Kasai-Occidental


Kasaï-Occidental was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into the Kasaï-Central and the Kasaï provinces.

History

The province of Kasaï-Occidental was established in 1966 by regrouping the provinces of Luluabourg and Unité Kasaïenne which in turn were created 1962 when the historical Kasaï Province was divided in five provinces namely Lomami, Sankuru, Sud-Kasai, Luluabourg, Unité-Kasaïenne. The former provinces of Luluabourg and Unité-Kasaïenne correspond to the current districts of Lulua District and Kasaï District. Since its formation the provincial seat is Kananga which was also the seat of the Kasaï Province between 1957 and 1962. The Province of Lusambo precedes the current entity, it was created 1933 by carving out the districts of Kasai and Sankuru from the Province of Congo-Kasaï one of the four provinces established in 1924. The province of Lusambo changed its name to Kasaï Province in 1947 its provincial seat was still Lusambo until 1957 when it was moved to Luluabourg. The Province of Kasai existed until it was subdivided in 1962 into 5 provinces.
The Province derives its name from the Kasaï river which flows through the Kasaï District from south to north. The river is the second longest in DR. Congo and a major tributary of the Congo river. The Kasaï river was variously called Enzzadi, Nsadi, Nzadi, Kassabi, Kasye, Kassaba by the different local tribes, latter European explorers came to use the name Kasaï to refer to the river.

Geography

Kasaï-Occidental borders the provinces of Bandundu to the west, Équateur to the north, Kasai-Oriental to the east, and Katanga to the southeast. To the south it borders the country of Angola. The province is crossed by many major rivers: Kasai, Lulua, loango, Sankuru, Lukeni, etc...

Divisions

The province is divided into the Kasaï and Lulua districts, with their headquarters in the towns of Luebo and Tshimbulu. Cities with independent administrations are Kananga in the Lulua district and Tshikapa in the Kasai district.
The Kasai district is divided in five territories:
Kamonia Territory seat Kamonia and is further divided in nine sectors:
The tshikapa sector should not to be confused with the city of Tshikapa which is administered independently
Luebo Territory seat Luebo, divided in five sectors:
Mweka Territory seat Mweka; the entire territory is covered by one sector that of Bakuba.
Ilebo Territory seat Ilebo, divided in four sectors:
Dekese territory seat Dekese, divided in two sectors:
Cities and towns, with their 2010 populations, are:
NamePop. 2010Coordinates
Dekese3,241
Demba21,019
Dibaya3,857
Dimbelenge3,815
Ilebo72,059
Kabeya-Kamwanga30,027
Kananga967,007
Kazumba4,109
Luebo29,167
Luiza15,259
Mankanza18,134
Mweka55,155
Tshikapa524,293
Tshimbulu19,384

Under the 2006 constitution, Kasaï-Occidental was to have been divided into two provinces by 18 February 2009.
Kasai District and the city of Tshikapa were to combine and become a new Kasai Province, and Lulua District would be combined with the city of Kananga to form the new Lulua Province.
As of 24 May 2014, this had not taken place.

Demographic

Languages

French is the official language. Tshiluba also known as the Luba-Kasai language is spoken by about 6.3 million people in the Kasai region. It is the primary spoken language in the province and it is natively spoken in the cities of Kananga and Tshikapa, also in the Demba territory, dimbelenge territory, Dibaya territory, Kazumba territory in Kamonia territory, and in the Luebo territory. Tshiluba is used as a first or second language in many towns outside its native area notably in the towns of Luebo, mweka, Ilebo, Kakenge, Luiza, Kamonia, etc...
Others natively spoken languages are:
The major religion is Christianity, with Catholicism being the largest faith.