North Kivu

Nord-Kivu Province du Nord-Kivu
—  Province  —
Masisi area
Nord-Kivu on map of proposed provinces
Nord-Kivu on map of current provinces
Country	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Capital	Goma
Largest city	Goma
Government
- Governor	Julien Paluku Kahongya
Area
- Total	59,483 km2 (22,966.5 sq mi)
Population (1998 est.)
- Total	3,564,434
- Density	59.9/km2 (155.2/sq mi)
Demonym	North Kivutian
National language	Swahili
Districts	5
Cities	3
Website	provincenordkivu.org

Nord-Kivu (also Kivu-Nord, or North Kivu in English) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its capital is Goma. The estimated population was 3,564,434 in 1998 but a more recent (2010) estimate is 5,768,000.

Following the 2005 Constitution (effective 18 February 2006), 25 new provinces were to be created from the 10 current provinces within 36 months (18 February 2009). As of October 2010, this had not taken place.^[1] Nord-Kivu would be one of three provinces to retain its present name and boundaries (the others being Sud-Kivu and Maniema), along with the city-province of Kinshasa.

Geography

Nord-Kivu borders the provinces of the Orientale to the north (proposed Ituri Province) and northwest (proposed Tshopo Province), Maniema to the southwest, and Sud-Kivu to the south. To the east it borders the countries of Uganda and Rwanda.

The province consists of three cities—Goma, Butembo and Beni—and six territories—Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Rutshuru, Nyiragongo and Walikale. The province is home to the Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site containing the endangered Mountain Gorillas.

Cities and towns

Name	Pop. 2010[2]	Coordinates[2]
Beni	95,407	0°29′N 29°27′E / 0.49°N 29.45°E / 0.49; 29.45 (Beni)
Butembo	204,452	0°08′N 29°17′E / 0.13°N 29.28°E / 0.13; 29.28 (Butembo)
Goma	377,112	1°41′S 29°13′E / 1.69°S 29.22°E / -1.69; 29.22 (Goma)
Kanyabayonga	29,936	0°43′S 29°10′E / 0.71°S 29.17°E / -0.71; 29.17 (Kanyabayonga)
Katwa	60,591	0°06′N 29°19′E / 0.10°N 29.32°E / 0.10; 29.32 (Katwa)
Kayna	34,653	0°37′S 29°10′E / 0.62°S 29.17°E / -0.62; 29.17 (Kayna)
Kirumba	35,290	1°05′S 29°17′E / 1.09°S 29.29°E / -1.09; 29.29 (Kirumba)
Lubero	28,293	0°10′S 29°13′E / 0.16°S 29.22°E / -0.16; 29.22 (Lubero)
Mangina	37,594	0°34′N 29°19′E / 0.57°N 29.32°E / 0.57; 29.32 (Mangina)
Masisi	6,502	1°24′S 28°49′E / 1.40°S 28.81°E / -1.40; 28.81 (Masisi)
Oicha	50,559	0°42′N 29°31′E / 0.70°N 29.52°E / 0.70; 29.52 (Oicha)
Rutshuru	56,066	1°11′S 29°27′E / 1.18°S 29.45°E / -1.18; 29.45 (Rutshuru)
Walikale	9,903	1°25′S 28°04′E / 1.42°S 28.06°E / -1.42; 28.06 (Walikale)

History

North Kivu was formerly a "sub-region" in the region of Kivu.

The region was the scene of much fighting during the Second Congo War (1998–2003), and the Kivu conflict (2004–present).

In 2003 the Eighth Military Region of the new Congo Government's FARDC was established covering the province. Brigadier General Vainqueur Mayala is the current military region commander.^[3] During late 2008, the FARDC maintained its dismal record in combat against Laurent Nkunda's CNDP faction, losing the Rumangabo military camp to the rebels.

The dissident Mai-Mai 85th Brigade, commanded by Colonel Samy Matumo, controls the cassiterite mine at Bisie, just north of Manoire in Walikale, in the south-east of North Kivu.^[4] The former RCD-K/ML also has fighters in the province; 'at the beginning of the transition [2002-3] the RCD-Mouvement de Libération president declared he had 8-10,000 Armée Patriotic Congolaise (APC) troops in the Beni-Lubero area of North Kivu.’ This exaggerated figure now seems to have been reduced to ‘several thousand’ (2-4,000?) as of early 2006 following demobilizations and men joining the integrated brigades.^[5]

Human rights issues

In October 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned of an increasing number of internally displaced people (IDP) in North Kivu related to the fighting there between the government army, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels and renegade troops, including Laurent Nkunda's forces, and a build-up of military supplies and forces, including the reported recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups across North Kivu. The UNHCR thought that there were over 370,000 people in North Kivu displaced since December 2006, and is expanding its camps in the Mugunga area where over 80,000 IDPs were estimated.^[6]

References

1. ^ "The AMP conclave: Another step towards 2011 elections". Congo Siasa. http://congosiasa.blogspot.com/2010/10/amp-conclave-another-step-towards-2011.html. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Nord-Kivu: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population". World Gazetteer. http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=1263071407&men=gcis&lng=en&des=gamelan&geo=-46&srt=npan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500&pt=c&va=&geo=-859. 
3. ^ Rwanda: War Rages in DRC as Government Forces Seek FDLR Support, The New Times, 21 September 2008
4. ^ Polgreen, Lydia (16 November 2008). "Congo's Riches, Looted by Renegade Troops". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/world/africa/16congo.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin. Retrieved 9 April 2010. 
5. ^ International Crisis Group, Security Sector Reform in the Congo, Africa Report N°104, 13 February 2006, p.14
6. ^ "DR Congo: UN agency concerned at military buildup in North Kivu". UN News Service. 2007-10-05. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24198&Cr=DRC&Cr1=. Retrieved 2007-10-06. 

Further reading

• Denis Tull, The reconfiguration of political order in Africa: a case study of North Kivu (DR Congo), Volume 13 of Hamburg African studies, Institut für Afrika-Kunde (Hamburg, Germany), GIGA-Hamburg, 2005, ISBN 3928049909, 9783928049900, 342 pages

External links

• Map of North Kivu
• Official website of the Provincial Assembly of North Kivu