Haut-Katanga Province

Haut-Katanga (French for "Upper Katanga") is the southernmost province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[2] Haut-Katanga and its neighboring provinces of Haut-Lomami, Lualaba, and Tanganyika were created in the 2015 repartitioning of the former province of Katanga.^[3] It was formed from the Haut-Katanga district and the independently administered cities of Likasi and Lubumbashi. Lubumbashi, the second-largest city in the DRC,^[4] is the provincial capital.^[2] It had an estimated population of 5,718,800 in 2020.^[5]

Country DR Congo

Established16 July 2015

Capital
and largest cityLubumbashi

Time zoneUTC+2 (CAT)

Quick facts Province du Haut-Katanga (French)Mkoa wa Katanga Juu (Swahili), Country ...

Haut-Katanga Province du Haut-Katanga (French) Mkoa wa Katanga Juu (Swahili)
Province
Provincial Assembly Building of Haut-Katanga
Seal
Coordinates: 11°40′S 27°29′E
Country	DR Congo
Established	16 July 2015
Capital and largest city	Lubumbashi
Government
• Governor	Jacques Kyabula[1]
Area
• Total	132,425 km2 (51,130 sq mi)
• Rank	5th
Population  (2020)
• Total	5,718,800
• Rank	6th
• Density	43.185/km2 (111.85/sq mi)
Ethnic groups
• Native	Balamba • Balala • Baaushi • Ababemba • Bakaonde • Baluba • Bataabwa • Babwile • Garanganze(Bayeke)
• Settler	Congolese Banyarwanda
Time zone	UTC+2 (CAT)
License Plate Code	CGO / 04
Official language	French
National language	Kiswahili
Website	www.facebook.com/hautkatangaofficiel

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An early state that existed in present-day Haut-Katanga from the 17th century was the Lunda Empire. Industrial development began in the early 20th century with the colonial company Union Minière du Haut-Katanga, operating in the south of Katanga within Belgian Congo. The rise of mining caused migration from the Kasaï region, which led to ethnic and socioeconomic tensions. The industrialized south Katanga attempted to break away as an independent state in the early 1960s, just after the DRC achieved independence from Belgium, and there was a civil war with the agrarian and centralist north.^[6][7] It was brought back under the government's control with a UN intervention. In the following decades the Katanga Province, and in particular the south, experienced large-scale mining and infrastructure development.^[6][4] Katanga became the wealthiest region in the DRC and contributed over half of its GDP. It declined after 1980s, but recovered in the years after the Second Congo War.^[8]

The economy of Haut-Katanga is heavily dependent on mining, while other sectors such as tourism and agriculture are less developed.^[9] Along with Lualaba, it is in the Copperbelt of Central Africa,^[10] and the two provinces are the DRC's southern economic center.^[4] The production of copper and cobalt in Haut-Katanga is the foundation of the formal economy of the DRC.^[11] One of the largest copper deposits in the world is outside of Lubumbashi,^[4] and there are several industrial-scale mines in the province operated by DRC state-owned, Chinese, or multinational companies.^[9] Most miners in Haut-Katanga engage in artisanal mining, taking their production to trading posts in Lubumbashi or Likasi.^[11] Despite having over 2.7 million hectares of arable land, Haut-Katanga depends on food imports, because much of the land and work force is used by the mining industry.^[12] The industry has also caused human rights and environmental problems.^[9]