Kinshasa

History

The land on which Kinshasa grew was inhabited in ancient times, as were all the shores of Malebo Pool. The present city evolved from two villages, Nshasa and Ntamo (later known as Kintamo), dominated by the Bahumbu and frequented by Bateke fishermen and traders. Sir Henry Morton Stanley, on his visit in 1877, formed an alliance with the ruler of Kintamo, a wealthy ivory trader, and, despite French efforts to forestall him, was able to acquire a trading post site on his return in 1881. He named this post Léopoldville, for his patron, Léopold II, king of the Belgians. Although Stanley succeeded in opening river traffic as far north as Stanleyville (Kisangani since 1966) by portaging prefabricated steamers around the cataracts of the lower river, Léopoldville remained unimportant until the completion of the railway line from downstream Matadi in 1898. A pipeline from Matadi to carry crude oil to the upriver steamers at Léopoldville was completed in 1914, and air service was inaugurated between Léopoldville and Stanleyville in 1920. As a result, the administrative headquarters of the then Belgian Congo was transferred there from Boma in 1923.

As industries were established, residential zones grew up around them. In the 1930s the zones of Kinshasa, Barumbu, and Lingwala grew up near the port. After 1950 Lemba, Matete, and parts of Ndjili, to the southeast, were built to house the workers of the new industrial district of Limete, but the more centrally located communes (now zones) of Dendale (now Kasa-Vubu), Bandalungwa, and Ngiri-Ngiri became the social and political heart of the city.

In 1960 Léopoldville became the capital of the new republic. Its name was changed to Kinshasa in 1966. The city prospered in the independence period, its population growing rapidly. In the mid-1990s Kinshasa became the focus of the rebel uprising against the Zairean regime of Mobutu Sese Seko, who was forced out of power in 1997. The successor regime, however, was also besieged by insurgents, and the city—overburdened with newcomers—entered a period of severe economic hardship that persisted into the 21st century. In 2006 the country promulgated a new constitution and held presidential and parliamentary elections—the country’s first free elections in more than four decades—bringing hope of a brighter future to the Kinois.