

Mikeno Mugunga Murara Ndosho

climate

Due to the proximity to the equator, the climate is very balanced over the course of the year. The city's altitude of around 1500 m leads to a moderate maximum temperature of around 25 ° C and a minimum temperature of just under 15 ° C.

Goma
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     94   26th 14th     84   26th 15th     117   26th 15th     119   25th 15th     108   25th 15th     55   25th 14th     29   25th 13th     70   26th 14th     117   26th 14th     143   26th 14th     138   25th 14th     118   25th 14th Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Climate-Data.org

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Goma Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 25.6 25.7 25.7 25.4 25.3 25.3 25.2 25.8 25.9 25.7 25.3 25.4 O 25.5 Min. Temperature (° C) 14.4 14.6 14.6 14.7 14.6 13.6 13.1 13.9 14th 14.2 14.1 14.4 O 14.2 Temperature (° C) 20th 20.1 20.1 20th 19.9 19.4 19.1 19.8 19.9 19.9 19.7 19.9 O 19.8 Precipitation ( mm ) 94 84 117 119 108 55 29 70 117 143 138 118 Σ 1192 Source: Climate-Data.org

history

During the civil war and genocide in nearby Rwanda in 1994, Goma was a major target for refugees. Among these were civilians as well as accomplices in the genocide. After over a million refugees had reached the city, a cholera epidemic broke out in the camps, claiming several thousand victims. In 1997 and 1998, when the civil war in the Congo escalated after the overthrow of President Mobutu Sese Seko , Rwandan government forces captured Goma. In the course of persecuting Hutu who sought refuge in the city, they also killed hundreds of bystanders.

In 2002 the city was largely destroyed by a lava flow from Nyiragongo, about 14 km away in the north. Many buildings in the city center as well as Goma Airport were affected. Of the 3,000 meters of the runway, almost 1,000 meters are still buried under a layer of lava, so that international traffic avoids it. Around 250,000 residents of the city had to flee. There were 147 fatalities, many refugees remained homeless or have built emergency shelters on the edge of the lava fields. Since April 2009, the airport runway has been cleared of the lava under the leadership of Welthungerhilfe . The threat that, in the event of a renewed eruption, lava masses from the lava lake located inside the volcanic crater will again pour into the valley and onto the city remains.

On April 15, 2008, after taking off from Goma Airport, a Douglas DC-9 with 79 passengers and 6 crew members sped over the southern end of the runway into the residential and market area of ​​Birere. Around 40 people from the adjacent settlement area were killed, but at least 53 passengers and the 6 crew members survived. The fire from the burning wreck could not spread due to the heavy rain, residents were also able to contain the fire.

Tens of thousands of people fled the city in late October 2008 as a result of an offensive by Tutsi rebels.

On November 21, 2012, large parts of the city were taken by the M23 rebel movement fighting against the central government under President Joseph Kabila . In contrast to earlier activities, UN peacekeeping troops stationed there no longer intervened. On December 1, they began to withdraw from the city after exceeding an ultimatum from the International Conference of the Great Lakes of Africa and two resolutions by the UN Security Council .

In 2019, several individual cases of Ebola were registered in the city after the Ebola epidemic had already broken out in eastern Congo.

Goma has been the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Goma since 1959 .

The Italian ambassador Luca Attanasio and a bodyguard died on February 22, 2021 in an attack on a convoy of the World Food Program north of Goma .

On May 23, 2021, the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano destroyed outlying areas.

Transport infrastructure

Within the city, transport is offered by bicycle taxis, the so-called Bodaboda . There are bus connections to the surrounding villages, which are operated by various bus companies.

There is a ferry connection to the city of Bukavu , on the southwestern shore of Lake Kivu , directly on the border with Rwanda . Road and bridge construction has been made possible since 1997 mainly through development cooperation. Freight is very often transported in Goma with mobile wooden load scooters, the so-called chukudu .

Goma International Airport is located 2 km east of the city center and is served by airport companies such as Congo Airways and FlyCAA several times a week .

Education and culture

In 1993 the Goma State University ( Université de Goma ; UNIGOM) was founded in Goma and has six faculties. In addition to UNIGOM, the city also has the private Université libre des Pays des Grands Lacs (ULPGL), which was founded in 1991 and has seven faculties.

In Goma, the Amani Festival takes place annually on the grounds of the Universal College of Mwanga, which is supported by numerous well-known sponsors. In the town there is a convent of the Saint Bernard Sisters of Esquermes , the Notre Name du Lac, which opened in 1960.

sons and daughters of the town

• René Ngongo (* 1961), biologist and ecologist
• Floribert Bwana Chui (1981-2007), civil servant and victim of corruption
• Thierry Kasereka (* 1994), football player
• Rebecca Kabugho (* 1994), activist

Goma on the shores of Lake Kivu

Web links

Commons : Goma  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ebola oubreak: First case discovered in DRC's Goma city, home to 2 million people. The Independent , accessed August 3, 2019 . 
2. ^ Climate Goma. Accessed August 3, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Huge lava lake threatens large African city. Spiegel online from February 17, 2011
4. ↑ Tagesschau: Tutsi troops stand in front of Goma ( Memento from November 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ Rebels enter Goma. Spiegel online from November 20, 2012
6. ↑ Third Ebola case in the large Congolese city of Goma. Retrieved August 3, 2019 . 
7. ↑ https://apnews.com/article/archive-united-nations-38a1a38dbe27608228a968c8a424d6db
8. ↑ tagesschau.de: Volcanic eruption in the Congo: City of Goma escapes disaster. Retrieved May 23, 2021 . 
9. ↑ UNIGOM: Facultés , accessed on January 24, 2021.