Ituri Province

Infobox DRCongo Province
country = Democratic Republic of the Congo
native_name = Province de l'Ituri
common_name = Ituri
capital = Bunia
largest_city = Bunia
national_language = Swahili
population_density = ?
population_estimate = 4,241,236 [http://www.ucdp-info.com/presses_secu_al.htm]
governor = Emmanuel Leku Apuobo


pop_year = ?
area = ?
area_scale = 11
districts = 5
cities = 3
website =


image_flag_size = None


image_logo_size = None
demonym = Iturite

Ituri is a province located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Ituri Rainforest is in this area.

Geography

It is situated north-east of the Ituri River and on the western side of Lake Albert. It has borders with the Uganda and Sudan. It includes five administrative territories, which are:

* Aru (6,740 sq. km)
* Djugu (8,184 sq. km)
* Irumu (8,730 sq. km)
* Mahagi (5,221 sq. km)
* Mambasa (36,783 sq. km)

Ituri is a region of high plateau (2000-5000 meters), which has a large tropical forest but also the landscape of savannah. The district has a rare fauna, including the Okapi (the national species of the DRC). As far as flora there are Mangongo, with leaves which the Mbuti people build their homes.

Economy

The Kilo-Moto gold mines are located in Ituri.

History

Ituri, as Kibali-Ituri, was a province of the DRC from 1962-1966. Prior to the adoption of the 2006 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the legal status of Ituri was a topic of some dispute. From the beginning of the Second Congo War in 1998, it was held by soldiers of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) and the Ugandan-backed Movement for Liberation faction of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD-ML). In June 1999, the commander of UPDF forces in the DRC, Brig. Gen. James Kazini, ignored the protests of RCD-ML leaders and re-created the province of Kibali-Ituri out of the eastern section of the northeastern Orientale province. It is almost always referred to simply as Ituri. The capital is Bunia. The creation of a new province under the governorship of a Hema contributed to the start of the current Ituri conflict, that has caused thousands of deaths. Most official cartographers did not include the new province, and those referring to it as a "province" rather than a "region" were sometimes viewed as having a pro-Uganda bias. With the new constitution, Ituri's status as a province is finally settled.

Government

The current government was formed through the efforts of the Ituri Pacification Commission, a MONUC-sponsored commission that was set up, after much initial delay, in 2003 after the pull-out of Ugandan troops from the district. It led to the creation of the Ituri Interim Assembly, which elected an administrator and an assembly chairperson; the current assembly chairperson is Petronille Vaweka, who is also the sole deputy for the district to the National Assembly in Kinshasa.

The district is currently recognized as a district of Orientale. The Interim Assembly will be reconstituted or replaced by a provincial assembly in 2009 under the 2006 constitution. An election for the governor and vice-governor will also be held, and the district will be re-created as a province of the DRC.

Presidents, later governors, of Kibali-Ituri from 1962-1966

* Sep 1962 - 28 Dec 1966 Jean Foster Manzikala

Governors of Kibali-Ituri since 1999

* *1999* Adele Lotsoye Mugisa (appointed by James Kazini)
* December 1999 - early 2001 Ernest Uringi Padolo
* Dec. 2001 - November 2002 Joseph Eneku
* Feb. 2002 - ? Jean-Pierre Mulondo Lonpondo
* April 2003 - present Emmanuel Leku Apuobo

Demographics

The population is composed primarily of Alur, Hema, Lendu, Ngiti, Bira and Ndo-Okebo, with differing figures on which one of the groups constitutes the largest percentage of the population in the province. The Mbuti, a pygmy ethnic group, resides primarily in the Ituri forest near the Okapi National Park, although some Mbuti people have been forced in recent years by deforestation, overhunting and violence into the urban areas.

External links

* [http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/ICC-01-04-01-06-39-AnxB4_English.pdf Map of Ituri]