Kolwezi
| Kolwezi | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 10 ° 43 ′ S , 25 ° 30 ′ E | ||
| Basic data | |||
| Country | Democratic Republic of Congo | ||
| Lualaba | |||
| ISO 3166-2 | CD-LU | ||
| Residents | 451,168 (2010) | ||
Kolwezi is a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . The city has 451,168 inhabitants and is the capital of Lualaba Province .
The recent history of Kolwezi is one of poverty. The cholera was looking home town. The political situation is uncertain, many people have had to flee, including Europeans.
economy
There are important cobalt and copper mines in Kolwezi . The Swiss company Glencore has two copper - mines (Katanga Mining and Mutanda). There are also uranium deposits near Kolwezi .
The converter station of the HVDC Inga-Shaba is also nearby.
Infrastructure
Kolwezi is the seat of the Kolwezi diocese and has an airfield .
Battle of Kolwezi
On May 13, 1978, Kolwezi, the most important mining town in the province of Katanga, was occupied by around 4,000 rebels during the so-called Shaba invasion . It was only through massive support from the United States of America , Belgium and France that the paratroopers of the French Foreign Legion finally succeeded in retaking the city, killing 700 Africans, 280 Europeans and 5 legionaries. Foreign legionaries of the 2nd paratrooper regiment liberated more than 2000 European hostages from rebels in the battle of Kolwezi on May 19, 1978.
Sons and daughters
- Serge Kakudji (* 1989), opera singer
- Pierre-Célestin Tshitoko Mamba (* 1956), Catholic clergyman, Bishop of Luebo
Individual evidence
- ↑ Population of the largest towns in the DR Congo . World Gazetteer. Retrieved August 22, 2010.