Kisangani
Province
Kisangani ( Stanleyville until 1966 ) is a city in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo with 539 164 inhabitants and the capital of the Province Orientale.
Geography
In Kisangani, the river Lualaba with the Congo, north of the Boyoma Falls. From here on up the river Congo is no longer navigable for many ships.
History
Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1904) founded in December 1883 on an island in the Congo near the small town of Stanley Falls Station, where the Scottish engineer Mr. Binnie remained as representative of the Congo Free State and the operator of the trading station. A conflict with Arab slave traders escalated. 1888 was the seat of the station slave trader Tippu Tip ( 1837-1905 ).
After the fall of Lumumba Antoine Gizenga said on December 12, 1960 Stanleyville to the seat of his rival government. After the Soviet aid for the lumumbistischen rebels had failed and was forced Gizenga to accommodate the central government, he invited the U.S. diplomat Frank Calrucci one after Stanleyville. When he arrived there on 10 March 1961, he was surprised by an unexpectedly warm welcome, which eventually led to an official agreement with the central government in Leopoldville.
During the Simba rebellion in 1964, the city was the scene of a massacre of the rebels of white civilians and the subsequent "Operation Dragon Rouge ", a joint military operation Belgian and American troops against the Simbas to save another 1500 white hostages.
Personalities
- Biko Botowamungu ( born 1957 ), wrestler and boxer
- Kilitcho Kasusula (* 1989), national football team