{{Short description|Capital and most populous city of DR Congo}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Kinshasa | native_name = {{lang|ln|Kinsásá}} (Lingala) | official_name = ''Ville de Kinshasa'' | settlement_type = Capital city and province | image_skyline = {{Multiple image |border = infobox |total_width = 290 | perrow = 1/2/3/3/2/1 |caption_align = center | image1 = La Gombe, Kinshasa, RDC (cropped).jpg | caption1 = View over Gombe, Kinshasa | image2 = BOT 039.jpg | caption2 = Kinshasa Botanical Garden | image3 = Kinshasa Financial center.jpg | caption3 = Kinshasa Financial Center | image4 = | caption4 = Limete Tower |image5 = Académie Beaux Arts Kinshasa 2.JPG |caption5 = Académie des Beaux-Arts | image6 = Kinshasa - Mausolée de Laurent Désiré Kabila (2, cropped).jpg | caption6 = Mausoleum of Laurent Désiré Kabila | image7 = Giraffes at Nsele Park in Kinshasa, DR Congo.jpg | caption7 = Nsele Valley Park | image8 = Preĝejo de Sankta Anna en Kinŝaso 01.jpg | caption8 = St. Anne's Church | image9 = Immeuble du Gouvernement.jpg | caption9 = Immeuble du Gouvernement | image10 = KINSHA 01.jpg | caption10 = View of Gombe from the Congo River in 2023 }} | image_flag = Flag of Kinshasa, DRC.svg | image_seal = Coat of arms of Kinshasa.svg | seal_size = 50px | nickname = Kin la belle<br />({{literally|Kin the beautiful}}){{force singular}} | motto = | image_map = Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Kinshasa.svg | map_caption = Kinshasa on map of DR Congo provinces | mapframe = no | mapframe-id = Q3838 | mapframe-wikidata = yes | mapframe-zoom = 7 | pushpin_map = Democratic Republic of the Congo#Africa | pushpin_relief = 1 | pushpin_map_caption = Kinshasa on map of DR Congo | coordinates = {{Coord|04|19|19|S|15|18|43|E|type:adm1st_region:CD-KN|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|Democratic Republic of the Congo|DR Congo}} | subdivision_type1 = Province | established_title = Founded | established_date = 1881 (as Léopoldville) | seat_type = City hall | seat = Hôtel de ville de Kinshasa, La Gombe<ref>{{cite news |title=Kinshasa : un sit-in organisé pour réclamer le paiement des émoluments des conseillers communaux |url=https://acp.cd/urbain/kinshasa-un-sit-in-organise-pour-reclamer-le-paiement-des-emoluments-des-conseillers-communaux/ |access-date=21 March 2026 |work=ACP |date=12 March 2026 |language=fr}}</ref> | parts_type = Communes | parts_style = coll | p1 = Bandalungwa | p2 = Barumbu | p3 = Bumbu | p4 = Gombe (formerly Kalina) | p5 = Kalamu | p6 = Kasa-Vubu | p7 = Kimbanseke | p8 = Kinshasa | p9 = Kintambo | p10 = Kisenso | p11 = Lemba | p12 = Limete | p13 = Lingwala | p14 = Makala | p15 = Maluku | p16 = Masina | p17 = Matete | p18 = Mont Ngafula | p19 = Ndjili | p20 = Ngaba | p21 = Ngaliema | p22 = Ngiri-Ngiri | p23 = Nsele | p24 = Selembao | government_type = | governing_body = Provincial Assembly of Kinshasa | leader_title = Governor | leader_name = {{ill|Daniel Bumba|lt=Daniel Bumba Lubaki|fr}} | leader_title1 = | leader_name1 = | total_type = City-province | area_footnotes = <ref name=Kayembe2009 /> | area_total_km2 = 9965 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_water_percent = | area_urban_km2 = 600 | elevation_m = 240 | population_total = 18,552,800<ref>{{Cite web |last=Institut National De La Statistique |title=Projections demographiques 2019–25 (in French) |url=http://ins.mkbco.pro/Portals/0/OpenContent/Files/19197/TROIKA_-_Projections_demographiques_2019-25.xlsx |access-date=23 September 2020 |archive-date=2 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702122410/http://ins.mkbco.pro/Portals/0/OpenContent/Files/19197/TROIKA_-_Projections_demographiques_2019-25.xlsx |url-status=dead}}</ref> | population_as_of = 2021 | population_rank = 2nd in Africa<br/>1st in the DRC | population_footnotes = | population_density_km2 = 1462 | population_urban = 16316000 | population_metro = 17778500 | population_urban_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://populationstat.com/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/kinshasa |title=PopulationStat.com |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321203809/https://populationstat.com/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/kinshasa |url-status=live }}</ref> | population_density_urban_km2 = auto | population_blank1_title = Language | population_blank1 = French and Lingala | population_note = | demographics_type1 = Ethnic groups | demographics1_title1 = Native | population_demonym = Kinois, Kinshasan<br>Léopoldvillian (1881–1966) | postal_code = | area_code = 243 | iso_code = CD-KN | blank2_name_sec1 = HDI (2023) | blank2_info_sec1 = 0.623<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=2025-11-13}}</ref>{{color|#fc0|medium}} · 1st of 11 | area_urban_footnotes = <ref name="population">{{Cite web |date=April 2017 |title=DemographiaWorld Urban Areas – 13th Annual Edition |url=http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180503021711/http://www.demographia.com/db-worldua.pdf |archive-date=3 May 2018 |access-date=8 July 2017 |publisher=Demographia}}</ref> | timezone = WAT | utc_offset = +01:00 | coor_pinpoint = | registration_plate_type = License Plate Code | registration_plate = {{flagicon|Democratic Republic of the Congo}} CGO / '''01''' | blank_name_sec1 = Climate | blank_info_sec1 = aw | website = | demographics1_info1 = Bahumbu • Bateke • Bamfununga and Bayaka }}
'''Kinshasa''' ({{IPAc-en|k|ɪ|n|ˈ|ʃ|ɑː|s|ə}}; {{IPA|fr|kinʃasa|lang}}; {{langx|ln|Kinsásá}}), formerly named '''Léopoldville''' ({{langx|nl|Leopoldstad}}) from 1881 to 1966, is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-growing megacities, with an estimated population of 18.5 million in 2026.<ref>''[https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/kinshasa-population Kinshasa Population 2024]'', World population review 30 May 2024</ref> It is the most densely populated city in the DRC, the third-most populous city and third-largest metropolitan area in Africa, the world's seventh-most populous city proper (the most populous outside of China) and fourth-most populous capital city. It is the leading economic, political, and cultural center of the DRC,<ref name="Cécile B. Vigouroux & Salikoko S. Mufwene-2008" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chignac |first=François |date=6 July 2023 |title=Conférence Risque Pays 2023 : le climat des affaires s'améliore en RDC |url=https://fr.euronews.com/next/2023/07/06/conference-risque-pays-2023-le-climat-des-affaires-s-ameliore-en-rdc |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=euronews |language=fr |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093909/https://fr.euronews.com/next/2023/07/06/conference-risque-pays-2023-le-climat-des-affaires-s-ameliore-en-rdc |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rouaud |first=Pierre Olivier |date=25 July 2022 |title=RD Congo: les fortes prévisions de croissance confortées par le FMI |language=French |work=Classe-export.com |url=https://classe-export.com/index.php/pays/afrique/62036-rd-congo-les-fortes-previsions-de-croissance-confortees-par-le-fmi/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093921/https://classe-export.com/index.php/pays/afrique/62036-rd-congo-les-fortes-previsions-de-croissance-confortees-par-le-fmi/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaseso |first=Joel Machozi |date=27 May 2023 |title=Faux, le magazine Forbes n'a pas publié un classement du "Top 10 des meilleurs villes de la RDC en 2023" |url=https://congocheck.net/faux-le-magazine-forbes-na-pas-publie-un-classement-du-top-10-des-meilleurs-villes-de-la-rdc-en-2023/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=Congocheck.net |language=fr-FR |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230062747/https://congocheck.net/faux-le-magazine-forbes-na-pas-publie-un-classement-du-top-10-des-meilleurs-villes-de-la-rdc-en-2023/ |url-status=live }}</ref> housing several industries including manufacturing,<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 September 2013 |title=Congo-Kinshasa: Les industries manufacturières affichent une bonne croissance |language=French |work=AllAfrica |url=https://fr.allafrica.com/stories/201309131353.html |access-date=19 October 2023}}</ref> telecommunications,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Syosyo |first=Crispin Malingumu |date=2015 |title=Analyse du marché des télécommunications mobiles en République Démocratique du Congo: Dynamique du marché et stratégies des acteurs |url=https://hal.science/hal-03119515/document |access-date=19 October 2023 |website=hal.science |language=French |archive-date=20 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220160311/https://hal.science/hal-03119515/document |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tuema |first=Jacques Kiambu Di |date=5 December 2009 |title=Déréglementation des services de télécommunications en République Démocratique du Congo et inégale répartition des ressources |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-regionale-et-urbaine-2009-5-page-975.htm |journal=Revue d'Économie Régionale & Urbaine |language=French |issue=2009/5 |pages=975–994 |doi=10.3917/reru.095.0975 |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=20 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231220160311/https://www.cairn.info/revue-d-economie-regionale-et-urbaine-2009-5-page-975.htm |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> banking, and entertainment.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 May 2021 |title=La culture et le divertissement au Congo |url=https://actualite.cd/2021/05/27/la-culture-et-le-divertissement-au-congo |access-date=19 October 2023 |website=Actualite.cd |language=fr |archive-date=13 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231213132013/https://actualite.cd/2021/05/27/la-culture-et-le-divertissement-au-congo |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Luzonzo |first=Merseign |date=2016 |title=Les fondements de l'émergence économique de la République Démocratique du Congo: défis et perspectives |trans-title=The foundations of the economic emergence of the Democratic Republic of Congo: challenges and prospects |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/04/17/9762/Les-fondements-de-lemergence-economique-de-la-Republique-Democratique-du-Congo--defis-et-pe.html |access-date=1 September 2023 |publisher=Université Catholique du Congo |language=French |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |archive-date=1 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230901122128/https://www.memoireonline.com/04/17/9762/Les-fondements-de-lemergence-economique-de-la-Republique-Democratique-du-Congo--defis-et-pe.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The city also hosts some of the DRC's significant institutional buildings, such as the People's Palace, Palace of the Nation, Constitutional Court, Court of Cassation, Council of State, African Union City, Marble Palace, Government House, Kinshasa Financial Center, and other national departments and agencies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 July 2020 |title=Actualité {{!}} Quelle est la nature juridique de l'autorité du ministre de la Justice sur le Parquet ? |url=https://www.mediacongo.net/article-actualite-71641_quelle_est_la_nature_juridique_de_l_autorite_du_ministre_de_la_justice_sur_le_parquet.html |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=www.mediacongo.net |language=French |publication-place=Kinshasa |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830095413/https://www.mediacongo.net/article-actualite-71641_quelle_est_la_nature_juridique_de_l_autorite_du_ministre_de_la_justice_sur_le_parquet.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=25 November 2020 |title=En RDC, le difficile accès à la justice pour les femmes victimes de viols |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20201125-en-rdc-le-difficile-acc%C3%A8s-%C3%A0-la-justice-pour-les-femmes-victimes-de-viols |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=RFI |language=fr |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830095409/https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20201125-en-rdc-le-difficile-acc%C3%A8s-%C3%A0-la-justice-pour-les-femmes-victimes-de-viols |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Rédaction |first=La |date=28 January 2019 |title=Félix Tshisekedi s'installe dans "une modeste" villa à la cité de l'UA |url=https://www.politico.cd/encontinu/2019/01/28/felix-tshisekedi-sinstalle-dans-une-modeste-villa-a-la-cite-de-lua.html/34471/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=Politico.cd |language=fr-FR |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093921/https://www.politico.cd/encontinu/2019/01/28/felix-tshisekedi-sinstalle-dans-une-modeste-villa-a-la-cite-de-lua.html/34471/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Huband |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gf7EDwAAQBAJ&dq=palais+de+marbre+Mobutu&pg=PA123 |title=The Skull Beneath The Skin: Africa After The Cold War |date=20 May 2019 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-96439-8 |location=Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom |pages=123 |language=en |access-date=19 September 2023 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016114513/https://books.google.com/books?id=gf7EDwAAQBAJ&dq=palais+de+marbre+Mobutu&pg=PA123 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Kinshasa site has been inhabited by Teke and Humbu people for centuries and was known as ''Nshasa'' before transforming into a commercial hub during the 19th and 20th centuries.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /><ref name="Moorsel-1968" /> The city was named Léopoldville by Henry Morton Stanley in honor of Leopold II of Belgium.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /><ref name="Ness-2017" /><ref name="Boya-2010" /> The name was changed to Kinshasa in 1966 during Mobutu Sese Seko's ''Zairianisation'' campaign as a tribute to ''Nshasa'' village.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /> Covering 9,965 square kilometers, Kinshasa stretches along the southern shores of the Pool Malebo on the Congo River. It forms an expansive crescent across flat, low-lying terrain at an average altitude of about 300 meters.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /> Kinshasa borders the Mai-Ndombe, Kwilu, and Kwango Provinces to the east; the Congo River delineates its western and northern perimeters, constituting a natural border with the Republic of the Congo; to the south lies the Kongo Central Province. Across the river sits Brazzaville, the smaller capital of the neighboring Republic of the Congo, forming the world's closest pair of capital cities despite being separated by a four-kilometer-wide unbridged span of the Congo River.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Buron |first=Thierry |date=22 November 2020 |title=Brazzaville et Kinshasa : proches, mais séparées |url=https://www.revueconflits.com/brazaville-et-kinshasa-proches-mais-separes/ |access-date=15 December 2023 |website=Conflits : Revue de Géopolitique |language=fr-FR |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215134251/https://www.revueconflits.com/brazaville-et-kinshasa-proches-mais-separes/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Academie |first=Jan Van Eyck |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_zFUAAAAMAAJ |title=Brakin: Brazzaville-Kinshasa : Visualizing the Visible |date=12 June 2006 |publisher=Lars Müller Publishers |isbn=978-3-03778-076-3 |location=Baden, Switzerland |language=en |access-date=30 August 2023 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016114545/https://books.google.com/books?id=_zFUAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Burke |first=Jason |date=17 January 2017 |title=Face-off over the Congo: the long rivalry between Kinshasa and Brazzaville |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/17/congo-rivalry-kinshasa-brazzaville-river-drc |access-date=29 August 2023 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-date=18 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170718224203/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jan/17/congo-rivalry-kinshasa-brazzaville-river-drc |url-status=live }}</ref>
Kinshasa also functions as one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; it is administratively divided into 24 communes, which are further subdivided into 365 neighborhoods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zimi |first=Gutu Kia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3PMYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Ma+Campagne+Kinshasa&pg=PT55 |title=Growing Trees in Urban Kinshasa: Shrub Vegetation in Residential Plots in Kinshasa |date=10 January 2021 |publisher=AuthoHouse |isbn=978-1-6655-1262-6 |location=Bloomington, Indiana |language=en |access-date=19 September 2023 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016114513/https://books.google.com/books?id=3PMYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Ma+Campagne+Kinshasa&pg=PT55 |url-status=live }}</ref> With an expansive administrative region, over 90 percent of the province's land remains rural, while urban growth predominantly occurs on its western side.<ref name="area">{{Cite web |title=Géographie de Kinshasa |url=http://www.kinshasa.cd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=300 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723091147/http://www.kinshasa.cd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=300 |archive-date=23 July 2012 |access-date=25 June 2012 |publisher=Ville de Kinshasa }}</ref> Kinshasa is the largest nominally Francophone urban area globally, with French being the language of government, education, media, public services and high-end commerce, while Lingala is used as a lingua franca in the street. The city's inhabitants are popularly known as ''Kinois'', with the term "Kinshasans" used in English terminology.<ref name="Cécile B. Vigouroux & Salikoko S. Mufwene-2008">{{Cite book |last=Cécile B. Vigouroux & Salikoko S. Mufwene |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Le_8WMk1Pr4C&q=french%20lingala%20kinshasa&pg=PA103 |title=Globalization and Language Vitality: Perspectives from Africa, pp. 103 & 109 |year=2008 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=9780826495150 |access-date=25 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005104851/https://books.google.com/books?id=Le_8WMk1Pr4C&lpg=PA111&dq=french%20lingala%20kinshasa&pg=PA103 |archive-date=5 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Magnan |first=Pierre |date=2 June 2017 |title=Kinshasa a dépassé Paris comme plus grande ville francophone du monde |url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/republique-democratique-du-congo/kinshasa-a-depasse-paris-comme-plus-grande-ville-francophone-du-monde_3060123.html |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=Franceinfo |language=fr-FR |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093921/https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/afrique/republique-democratique-du-congo/kinshasa-a-depasse-paris-comme-plus-grande-ville-francophone-du-monde_3060123.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=10 October 2022 |title=This is the most French-speaking city in the world |url=https://www.en-vols.com/en/inspirations-en/culture-en/most-french-speaking-city/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=En-vols.com |language=en-US |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093920/https://www.en-vols.com/en/inspirations-en/culture-en/most-french-speaking-city/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cornall |first=Flo |date=1 June 2023 |title=Congolese artists wear costumes made of trash to shine a light on Kinshasa's pollution problem |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/style/congolese-artists-colin-delfosse-fulu-act-spc-intl/index.html |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093920/https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/01/style/congolese-artists-colin-delfosse-fulu-act-spc-intl/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The National Museum of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the DRC's most prominent and central museum. The College of Advanced Studies in Strategy and Defense is the highest military institution in the DRC. The National Pedagogical University is the DRC's first pedagogical university. N'Djili International Airport is the largest airport in the nation.<ref>[Airport rankings: Africa https://gettocenter.com/airports/continent/africa {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016114531/https://gettocenter.com/airports/continent/africa |date=16 October 2023 }}]</ref> In 2015, Kinshasa was designated as a City of Music by UNESCO and has been a member of the Creative Cities Network since then.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016–2019 |title=Kinshasa: Ville Créative de la Musique |trans-title=Kinshasa: Creative City of Music |url=https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/sites/default/files/kinshasa_rvcu_-rapport_exercice_2015_-_2019.pdf |access-date=24 February 2024 |website=en.unesco.org |page=3 |language=French |publication-place=Paris, France |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331135810/https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/sites/default/files/kinshasa_rvcu_-rapport_exercice_2015_-_2019.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=Kinshasa: About the Creative City |url=https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/kinshasa#:~:text=Kinshasa%2C%20capital%20of%20the%20Democratic,shaped%20by%20many%20international%20influences. |access-date=27 December 2023 |website=En.unesco.org |archive-date=11 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190511140106/https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/kinshasa#:~:text=Kinshasa%2C%20capital%20of%20the%20Democratic,shaped%20by%20many%20international%20influences. |url-status=live }}</ref> Nsele Valley Park is the largest urban park in Kinshasa, housing a range of fauna and flora. According to the 2016 annual ranking, Kinshasa is Africa's most expensive city for expatriate employees, ahead of close to 200 global locations.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Velluet |first=Quentin |date=31 October 2018 |title=Offres d'emploi : les meilleures opportunités en Afrique – Jeune Afrique |url=https://www.jeuneafrique.com/emploi-formation/offres/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=JeuneAfrique.com |language=fr-FR |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830210108/https://www.jeuneafrique.com/emploi-formation/offres/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Karuri |first=Ken |date=22 June 2016 |title=Luanda, Kinshasa ranked among world's most expensive cities for expats |url=https://www.africanews.com/2016/06/22/luanda-kinshasa-ranked-among-world-s-most-expensive-cities/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=Africanews |language=en |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093909/https://www.africanews.com/2016/06/22/luanda-kinshasa-ranked-among-world-s-most-expensive-cities/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Martin |date=3 July 2016 |title=Kinshasa Is Most Expensive City To Live For Expats |url=https://www.moneyinternational.com/kinshasa-expensive-city-live-expats/ |access-date=30 August 2023 |website=Money International |language=en-GB |archive-date=30 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230830093910/https://www.moneyinternational.com/kinshasa-expensive-city-live-expats/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
== Toponymy == There are several theories about the origin of the name ''Kinshasa''. Paul Raymaekers, an anthropologist and ethnologist, suggests that the name derives from the combination of the Kikongo and Kihumbu languages.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |access-date=4 August 2023 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=9–28 |language=French |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |archive-date=27 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The prefix "''Ki(n)''" signifies a hill or inhabited area and "''Nsasa''" or "''Nshasa''" refers to a bag of salt. According to Raymackers, ''Kinshasa'' was a significant trading site where people from the Lower Congo (now Kongo Central Province) and South Atlantic Ocean exchanged salt for goods such as iron, slaves and ivory brought by those from the Upper Congo (now Tshopo Province).<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /> However, Hendrik van Moorsel, an anthropologist, historian and researcher, proposes that Bateke fishermen traded fish for cassava with locals along the riverbank, and the place of this exchange was called "''Ulio''".<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /><ref name="Moorsel-1968">{{Cite book |last=Moorsel |first=Hendrik van |title=Atlas de préhistoire de la plaine de Kinshasa |publisher=Université Lovanium |year=1968 |location=Kinshasa, Belgian Congo |language=French}}</ref> In Teke, "exchange" is "''Utsaya''", and "place of exchange" is "''Intsaya''". Thus, the name evolved from ''Ulio'' to ''Intsaya'', and later, under the influence of Kikongo, transformed into ''Kintsaya'', eventually becoming ''Kinshasa''.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /> ''Kinshasa'', also known as ''N'shasa'', is regarded as the primary "place of exchange" on the southern bank of the Pool Malebo, where bartering occurred even before the commercial boom of Kintambo.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" />
The name ''Nshasa'' is believed to originate from the Teke verb "''tsaya''" (''tsaa''), meaning "to exchange", and the noun "''intsaya''" (''insaa''), referring to any market or place of exchange. It was at this location that Teke brokers traded ivory and slaves from the Banunu slave traders, often mistaken for the Yanzi, for European trade items brought by the Zombo and Kongo people.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /> Despite the various theories, the historical name of ''Kinshasa'' is known to have been ''Nshasa'', as documented by Henry Morton Stanley during his crossing of Africa from Zanzibar to Boma in 1874–1877 when he mentioned visiting "the king of Nshasa" on 14 March 1877.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /><ref name="Boya-2010">{{Cite book |last=Boya |first=Loso Kiteti |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hpi4lyWG7zwC |title=D.R. Congo |year=2010 |isbn=9781450082495 |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |pages=175 |language=English |access-date=19 September 2023 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016114105/https://books.google.com/books?id=hpi4lyWG7zwC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Ness-2017">{{Cite book |last=Ness |first=Immanuel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHo2DwAAQBAJ&dq=Henry+Stanley+Nshasa+village&pg=PT699 |title=Encyclopedia of World Cities |publisher=Taylor & Francis |date=19 September 2017 |isbn=9781317471585 |location=Thames, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom |language=English |access-date=19 September 2023 |archive-date=16 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016114356/https://books.google.com/books?id=pHo2DwAAQBAJ&dq=Henry+Stanley+Nshasa+village&pg=PT699 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==History== {{Main|History of Kinshasa|Timeline of Kinshasa|Kinshasa (commune)#History}} thumb|left|View of Léopoldville station and port (1884) thumb|left|Kinshassa village (1912)
In pre-colonial times, the area was inhabited by two trading centres, Ntamo and Ntsaasa, which were part of the Tio Kingdom.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Vansina |first=Jan |url=http://archive.org/details/tiokingdomofmidd0000vans |title=The Tio kingdom of the Middle Congo, 1880-1892 |date=1973 |publisher=London, New York, Oxford University Press for the International African Institute |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-724189-9 |chapter=The Great Congo Trade}}</ref>{{Reference page|pages=247-55}}
The city was established as a trading post by Henry Morton Stanley in 1881.<ref>Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 144</ref> It was named Léopoldville in honor of Stanley's employer King Leopold II of the Belgians. He would then proceed to take control of most of the Congo Basin as the Congo Free State, not as a colony but as his private property. The post flourished as the first navigable port on the Congo River above Livingstone Falls, a series of rapids over {{convert|300|km|abbr=off}} below Leopoldville. At first, all goods arriving by sea or being sent by sea had to be carried by porters between Léopoldville and Matadi, the port below the rapids and {{cvt|150|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} from the coast. The completion of the Matadi–Kinshasa portage railway, in 1898, provided an alternative route around the rapids and sparked the rapid development of Léopoldville. In 1914, a pipeline was installed so that crude oil could be transported from Matadi to the upriver steamers in Leopoldville.<ref name="britannica.com">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Kinshasa – national capital, Democratic Republic of the Congo |encyclopedia=britannica.com |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318863/Kinshasa/9050/History |access-date=25 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018021639/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318863/Kinshasa/9050/History |archive-date=18 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> By 1923, the city was elevated to capital of the Belgian Congo, replacing the town of Boma in the Congo estuary, pursuant to the Royal Decree of 1 July 1923, countersigned by the Minister of the Colonies, Louis Franc.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /><ref name="britannica.com" /> This transition, finalized in 1929, led to the development of a new administrative ''quartier'' located between Kinshasa, then emerging as a major commercial center, and Léopoldville-West, a preexisting settlement. The selected site was named Kalina (now Gombe) and developed as the colonial administrative center.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Piette |first=Valérie |date=2011 |title=La Belgique au Congo ou la volonté d'imposer sa ville? L'exemple de Léopoldville |trans-title=Belgium in the Congo or the desire to impose its city? The example of Leopoldville |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_2011_num_89_2_8124 |journal=Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=610 |doi=10.3406/rbph.2011.8124}}</ref> Before this, Léopoldville was designated an "urban district", encompassing exclusively the communes of Kintambo and the current Gombe, which burgeoned around Ngaliema Bay.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015a" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Moulin |first=Léon de Saint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gEWQYgEACAAJ |title=Les anciens villages des environs de Kinshasa |date=1971 |publisher=Université Lovanium |location=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |language=fr |access-date=9 April 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162455/https://books.google.com/books?id=gEWQYgEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Luaka-2005">{{Cite web |last=Luaka |first=Evrard Nkenku |date=2005 |title=La gestion et la gouvernance des déchets dans la ville-province de Kinshasa |trans-title=Waste management and governance in the city-province of Kinshasa |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/05/07/461/m_gestion-gouvernance-dechets-ville-province-kinshasa5.html |access-date=9 April 2024 |publisher=University of Kinshasa |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |archive-date=9 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409114108/https://www.memoireonline.com/05/07/461/m_gestion-gouvernance-dechets-ville-province-kinshasa5.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Then the communes of Kinshasa, Barumbu, and Lingwala emerged. In the 1930s, these communes predominantly housed employees of Chanic, Filtisaf, and Utex Africa.<ref name="Luaka-2005" />
In 1941, legislative ordinance n°293/AIMO of 25 June 1941, conferred Kinshasa the status of a city and established an Urban Committee ({{Lang|fr|Comité Urbain}}), with an allocated area of 5,000 hectares and a population of 53,000.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamb |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |trans-title=Monograph of the city of Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |access-date=9 April 2024 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |page=43 |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |archive-date=27 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Luaka-2005" /> Concurrently, it became the colony's capital, the Congo-Kasaï Province's capital, and the Moyen Congo district. The city was demarcated into two zones: the urban zone, comprising Léo II, Léo-Ouest, Kalina, Léo-I, or Léo-Est, and Ndolo; and the indigenous zone to the south. The urban populace swelled in 1945 with the cessation of forced labor, facilitating the influx of native Africans from rural regions. Léopoldville then became predominantly inhabited by the Bakongo ethnic group.<ref name="Luaka-2005" />
In the 1950s, planned urban centers such as Lemba, Matete, and a segment of Ndjili were established to accommodate workers from the Limete industrial zone.<ref name="Luaka-2005" /> Lovanium University, the colony's inaugural university, was founded in 1954.<ref name="Luaka-2005" /> By 1957, Léopoldville comprised eleven communes and six adjunct regions: Kalamu, Dendale (present-day Kasa-Vubu commune), Saint Jean (now Lingwala), Ngiri-Ngiri, Kintambo, Limete, Bandalungwa, Léopoldville (current Gombe), Barumbu, Kinshasa, and Ngaliema; along with the adjunct regions of Lemba, Binza, Makala, Kimwenza, Kimbanseke, and Kingasani. Subsequently, the adjunct regions of Ndjili and Matete were incorporated.<ref name="Luaka-2005" />
After gaining its independence on 30 June 1960, following riots in 1959, the Republic of the Congo elected its first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba whose perceived pro-Soviet leanings were viewed as a threat by Western interests. This being the height of the Cold War, the U.S. and Belgium did not want to lose control of the strategic wealth of the Congo, in particular its uranium. Less than a year after Lumumba's election, the Belgians and the U.S. bought the support of his Congolese rivals and set in motion the events that culminated in Lumumba's assassination.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja |author-link=Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja |date=17 January 2011 |title=Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th century |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination |access-date=9 February 2020 |website=The Guardian |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023072741/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1964, Moïse Tshombe decreed the expulsion of all nationals of Republic of the Congo, Burundi and Mali, as well as all political refugees from Rwanda.<ref>Jules Gerard-Libois and Benoit Verhaegen, ''Congo 1964: Political Documents of a Developing Nation'', Princeton University Press, 2015, p. 450</ref><ref name=NYT >{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/22/archives/congo-starts-expulsions.html |language=en |title=Congo Starts Expulsions |work=The New York Times |date=22 August 1964 |access-date=19 May 2021 |archive-date=19 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519132855/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/22/archives/congo-starts-expulsions.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Daouda Gary-Tounkara, ''1964 : le Mali réinsère ses ressortissants expulsés'', In: '' Plein droit 2016/1 (n° 108)'', GISTI, 2016, p. 35-38</ref><ref>United States. Central Intelligence Agency, ''Daily Report, Foreign Radio Broadcasts'', Issues 11–15, 1967</ref> In 1965, with the help of the U.S. and Belgium, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seized power in the Congo. He initiated a policy of "Authenticity", attempting to renativize the names of people and places in the country. On 2 May 1966, the government announced that the nation's major cities would be restored to their pre-colonial names, effective on 30 June, the sixth anniversary of independence.<ref>"Congo Cities Get Back Old Names", ''Vancouver Sun'', 3 May 1966, p.11</ref> Léopoldville was renamed ''Kinshasa'', for a village named Kinshasa that once stood near the site. Kinshasa grew rapidly under Mobutu, drawing people from across the country who came in search of their fortunes or to escape ethnic strife elsewhere, thus adding to the many ethnicities and languages already found there.<ref name="britannica.com" />
=== Urban history ===
==== Colonial urban planning ==== {{Multiple image | total_width = 400 | image1 = Locomotive ndolo.jpg | caption1 = The arrival of the first locomotive in Léopoldville, Congo Free State, c. 1898 | image2 = Congo Belge-La Gare de Kinshassa.jpg | caption2 = Photograph of Kinshasa Central Station, c. 1905 | caption_align = center }}
European urban development began in 1881 and was guided by rigid planning principles to preserved an orderly and aesthetically pleasing environment.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=4 August 2023 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=55–59 |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref> A major urban expansion was the construction of the Matadi–Léopoldville Railway, which was initiated in 1890 and completed in 1911. The project was emblematic of colonial progress and served as a critical link between the port of Léopoldville and the coastal city of Matadi.<ref name="Piette-2011a">{{Cite journal |last=Piette |first=Valérie |date=2011 |title=La Belgique au Congo ou la volonté d'imposer sa ville? L'exemple de Léopoldville |trans-title=Belgium in the Congo or the desire to impose its city? The example of Leopoldville |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_2011_num_89_2_8124 |journal=Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=608–609 |doi=10.3406/rbph.2011.8124}}</ref> After its completion, the station began to transform, with the erection of prefabricated residences known as "Danish houses", which were imported from Belgium. These permanent structures gradually replaced the temporary tents that had accommodated early explorers, soldiers, and mercenaries.<ref name="Piette-2011a" /> As Léopoldville developed into an administrative and military center, agents of the Congo Free State, and, after 1908, those of the Belgian Congo, settled in the area. Europeans often worked as engineers, architects, carpenters, and builders,<ref name="Piette-2011a" /> and were supported by mercenaries and trained African laborers, who were instrumental in the physical construction. By 1902, the Kitambo (now Kintambo) area was entirely occupied by European constructions.<ref name="Piette-2011a" /> The urban center expanded as surrounding villages grew, drawn by the prospects of employment and commerce. These settlements would eventually constitute the earliest {{Lang|fr|cités indigènes}}, which were designated residential areas for the African population.<ref name="Piette-2011a" /> [[File:Leopoldville view.jpg|thumb|188x188px|A 1942 view of Léopoldville from the balcony of the A.B.C. Hotel. Established in 1914, the A.B.C. Hotel was the city's first hotel complex, which was constructed by the {{Lang|fr|Compagnie Commerciale et Agricole d'Alimentation du Bas-Congo}} (ABC), a subsidiary of the {{Lang|fr|Compagnie du Congo pour le Commerce et l'Industrie}} (CCCI), which also oversaw the construction of the Matadi–Léopoldville Railway. The hotel formed part of a broader colonial initiative to expand infrastructure and hospitality services in the Belgian Congo.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 August 2020 |title=Kinshasa, hier et aujourd'hui… |trans-title=Kinshasa, yesterday and today… |url=https://e-journal.info/2020/08/kinshasa-hier-et-aujourdhui/ |access-date=10 July 2025 |website=E-Journal Kinshasa |language=fr-FR |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lemoine |first=Robert-J. |date=1934 |title=Finances et colonisation: la concentration des entreprises dans la mise en valeur du Congo belge |trans-title=Finance and colonization: the concentration of companies in the development of the Belgian Congo |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27573481 |journal=Annales d'Histoire Économique et Sociale |volume=6 |issue=29 |pages=433–449 |jstor=27573481 |issn=0003-441X}}</ref>]] At this early stage, the connection between Léopoldville (commonly referred to as "''Léo''") and Kinshasa consisted of an eight-kilometer track that was often impassable during the rainy season. Transportation was rudimentary, with a few bicycles, limited private cars, and even dromedaries in use, as public transit infrastructure was virtually nonexistent.<ref name="Piette-2011a" /> In 1911, George Moulaert, an influential colonial administrator, drafted a comprehensive urban plan for Léopoldville and the greater Kinshasa area that would guide spatial development for decades, while World War I accelerated local economic activity.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 February 2010 |title=Leopoldville 1881-1956: Les cites indigènes |trans-title=Leopoldville 1881-1956: Indigenous Cities |url=http://www.mbokamosika.com/article-leopoldville-1881-1956-les-cites-indigenes-44967554.html |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Mbokamosika |language=fr}}</ref><ref name="Piette-2011a" /> Largely cut off from Europe, the Belgian Congo experienced a period of relative prosperity in which motorboats and trucks increasingly replaced traditional transport such as canoes and human porters, and by the end of the war in 1918 Léopoldville rivaled other Congolese cities and seized the attention of Belgian architects who saw it as a potential model for colonial urban experimentation. Colonial urbanization remained tightly controlled and reflected the aspirations and limitations of Belgian policy,<ref name="Piette-2011a" /> and in 1922 a decree mandated that large companies provide housing for their African workers, a requirement that major firms such as Huileries du Congo Belge (HCB) met by building workers' camps, while smaller enterprises often failed to comply.<ref name="Piette-2011b">{{Cite journal |last=Piette |first=Valérie |date=2011 |title=La Belgique au Congo ou la volonté d'imposer sa ville? L'exemple de Léopoldville |trans-title=Belgium in the Congo or the desire to impose its city? The example of Leopoldville |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_2011_num_89_2_8124 |journal=Revue belge de Philologie et d'Histoire |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=611 |doi=10.3406/rbph.2011.8124}}</ref> The existing framework, governed by the decree on "the labor contract between natives and civilized masters", proved insufficient to meet growing housing demands, which then prompted religious missions to extend loans to African residents for self-construction before becoming overwhelmed, after which a special fund was established to provide interest-free loans for house construction using locally available materials.<ref name="Piette-2011b" />
==== Segregation ==== {{Multiple image | total_width = 200 | image1 = 1974 market Kinshasa 4334475205.jpg | caption1 = The Kinshasa Central Market was launched in January 1944 to serve the commercial needs of the African population as urban development and colonial segregation measures grew more pronounced. | caption_align = center | align = left }}
Colonial authorities enforced a racially segregated urban model in which African residents were confined to separate indigenous quarters, known as {{Lang|fr|cités indigènes}}, such as Léo I and Léo II.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> These zones were delineated by colonial authorities which allocated land in rudimentary grids and, lacking modern infrastructure such as sewers, were equipped only with basic sanitation facilities, typically simple pit latrines consisting of holes dug or drilled into the ground. During the 1920s, the urban growth brought the indigenous quarters into proximity with European residential areas, particularly near the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway and the Boulevard Albert 1er (now Boulevard du 30 Juin).<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> This heightened European settlers' concerns about public health and urban hygiene, which prompted the Léopoldville Urban Committee in 1933 to establish a buffer known as the "''neutral zone''", which, although recommended to be 800 meters wide, was implemented at only 250 to 300 meters because of logistical constraints and exemptions granted to some Europeans living in the area.<ref name="Mboka-2011">{{Cite web |last=Mboka |first=Mwana |date=31 July 2011 |title=Kinshasa Then and Now: Leopoldville 1948 – "Le Grand Léo" |url=https://kosubaawate.blogspot.com/2011/07/leopoldville-1948-le-grand-leo.html |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Kinshasa Then and Now}}</ref><ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> Known as Parc De Bock, now the Kinshasa Botanical Garden, this buffer was established by District Commissioner Fernand De Bock with agronomist Roeck and included the Kinshasa Zoological Garden, and served as a sanitary barrier and a leisure space for Europeans.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> The park also contained vegetable gardens tended by unemployed volunteers,<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> while immediately south of the neutral zone lay the indigenous area, which encompassed key facilities such as Ndolo Airport, Kinshasa Central Market, Kinshasa General Hospital, a TSF wireless station, a golf course, a cemetery, and Camp Léopold II (now Camp Kokolo).<ref name="Mboka-2011" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mandangi |first=Germain Manitu |date=2006 |title=Nature et analyse des indicateurs de la qualité de l'habitat au camp "lieutenant colonel Kokolo" à Kinshasa |trans-title=Nature and analysis of indicators of housing quality at the "Lieutenant Colonel Kokolo" camp in Kinshasa |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/05/12/5881/Nature-et-analyse-des-indicateurs-de-la-qualite-de-lhabitat-au-camp-lieutenant-colonel-Kokolo.html |access-date=9 July 2025 |publisher=University of Kinshasa |language=fr |publication-place=Lemba, Kinshasa}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ryckmans |first=François |date=6 July 2020 |title=Congo 1960 – épisode 9: le 6 juillet 1960, le Congo s'embrase |trans-title=Congo 1960 – Episode 9: On 6 July 1960, the Congo goes up in flames |url=https://www.rtbf.be/article/congo-1960-episode-9-le-6-juillet-1960-le-congo-s-embrase-10536910 |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Rtbf.be |publisher=Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française |language=fr |publication-place=Schaerbeek, Brussels}}</ref>{{Multiple image | total_width = 220 | image1 = Belgian Congo Leopoldville square.jpg | caption1 = A busy city square in Léopoldville, 1943 | caption_align = center }}
Belgian colonial authorities, motivated by a paternalistic ideology associated with the so-called "civilizing mission", initiated efforts to provide formal housing for the African population, particularly for those employed in urban areas. In the aftermath of the Second World War, a large-scale residential project called the ''Nouvelle Cité'' was launched on 407 hectares in Dendale, present-day Kasa-Vubu commune, which was overseen by the Service de la Population Noire under Dendale's direction, and by 1947, just two years after its inception, it housed over 8,000 residents, including future President Joseph Kasa-Vubu.<ref name="Mboka-2011" /><ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> To address additional housing needs for the African population, the Office des Cités Africaines (OCA) was tasked with urban development and, beginning in 1949, oversaw a ten-year plan encompassing urban design, infrastructure, community facilities, and housing construction.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> By 1959, over 40,000 homes had been built following a controlled, segregationist approach, with planning initially led by urban planner Georges Ricquier and later taken over by Maurice Heymans in 1953, while the new city plan preserved European dominance over the historical center (La Gombe), limited expansion to adjacent zones, and promoted industrial development in Limete.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" />
Post-1950s urban expansion arose due to the "sprawl of ''quartiers'', the high demand for housing among the population, and the increasing distance between riverside employment zones and {{Lang|fr|cités indigènes}}". Communes like Kasa-Vubu and Ngiri-Ngiri featured structured housing with proper streets, sanitation systems, twin houses, and single-level row buildings. Some housing areas were self-built but still regulated, with residents adhering to official layouts and construction guidelines based on their resources.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> Between 1954 and 1960, OCA developed Matete, Bandalungwa, and Lemba, alongside the satellite city of Ndjili. These included prearranged roads, drainage systems, sewer networks, and paved primary access routes.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" />
For the first time, two-story houses and collective apartment buildings appeared, particularly in Bandalungwa, Matete, and Lemba. Kalamu followed with the expansion of Camp Kaouka and the 20 May neighborhood beyond the Funa River.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" /> Further east, across the Yolo River, residential development continued in Limete and its accompanying industrial zone.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015f" />
=== Unrest in 1991 and the First Congo War === {{Further information|First Congo War}} In 1991 the city had to fend off rioting soldiers, who were protesting the government's failure to pay them. Subsequently a rebel uprising began, which in 1997 finally brought down the regime of Mobutu.<ref name="britannica.com" />
The eruption of the First Congo War (1996–1997), closely tied to the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, significantly intensified instability in Kinshasa and across the broader region. Following the genocide, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), under Paul Kagame, launched military operations into eastern Zaire, not only targeting Hutu insurgents but also committing large-scale violence against Hutu civilians.<ref name="Prunier-2008">{{Cite book |last=Prunier |first=Gérard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kp93kUfdhC0C |title=Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe |date=31 December 2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-970583-2 |location=Oxford, England, United Kingdom |pages=12–15 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 1999 |title=The Rwandan Patriotic Front (HRW Report - Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda) |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/Geno15-8-03.htm |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=Hrw.org |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Moloo |first=Zahra |date=12 September 2018 |title=The crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front |url=https://africasacountry.com/2019/04/the-crimes-of-the-rwandan-patriotic-front |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=Africa Is a Country |language=en-US}}</ref> UNHCR consultant Robert Gersony estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 people were killed monthly in mid-1994 alone. The influx of over two million Rwandan Hutu refugees into eastern Zaire further exacerbated security and humanitarian tensions, particularly in provinces such as South Kivu.<ref name="Prunier-2008"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Black |first=Christopher |date=12 September 2010 |title=The Rwandan Patriotic Front's Bloody Record and the History of UN Cover-Ups |url=https://mronline.org/2010/09/12/the-rwandan-patriotic-fronts-bloody-record-and-the-history-of-un-cover-ups/ |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=Monthly Review Online |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=10The Rwandan genocide and its aftermath |url=https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/legacy-pdf/3ebf9bb60.pdf |access-date=13 November 2024 |website=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |page=2 (246) |publication-place=Geneva, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland}}</ref> President Mobutu's regime proved incapable of managing the crisis, thus facilitating the conditions for war.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009e">{{Cite web |date=15 June 2009 |title=First Congo War - Attacks against Hutu refugees - South Kivu |url=https://www.mapping-report.org/en/first-congo-war-attacks-against-hutu-refugees-sud-kivu/ |access-date=23 March 2025 |website=Mapping-report.org |publisher=The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report |language=en-US}}</ref> By 1996, foreign-backed militias, including the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA), the Ugandan People's Defence Force (UPDF), and Burundi's ''Forces Armées Burundaises'' (FAB), began supporting Congolese Tutsi groups such as the Banyamulenge.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009e" /> Belgian legal and political scholar Filip Reyntjens describes the First Congo War as the convergence of two overlapping goals: the genuine resistance of Congolese Tutsi, who feared retaliation, and the strategic use of this resistance by the Rwandan government to justify the RPA's military involvement in Zaire.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reyntjens |first=Filip |date=1999 |title=La deuxième guerre du Congo: plus qu'une réédition |trans-title=The Second Congo War: More Than a Reissue |url=https://medialibrary.uantwerpen.be/oldcontent/container2143/files/Publications/Annuaire/1998-1999/12-Reyntjens.pdf |access-date=23 May 2025 |website=Medialibrary.uantwerpen.be |publisher=University of Antwerp |page=3 |language=fr}}</ref>
The fall of Kinshasa in May 1997 to the Rwandan- and Ugandan-backed {{Lang|fr|Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo}} (AFDL), led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, marked the beginning of serious human rights abuses in the capital.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a">{{Cite web |date=15 June 2009 |title=Attacks against other civilian populations – Kinshasa |url=https://www.mapping-report.org/en/attacks-against-other-civilian-populations-kinshasa/ |access-date=15 June 2025 |website=Mapping-report.org |publisher=The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report |language=en-US}}</ref> In the days following the city's capture, AFDL and RPA forces carried out extrajudicial killings, acts of torture, rape, and targeted former regime officials as well as members of the elite Special Presidential Division (DSP).<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> On 17 May, Mobutu was overthrown in an AFDL-led coup.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Blanchard |first=Sandrine |date=7 September 2022 |title=Il y a 25 ans, la mort de Mobutu Sese Seko |trans-title=25 years ago, the death of Mobutu Sese Seko |url=https://www.dw.com/fr/mobutu-za%C3%AFre-congo-rdc-25-ans/a-63044902 |access-date=15 June 2025 |website=DW News |language=fr}}</ref> Between 18 and 22 May 1997, volunteer teams from the Congolese Red Cross collected between 228 and 318 bodies in Kinshasa and its outskirts and evacuated wounded civilians to local medical facilities. Reports from the United Nations Special Rapporteur and the United Nations Mapping Team indicate that the security situation deteriorated further between May and June 1997.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> During this period, AFDL and RPA units, often with the participation of civilians, carried out public executions, frequently incinerating the bodies in neighborhoods such as Masina, Matete, and Kingabwa (Limete commune). At the GLM (''Groupe Litho Moboti'') building, detainees, many of them former members of the Zairean Armed Forces ({{Lang|fr|Forces Armées Zaïroises}}; FAZ) or political opponents, were routinely executed and their bodies discarded in the Congo River, a practice halted only after intervention by human rights advocates alerted by local fishermen.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> In September 1997, the security crisis in Kinshasa was compounded by cross-border shelling from Brazzaville. Armed factions involved in a separate conflict in Brazzaville launched artillery fire into Kinshasa between 29 September and 1 October, killing at least 21 civilians. In retaliation, FAC and RPA forces shelled Brazzaville for two consecutive days.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" />
==== Systematic torture, detention conditions, and crackdowns on political opposition ==== In June and July 1997, detainees in military prisons at Kokolo and Tshatshi camps suffered ill-treatment that led to numerous deaths from torture, disease, and medical neglect.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> Reports from late 1997 indicate that at least 24 wounded former members of the Rwandan Armed Forces ({{Lang|fr|Forces Armées Rwandaises}}, ex-FAR) disappeared after being transferred from hospitals to military camps, where they were subjected to threats and degrading treatment, while the militarization of Kinshasa's public life continued under the new regime, as units of the Congolese Air Force ({{Lang|fr|Force Aérienne Congolaise}}, FAC) and the RPA, particularly the young child soldiers known as ''Kadogo'', imposed harsh disciplinary measures on civilians, including public floggings and whippings with the ''chicotte'', a "leather-thonged whipping device". These punishments often resulted in severe internal injuries and deaths due to internal bleeding.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" />
Beginning in June 1997, the new authorities ordered ex-FAZ to undergo political re-education at Kitona military base in Bas-Congo (now Kongo Central), and in their absence, soldiers from the newly formed FAC and RPA occupied military camps in Kinshasa, including CETA and Tshatshi, where they raped large numbers of women and girls, many of whom were family members of ex-FAZ soldiers. Victims were often subjected to sexual slavery and forced domestic labor.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> At Kokolo Military Camp, similar atrocities happened, including gang rapes and the random abduction and assault of women in nearby ''quartiers'', while at a location known as "Camp Américain", ferocious crimes were reported, such as the case of a girl who was gang-raped, tortured, and had hot wax poured over her genitals.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> Violence against women extended outside military compounds, as numerous reports from the period reveal that FAC and RPA soldiers carried out systematic sexual violence across Kinshasa, including against sex workers and women detained arbitrarily.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" />
Opposition activists and their families were frequently subjected to harassment, arbitrary arrest, and torture. Women related to political figures were especially vulnerable to sexual violence during state crackdowns.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> Activists from major opposition parties such as the {{Lang|fr|Parti Lumumbiste Unifié}} (PALU), {{Lang|fr|Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social}} (UDPS), and the {{Lang|fr|Front pour la Survie de la Démocratie au Congo}} (FSDC) were frequent targets. In July 1997, FAC and RPA soldiers killed between one and four PALU members during a protest crackdown and injured several others.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> The residence of PALU leader Antoine Gizenga was ransacked, resulting in the death of an activist and the severe beating of six more. Documented cases of torture and rape continued into 1998. Notably, on 10 December 1997, two sisters of the FSDC president were gang-raped by FAC and RPA personnel.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" /> The FSDC leader himself, a former Mobutu loyalist, was arrested in February 1998 and subjected to torture while detained in the central prison and the Mikonga military training facility.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009a" />
=== Second Congo War === {{Further information|Second Congo War}}{{Multiple image | image1 = Visit of Laurent Désiré Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the EC.jpg | caption1 = Visit of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila to João de Deus Pinheiro, the European Commissioner for Relations with Parliament, Culture, and Audiovisual, to discuss the armed conflict raging in the country, November 1998 | caption_align = center }}
The Second Congo War also plunged Kinshasa into a period of insecurity and military conflict after a dramatic breakdown in relations between President Laurent-Désiré Kabila and his former allies in Rwanda and Uganda, whom Kabila accused of undermining Congolese sovereignty and holding ambitions to carry out a ''coup d'état''.<ref name="Muiu-2009">{{Cite book |last1=Muiu |first1=M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ve_GAAAAQBAJ&dq=Laurent+Kabila+James+Kabarebe+of+his+position&pg=PA128 |title=A New Paradigm of the African State: Fundi wa Afrika |last2=Martin |first2=G. |date=5 January 2009 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-0-230-61831-2 |location=London, England, United Kingdom |pages=128 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Katulondi-2019">{{Cite book |last=Katulondi |first=Hubert Kabasu Babu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qzKNDwAAQBAJ&dq=Laurent+Kabila+James+Kabarebe+of+his+position&pg=PT124 |title=Democratisation in the Dr Congo from Joseph Mobutu to Joseph Kabila: A Modelled Exploration |date=14 March 2019 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-7283-8287-6 |location=Bloomington, Indiana, United States |language=en}}</ref> Allegations also surfaced that the United States had provided indirect support to Rwanda during this period, including claims of military training by the Rwanda Interagency Assessment Team (RIAT), ostensibly to secure access to the DRC's vast mineral wealth.<ref name="Snow-2023">{{Cite web |last=Snow |first=Keith Harmon |date=17 December 2023 |title=Exposing U.S. agents of low intensity warfare in Africa: The policy wonks behind covert warfare and humanitarian fascism |url=https://africanagenda.net/exposing-u-s-agents-of-low-intensity-warfare-in-africa-the-policy-wonks-behind-covert-warfare-humanitarian-fascism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250124012146/https://africanagenda.net/exposing-u-s-agents-of-low-intensity-warfare-in-africa-the-policy-wonks-behind-covert-warfare-humanitarian-fascism/ |archive-date=24 January 2025 |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=African Agenda |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Madsen |first=Wayne |date=30 August 2001 |title=America's covert operations in the Great Lakes Region |url=https://l-hora.org/en/americas-covert-operations-in-the-great-lakes-region-wayne-madsen-august-2001/ |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=L'HORA |language=en-US}}</ref> American individuals and institutions, such as Roger Winter of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, were further implicated in allegedly abetting insurgent activities.<ref name="Snow-2023" /> In response to these tensions, President Kabila dismissed Rwandan General James Kabarebe from his position as Chief of Staff and demanded the withdrawal of all Rwandan military personnel from Congolese territory.<ref name="Muiu-2009" /><ref name="Katulondi-2019" /> This move provoked a swift counteroffensive, as Rwanda and Uganda backed the formation of a new rebel group, the {{Lang|fr|Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie}} (RCD), which launched its rebellion from the city of Goma on 2 August 1998.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009c">{{Cite web |date=15 June 2009 |title=The Second Congo War (August 1998–January 2001) |url=https://www.mapping-report.org/en/the-second-congo-war/ |access-date=6 March 2025 |website=Mapping-report.org |publisher=The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report |language=en-US}}</ref> The insurrection was spearheaded by mutinous units within the Congolese armed forces in coordination with Rwandan, Ugandan, and Burundian troops. Within weeks, RCD forces had captured large swathes of territory in the eastern and northern parts of the country, including regions of North and South Kivu, Orientale Province, North Katanga, and Équateur Province.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009c" /> Their advance toward Kinshasa and the western province of Bas-Congo was halted by military intervention from Angola and Zimbabwe, both of which deployed troops in support of Kabila's government.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009c" />
This escalation led to the effective partition of the DRC, as Kabila's administration, reinforced by military contingents from Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Chad, and Sudan, retained authority over the western and central regions. Conversely, the eastern part of the country fell under the control of the RCD's military wing, the {{Lang|fr|Armée Nationale Congolaise}} (ANC), which was supported by Rwandan, Ugandan, and Burundian forces.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009c" /> In response, Kabila aligned with a range of non-state actors and militias, notably the Mayi-Mayi as well as Rwandan and Burundian Hutu rebel groups including the {{Lang|fr|Forces pour la Défense de la Démocratie}} (FDD) and the {{Lang|fr|Armée de Libération du Rwanda}} (ALiR), the latter composed in part of former members of the Rwandan Armed Forces and the Interahamwe militia. Uganda, while occupying substantial portions of Orientale Province, simultaneously sponsored the establishment of the {{Lang|fr|Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo}} (MLC), under the leadership of Jean-Pierre Bemba, to administer the Ugandan-controlled regions of Équateur.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009c" /> Diverging strategic interests between Uganda and Rwanda eventually led to a split within the RCD itself, giving rise to two rival factions: the Rwanda-aligned RCD–Goma and the Uganda-supported RCD–ML.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009c" /> Despite their military superiority, these rebel coalitions faced persistent challenges in exerting full administrative and security control over rural areas, where they were met with sustained resistance from local militias, interethnic hostility, and community mistrust.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 June 2009 |title=Second Congo War – Attacks on other civilian populations – South Kivu |url=https://www.mapping-report.org/en/second-congo-war-attacks-on-other-civilian-populations-south-kivu/ |access-date=9 March 2025 |website=Mapping-report.org |publisher=The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report |language=en-US}}</ref>
By late August 1998, forces of the ANC, RPA, and UPDF clashed with troops from FAC and the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) for control of the capital. The ZDF employed heavy artillery to bombard densely populated areas, including Kimbanseke, Masina, Ndjili, and the Kingatoko village, which located near the Bas-Congo border.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b">{{Cite web |date=15 June 2009 |title=Second Congo War – Attacks on other civilian populations – Kinshasa |url=https://www.mapping-report.org/en/second-congo-war-attacks-on-other-civilian-populations-kinshasa/ |access-date=15 June 2025 |website=Mapping-report.org |publisher=The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report |language=en-US}}</ref> These attacks resulted in the deaths of approximately 50 civilians and left 282 wounded during the night of 27 to 28 August, leading to mass displacement as residents fled to safer parts of the city, while the ZDF's indiscriminate use of heavy weapons struck hospitals, religious buildings, and other non-combatant infrastructure without differentiating between military and civilian targets.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b" /> In some instances, Congolese military authorities exacerbated civilian casualties by ordering residents to remain in their homes.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b" /> On 28 August, in Mont-Ngafula, FAC soldiers brutally murdered two Red Cross volunteers, one by crushing his skull, as they tried to rescue victims in Mitendi and Mbenseke, which left several others injured.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b" /> Rebel forces also targeted critical infrastructure, including the Inga hydroelectric power station in Bas-Congo, which was seized by ANC, RPA, and UPDF troops on 13 August 1998 and had its turbines stopped for three weeks, cutting electricity and water to Kinshasa and parts of Bas-Congo and severely disrupting hospitals.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b" />
==== Human rights abuses, crackdowns on Cabindan separatists, and Joseph Kabila's rise to power ==== Political opponents and civilians were subject to extrajudicial executions, torture, rape, and arbitrary detentions.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b" /> Between August 1998 and January 2001, approximately 50 incident reports were submitted to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and its mechanisms, including the Working Groups on arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances, and the Special Rapporteurs on torture and extrajudicial killings. Members of opposition parties such as the UDPS and PALU were particularly targeted, often detained in notorious facilities including the {{Lang|fr|Police d'intervention rapide}} (PIR), the {{Lang|fr|Direction des renseignements généraux et services spéciaux}} (DRGS, also called Kin Mazière), IPKIN (ex-Circo), and Kokolo Military Camp.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b" /> A major crackdown happened on 28 October 2000, when President Kabila's security forces arrested at least 93 people, including 60 soldiers and 33 civilians from North Kivu, South Kivu, and Maniema, accused of plotting a ''coup d'état'' involving Anselme Masasu Nindaga, a founding AFDL member; some detainees were summarily executed or tortured to death, while others were imprisoned for over three years and only released following a government-issued general amnesty. In line with its military alliance with Angola, the Kinshasa government also targeted members of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), a separatist movement seeking independence for the Angolan province of Cabinda, shutting down FLEC offices in Kinshasa between 1998 and 1999, arresting numerous Cabindan militants, many of whom were tortured, forcibly transferred to Angola, or remain missing.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009b" />
{{Multiple image | total_width = 200 | image1 = Kabila mbeki bush kagame.jpg | caption1 = George W. Bush meets with Joseph Kabila (left), Thabo Mbeki of South Africa (center), and Paul Kagame of Rwanda (right) at the Waldorf Astoria New York. | image2 = | caption2 = | caption_align = center }}
After the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila on 16 January 2001, his son and successor, Joseph Kabila, was quickly installed as president and prioritized the de-escalation of armed conflict and the promotion of national reconciliation, particularly through the organization of the Inter-Congolese Dialogue (ICD), which brought together government representatives, rebel movements, opposition parties, and civil society in a comprehensive peace process.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009d">{{Cite web |date=15 June 2009 |title=DRC Towards Transition (January 2001–June 2003) |url=https://www.mapping-report.org/en/drc-towards-transition-january-2001-june-2003/ |access-date=10 March 2025 |website=Mapping-report.org |publisher=The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1993-2003 United Nations Mapping Report |language=en-US}}</ref> In March 2001, the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) deployed personnel to key conflict zones to monitor compliance with the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, yet violence continued, particularly in North and South Kivu, where clashes involved groups such as the Mayi-Mayi militias, FDD, ALiR, and ANC.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009d"/> The ICD officially opened on 25 February 2002 in Sun City, South Africa, and a preliminary power-sharing agreement was signed on 19 April 2002 between Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba, though it faced opposition from RCD-Goma and parties including the UDPS.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009d" /> Progress continued with a major diplomatic breakthrough on 30 July 2002, when Rwanda and the DRC signed a peace accord in Pretoria, agreeing that Rwanda would withdraw its troops in exchange for the disarmament and repatriation of Hutu militias such as the FDLR, followed by a similar agreement with Uganda in Luanda on 6 September 2002 to withdraw Ugandan forces and stabilize Ituri Province.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009d" />
By year's end, foreign troops from Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia had begun withdrawing, a move that culminated in the Global and All-Inclusive Agreement in Pretoria on 17 December 2002, which established a transitional power-sharing government and integrated former belligerents into a unified national army.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009d" /> Despite ongoing challenges, the process advanced with the ICD ratifying the agreement on 1 April 2003 in Sun City, along with a memorandum on transitional governance and armed group integration, and transitional institutions were formally inaugurated on 30 June 2003.<ref name="Mapping-report.org-2009d" /> Nevertheless, President Kabila, who remained in power until 2019, faced persistent opposition in Kinshasa, with his controversial victory in the 2006 presidential election triggering widespread unrest that prompted the deployment of European Union forces to support MONUSCO in maintaining order,<ref name="Trapido2016" /><ref name="DR Congo election" /> and another unrest emerged in 2016 when the Independent National Electoral Commission announced a two-year delay in holding new presidential elections, a decision that ignited mass protests in September and December marked by street barricades, violent clashes, and a high civilian death toll.<ref name="DR Congo election">"[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37406407 DR Congo election: 17 dead in anti-Kabila protests] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616023724/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-37406407 |date=16 June 2018 }}", ''BBC'', 19 September 2016.</ref><ref>Merritt Kennedy, "[https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/21/506449446/congo-a-powder-keg-as-security-forces-crack-down-on-whistling-demonstrators Congo A 'Powder Keg' As Security Forces Crack Down On Whistling Demonstrators] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153108/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/12/21/506449446/congo-a-powder-keg-as-security-forces-crack-down-on-whistling-demonstrators|date=17 May 2018}}", ''NPR'', 21 December 2016.</ref>
==Geography==
[[File:Fleuve Congo Kinshasa 8.JPG|thumb|Dawn at the banks of the Congo River in Ngaliema commune]]
=== Location === Kinshasa is strategically situated on the southern bank of the expansive Malebo Pool, which covers 9,965 square kilometers in a broad crescent shape over flat, low-lying terrain with an average elevation of about 300 meters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=PhD |first=Gutu Kia Zimi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3PMYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+Pool+Malebo+9,965&pg=PT26 |title=Growing Trees in Urban Kinshasa: Shrub Vegetation in Residential Plots in Kinshasa |date=10 January 2021 |location=Bloomington, Indiana, United States |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-6655-1262-6 |language=en |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162456/https://books.google.com/books?id=3PMYEAAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+Pool+Malebo+9,965&pg=PT26#v=onepage&q=Kinshasa%20Pool%20Malebo%209%2C965&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Iyenda |first=Guillaume |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhu8AAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Pool%20Malebo%209,965 |title=Households' Livelihoods and Survival Strategies Among Congolese Urban Poor: Alternatives to Western Approaches to Development |date=2007 |publisher=Edwin Mellen Press |isbn=978-0-7734-5269-5 |pages=69 |language=en |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162457/https://books.google.com/books?id=zhu8AAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Pool%20Malebo%209,965 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is bordered to the east by the provinces of Mai-Ndombe, Kwilu, and Kwango, to the south by Kongo Central, and to the north and west by the Congo River, which forms the natural boundary with the Republic of the Congo.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=2 May 2024 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=9–12 |language=Fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref>
The Congo River, Africa's second-longest river after the Nile, has the continent's highest discharge and serves as a critical transportation route across much of the Congo Basin, with river barges navigable between Kinshasa and Kisangani and along several tributaries. It is also a significant source of hydroelectric power, with the potential downstream of Kinshasa to generate electricity sufficient for roughly half of Africa's population.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wachter |first=Sarah J. |date=19 June 2007 |title=Giant dam projects aim to transform African power supplies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19iht-rnrghydro.1.6204822.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101175527/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/19/business/worldbusiness/19iht-rnrghydro.1.6204822.html |archive-date=1 November 2011 |access-date=15 December 2010 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
=== Relief === {{Multiple image | image1 = A view of Congo River from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).jpg | caption1 = A view of Congo River from Kinshasa | image2 = Sun Set by the Congo River-1 - Kinshasa, DRC.jpg | caption2 = Sunset by the Congo River in Kinshasa | direction = horizontal | total_width = 420 | caption_align = center }}
Topographically, Kinshasa has a marshy, alluvial plain, with altitudes ranging from 275 to 300 meters, along with hilly terrain that elevates from 310 to 370 meters.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NnQQBAAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+alluvial+plain&pg=PA147 |title=Agriculture in Urban Planning: Generating Livelihoods and Food Security |date=16 May 2012 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-136-57205-0 |editor-last=Redwood |editor-first=Mark |location=Thames, Oxfordshire United Kingdom |pages=8 |language=en |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162459/https://books.google.com/books?id=NnQQBAAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+alluvial+plain&pg=PA147#v=onepage&q=Kinshasa%20alluvial%20plain&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pVutDwAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+alluvial+plain&pg=PA32 |title=Congo Republic Energy Policy, Laws and Regulations Handbook - Strategic Information and Basic Laws |date=22 November 2017 |publisher=Global Pro Info USA |isbn=978-1-5145-1238-8 |location=Miami, Florida, United States |pages=32 |language=en |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-date=25 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162526/https://books.google.com/books?id=pVutDwAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa+alluvial+plain&pg=PA32#v=onepage&q=Kinshasa%20alluvial%20plain&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> It has four principal features: the Malebo Pool, a large water body with islands and islets; the Kinshasa Plain, a highly urbanizable area prone to drainage problems; the terrace, a series of low ridges overlooking the plain; and the hills area, marked by deep valleys and cirque-shaped formations.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" />
The Malebo Pool extends roughly 35 kilometers long and 25 kilometers wide, bordered by Ngaliema in the west and Maluku in the east, and passes through other communes including Gombe, Barumbu, Limete, Masina, and Nsele.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> The Kinshasa Plain has a banana-like shape and is surrounded by eastward-oriented hills. Comprising mainly sandy alluvial deposits, this plain covers an area of about 20,000 hectares and hosts some of the city's most densely populated and urbanized communes,<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /><ref name="Sukisa-2008" /> such as Limete, Kalamu, Bandalungwa, Ngiri-Ngiri, Kinshasa, Barumbu, and Lingwala. Despite its urban potential, the plain is highly vulnerable to seasonal flooding and waterlogging due to inadequate drainage infrastructure, with recurrent inundation occurring during the rainy season.<ref name="Sukisa-2008" />
{{Multiple image | total_width = 210 | image1 = Sun Set by the Congo River-5 - Kinshasa, DRC.jpg | caption1 = Sunset along the banks of the Congo River in Kinshasa | caption_align = center }}
The terrace is mainly situated in the city's western expanse, between N'djili and Mont-Ngafula. It comprises stony blocks of soft sandstone and silica-covered yellow clay, topped with brown silt, and ranges from 10 to 25 meters in height. It retains vestiges of an ancient surface.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> The hills area commences several kilometers from the Malebo Pool and is characterized by deep valleys and cirque-shaped formations. These hills reach heights surpassing 700 meters and exhibit gentle, rounded contours sculpted by local rivers.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> While their eastern counterparts may reflect remnants of the Batéké Plateau, their origins in the west and south remain enigmatic.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> This region forms a natural amphitheater shaped by river erosion processes, which have been exacerbated by anthropogenic activities, often resulting in significant environmental degradation.<ref name="Sukisa-2008" /> Communes located within or adjacent to these hilly areas include Mont-Ngafula, Bumbu, Selembao, Kisenso, and Ngaliema. In addition, Makala and Ngaba, although partially located within the plains, gradually ascend into the adjacent highlands.<ref name="Sukisa-2008" />
=== Hydrography === thumb|260x260px|Nsele River|left Kinshasa's hydrographic landscape is defined by an intricate and predominantly dendritic network of rivers and valleys that converge toward Pool Malebo. This fluvial system, which predominantly flows from the southern and southwestern highlands toward the north and northeast, is shaped by the region's topographical gradient and its underlying lithological structure.<ref name="Imwangana-2010">{{Cite web |last=Imwangana |first=Fils Makanzu |date=2010 |title=Etude de l'érosion ravinante à Kinshasa par télédétection et SIG (système d'information géographique) entre 1957 et 2007 |trans-title=Study of gully erosion in Kinshasa using remote sensing and GIS (Geographic Information System) between 1957 and 2007 |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/09/13/7437/Etude-de-lerosion-ravinante--Kinshasa-par-teledetection-et-SIG--systeme-dinformation-g.html |access-date=28 August 2025 |publisher=University of Liège |language=fr |publication-place=Liège, Wallonia, Belgium}}</ref> The city's current hydrological dynamics are the cumulative result of long-term tectonic shifts, sedimentary processes, and climatic variability that have defined the development of river systems over geological time scales.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
{{Multiple image | total_width = 350 | image1 = 2013-02-26 17.43.35 Ndjili.jpg | image2 = Riviere ndjili.jpg | align = right | footer = Ndjili River | footer_align = center }}
The hydrographic system is composed of two main categories of rivers: allochthonous (originating outside the city) and autochthonous (local or internal to the city). The allochthonous rivers, which include the N'djili, N'sele, and the Pool Malebo, form the city's eastern and northern boundaries.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> These rivers have their sources far beyond the city's southern hills and generally flow in a south-to-north direction. The N'djili River, in particular, is prone to recurrent seasonal flooding in its lower reaches, frequently disrupting critical infrastructure.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> In contrast, the autochthonous rivers, such as the Funa, Lukunga, Bombo, Mai-Ndombe, and Mbale, are generated from localized watersheds scattered throughout the urban area.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /><ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kitambo |first1=Benjamin |last2=Papa |first2=Fabrice |last3=Paris |first3=Adrien |last4=Tshimanga |first4=Raphael M. |last5=Calmant |first5=Stephane |last6=Fleischmann |first6=Ayan Santos |last7=Frappart |first7=Frederic |last8=Becker |first8=Melanie |last9=Tourian |first9=Mohammad J. |last10=Prigent |first10=Catherine |last11=Andriambeloson |first11=Johary |date=12 April 2022 |title=A combined use of in situ and satellite-derived observations to characterize surface hydrology and its variability in the Congo River basin |url=https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/26/1857/2022/ |url-status=live |journal=Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |language=English |volume=26 |issue=7 |pages=1857–1882 |bibcode=2022HESS...26.1857K |doi=10.5194/hess-26-1857-2022 |issn=1027-5606 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240502085852/https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/26/1857/2022/ |archive-date=2 May 2024 |access-date=2 May 2024 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Michael |first1=Mukendi Tshibangu |last2=Henri |first2=Mbale Kunzi |last3=Meti |first3=Ntumba Jean |last4=Felicien |first4=Lukoki Luyeye |date=15 May 2020 |title=Floristic Inventory of Invasive Alien Aquatic Plants Found in Malebo Pool in Congo Rivers, Kinshasa, DR. Congo (Case of MOLONDO, MIPONGO, and JAPON Islands) |url=https://journalofscience.org/index.php/GJSFR/article/view/2864 |url-status=live |journal=Global Journal of Science Frontier Research |language=en-US |volume=20 |issue=C6 |pages=31–44 |issn=2249-4626 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240502085851/https://journalofscience.org/index.php/GJSFR/article/view/2864 |archive-date=2 May 2024 |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref> These rivers often carve deeply incised valleys, especially in the elevated southern regions. The Funa River is commonly but inaccurately referred to as the Kalamu, a misnomer derived from the Teke-Humbu term for "watercourse".<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
==== Geomorphology ==== The current hydrographic network overlays an ancient system, likely dating back to the Tertiary period, which originally drained from south to north but was subsequently modified by tectonic deformation following the late Cretaceous peneplanation. These geodynamic changes reoriented some rivers east–west in the eastern parts of the Congo Basin and west–east in the west.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> Traces of this paleonetwork persist in the form of broad, flat-bottomed valleys known as ''dambos'' or ''dembos'', which emerged during the Holocene epoch. Characterized by diffuse channels and lacking pronounced riverbeds, these depressions often remain waterlogged throughout the year due to the persistent upwelling of the groundwater table.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> In recent centuries, however, increased hydrological stress, marked by heightened peak runoff, has induced the incision of more distinct channels within these formerly marshy landscapes.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> This hydrological transformation is evidenced by a marked rise in surface runoff and a reduction in infiltration retention, resulting in flashier hydrographs, more frequent flood events, and accelerated erosional processes.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> Recent studies estimate Kinshasa's runoff coefficient has increased to approximately 13%, a stark contrast to the near-zero levels before urban expansion and land-use change.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
==== Aquifers and water table ==== thumb|214x214px|A view of Congo River from KinshasaClosely connected to the surface drainage network are the city's groundwater systems, particularly the perched aquifers found in its permeable sandstone substratum.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> These aquifers, often extending beyond the limits of their corresponding surface catchments, are sustained by deep percolation facilitated by the sandy and porous characteristics of the regional soils.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> During the dry season, rivers are primarily fed by these underground aquifers, which are recharged during the rainy season. Early seasonal rains are absorbed into the soil and do not contribute to surface runoff until the retention threshold is surpassed, at which point excess water seeps downward to replenish groundwater reserves.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> The region's high soil permeability also facilitates the formation of erosion cirques, particularly on steep slopes where groundwater undercutting and concentrated surface runoff progressively destabilize hillsides, often culminating in landslides.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> These geomorphic hazards have become increasingly pronounced in the city's rapidly urbanizing fringe zones, where informal settlement expansion, deforestation, and inadequate land-use planning intensify environmental vulnerability.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
=== Soil and geology === {{Multiple image | total_width = 210 | image1 = Mont Mangengenge 12.jpg | caption1 = Mount Mangengenge is located southeast of Kinshasa | caption_align = center | align = left }}
The city's soils predominantly belong to the Arenoferrasol classification,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ca66AAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Arenoferrasol |title=Monographie de la province du Maniema |date=1998 |publisher=République démocratique du Congo, Ministères de l'agriculture et de l'élevage |location=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |pages=9 |language=fr |access-date=2 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525162500/https://books.google.com/books?id=ca66AAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Arenoferrasol |archive-date=25 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgouAAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Arenoferrasol |title=African Soils: Volumes 16-18 |publisher=Commission Scientifique, technique et de la recherche de l'Organisation de l'unité Africaine |year=1971 |location=Paris, France |pages=169 |language=en |access-date=20 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525163002/https://books.google.com/books?id=lgouAAAAIAAJ&q=Kinshasa%20Arenoferrasol |archive-date=25 May 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref> characterized by fine-textured sands with clay content typically below 20%, low organic matter, and saturated absorbent complexes.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> These soils has a strong acidity and are chemically deficient.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> Despite their limited nutrient availability, they experience regular rainfall for approximately eight to nine months annually, resulting in significant leaching and intense hydrolysis of soil minerals. This extended exposure to precipitation adversely affects soil fertility and agricultural potential.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
Geologically, Kinshasa is situated on a Precambrian basement complex, mainly composed of finely stratified red sandstone that often contains feldspar, visible at the base of the rapids near Mount Ngaliema and south of the N'djili River, where the rock shows strong resistance to erosion.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" />
The soil is shaped by these geological variations: schisto-limestone formations, along with older lithologies associated with the West-Congolian Orogeny, generate yellow, clay-rich soils that are largely sterile and exhibit low permeability proportional to their sand content, while schist-sandstone and clay-limestone substrata produce yellow to light brown clayey sands with slightly better permeability but minimal fertility.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> Fertile soils are primarily located within alluvial and colluvial deposits, where sediment accumulation enhances nutrient content and moisture retention.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
In elevated terrains and along the slopes of deeply incised valleys, hydric erosion actively reshapes the schist-sandstone relief and ancient massifs. In these areas, soils are predominantly grayish sandy or clay-sandy in texture.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> In lower-lying regions, a distinctive local material known as ''Lemba'' sand is prevalent, although certain pockets of clay-sandy soils yield improved crop outcomes.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
=== Vegetation === {{Multiple image | total_width = 400 | image1 = BOT 042.jpg | image2 = BOT 049.jpg | footer = Kinshasa Botanical Garden | footer_align = center }}
Vegetation consists of gallery forests, savannas, and semi-aquatic to aquatic plant communities, particularly within the valleys surrounding the Pool Malebo.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> The hilly zones of the region were originally dominated by grassland species, notably ''Loudetia demeusei'' and ''Schizachyrium semiberbe'', which are characteristic tufted hemicryptophytes.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> However, the natural vegetation has undergone substantial transformation due to anthropogenic influences, most notably urban sprawl. As the city expanded, inhabitants introduced a range of fruit-bearing trees and ornamental plants, often cultivated as living hedges.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
The gallery forests, typically aligned along principal watercourses and occupying humid valleys associated with the Guineo-Congolese ombrophile-type, have experienced progressive degradation.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> These once-continuous forest belts have been reduced to fragmented pre-forest fallows, consisting of secondary growths of varying maturity and structure.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015b" /> Historical vegetation mapping reveals that Kinshasa's forest cover declined significantly over the latter half of the 20th century: from 46% in 1960 to 36% in 1982, and plummeting further to just 15% by 1987.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> In parallel, the coverage of forest–savanna mosaics and terrestrial grassland formations expanded, rising from 48% in 1960 to 56% in 1982, and reaching 64% by 1987.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" /> In contrast, areas dominated by aquatic and swamp vegetation remained relatively stable throughout this period.<ref name="Imwangana-2010" />
=== Residential and commercial areas === Kinshasa is a city of sharp contrasts, with affluent residential and commercial areas and three universities alongside sprawling slums.<ref name="Flouriot2013">Jean Flouriot, "[https://com.revues.org/6770 Kinshasa 2005. Trente ans après la publication de l'Atlas de Kinshasa] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917080851/https://com.revues.org/6770 |date=17 September 2017 }}", ''Les Cahiers d'Outre-Mer'' 261, January–March 2013; doi:10.4000/com.6770.</ref> The older and wealthier part of the city (''ville basse'') is located on a flat area of alluvial sand and clay near the river, while many newer areas are found on the eroding red soil of surrounding hills.<ref name="Kayembe2009">Matthieu Kayembe Wa Kayembe, Mathieu De Maeyer et Eléonore Wolff, "[https://belgeo.revues.org/7349 Cartographie de la croissance urbaine de Kinshasa (R.D. Congo) entre 1995 et 2005 par télédétection satellitaire à haute résolution] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917080911/https://belgeo.revues.org/7349|date=17 September 2017}}", ''Belgeo'' 3–4, 2009; doi:10.4000/belgeo.7349.</ref><ref name="Trapido2016">Joe Trapido, "[https://newleftreview.org/II/98/joe-trapido-kinshasa-s-theatre-of-power Kinshasa's Theater of Power] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917080840/https://newleftreview.org/II/98/joe-trapido-kinshasa-s-theatre-of-power |date=17 September 2017 }}", ''New Left Review'' 98, March/April 2016.</ref> Older parts of the city were laid out on a geometric pattern, with ''de facto'' racial segregation becoming ''de jure'' in 1929 as the European and African neighborhoods grew closer together. City plans of the 1920s–1950s featured a ''cordon sanitaire'' or buffer between the white and black neighborhoods, which included the central market as well as parks and gardens for Europeans.<ref name="BeeckmansBigon2016">Luce Beeckmans & Liora Bigon, "The making of the central markets of Dakar and Kinshasa: from colonial origins to the post-colonial period"; ''Urban History'' 43(3), 2016; doi:10.1017/S0963926815000188.</ref>
Urban planning in post-independence Kinshasa has been limited. The {{Lang|fr|Mission Française d'Urbanisme}} drew up some plans in the 1960s which envisioned a greater role for automobile transportation but did not predict the city's significant population growth. Thus much of the urban structure has developed without guidance from a master plan. According to UN-Habitat, the city is expanding by eight square kilometers per year. It describes many of the new neighborhoods as slums, built in unsafe conditions with inadequate infrastructure.<ref name=ChirisaEtAl2017 /> Nevertheless, spontaneously developed areas have in many cases extended the grid street plan of the original city.<ref name=Flouriot2013 />
===Administrative divisions=== {{Main|Communes of Kinshasa}}
{{See also|Subdivisions of the DR Congo#Territorial organization}} thumb|A map of Kinshasa presenting its Communes
Kinshasa is both a city (''ville'' in French) and a province, one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Nevertheless, it has city subdivisions and is divided into 24 communes (municipalities), which in turn are divided into 369 quarters and 21 embedded groupings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Commission Électorale Nationale Indépendante |author-link=Independent National Electoral Commission (Democratic Republic of the Congo) |title=La Cartographie Electorale des 26 Provinces—Kinshasa |url=https://www.ceni.cd/cartographie-electorale/provinces/kinshasa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181028000421/http://www.ceni.cd/cartographie-electorale/provinces/kinshasa |archive-date=28 October 2018 |access-date=18 April 2020 |website=www.ceni.cd |language=fr}}</ref> Maluku, the rural commune to the east of the urban area, accounts for 79% of the {{cvt|9,965|km2}} total land area of the city-province,<ref name="area" /> with a population of 200,000–300,000.<ref name=Flouriot2013 /> The communes are grouped into four districts which are not in themselves administrative divisions.
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}} * Funa District ** Bandalungwa ** Bumbu ** Kalamu ** Kasa-Vubu ** Makala ** Ngiri-Ngiri ** Selembao * Lukunga District ** Barumbu ** Gombe ** Kinshasa ** Kintambo ** Lingwala ** Mont Ngafula ** Ngaliema * Mont Amba District ** Kisenso ** Lemba ** Limete ** Matete ** Ngaba * Tshangu District ** Kimbanseke ** Maluku ** Masina ** Ndjili (N'Djili) ** Nsele (N'Sele) {{Div col end}}
{{Kinshasa communes}}
===Climate=== Under the Köppen climate classification, Kinshasa has a tropical wet and dry climate (''Aw''). Its lengthy rainy season spans from October through May, with a relatively short dry season, between June and September. Kinshasa lies south of the equator, so its dry season begins around its winter solstice, which is in June. This is in contrast to African cities further north featuring this climate where the dry season typically begins around December. Kinshasa's dry season is slightly cooler than its wet season, though temperatures remain relatively constant throughout the year.
{{Weather box |location = Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo |metric first = yes |single line = yes
|Jan record high C = 36 |Feb record high C = 36 |Mar record high C = 38 |Apr record high C = 37 |May record high C = 37 |Jun record high C = 37 |Jul record high C = 32 |Aug record high C = 33 |Sep record high C = 35 |Oct record high C = 35 |Nov record high C = 37 |Dec record high C = 34
|Jan high C = 30.6 |Feb high C = 31.3 |Mar high C = 32.0 |Apr high C = 32.0 |May high C = 31.1 |Jun high C = 28.8 |Jul high C = 27.3 |Aug high C = 28.9 |Sep high C = 30.6 |Oct high C = 31.1 |Nov high C = 30.6 |Dec high C = 30.1 |year high C = 30.4
|Jan mean C = 25.9 |Feb mean C = 26.4 |Mar mean C = 26.8 |Apr mean C = 26.9 |May mean C = 26.3 |Jun mean C = 24.0 |Jul mean C = 22.5 |Aug mean C = 23.7 |Sep mean C = 25.4 |Oct mean C = 26.2 |Nov mean C = 26.0 |Dec mean C = 25.6 |year mean C = 25.5
|Jan low C = 21.2 |Feb low C = 21.6 |Mar low C = 21.6 |Apr low C = 21.8 |May low C = 21.6 |Jun low C = 19.3 |Jul low C = 17.7 |Aug low C = 18.5 |Sep low C = 20.2 |Oct low C = 21.3 |Nov low C = 21.5 |Dec low C = 21.2 |year low C = 20.6
|Jan record low C = 18 |Feb record low C = 20 |Mar record low C = 18 |Apr record low C = 20 |May record low C = 18 |Jun record low C = 15 |Jul record low C = 10 |Aug record low C = 12 |Sep record low C = 16 |Oct record low C = 17 |Nov record low C = 18 |Dec record low C = 16
|precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 163 |Feb precipitation mm = 165 |Mar precipitation mm = 221 |Apr precipitation mm = 238 |May precipitation mm = 142 |Jun precipitation mm = 9 |Jul precipitation mm = 5 |Aug precipitation mm = 2 |Sep precipitation mm = 49 |Oct precipitation mm = 98 |Nov precipitation mm = 247 |Dec precipitation mm = 143
|Jan precipitation days = 12 |Feb precipitation days = 12 |Mar precipitation days = 14 |Apr precipitation days = 17 |May precipitation days = 12 |Jun precipitation days = 1 |Jul precipitation days = 0 |Aug precipitation days = 1 |Sep precipitation days = 6 |Oct precipitation days = 10 |Nov precipitation days = 16 |Dec precipitation days = 14
|Jan humidity = 83 |Feb humidity = 82 |Mar humidity = 81 |Apr humidity = 82 |May humidity = 82 |Jun humidity = 81 |Jul humidity = 79 |Aug humidity = 74 |Sep humidity = 74 |Oct humidity = 79 |Nov humidity = 83 |Dec humidity = 83
|Jan sun = 136 |Feb sun = 141 |Mar sun = 164 |Apr sun = 153 |May sun = 164 |Jun sun = 144 |Jul sun = 133 |Aug sun = 155 |Sep sun = 138 |Oct sun = 149 |Nov sun = 135 |Dec sun = 127 |source 1 = Climate-Data.org (temperature)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Climate: Kinshasa |url=http://en.climate-data.org/location/408/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509221132/http://en.climate-data.org/location/408/ |archive-date=9 May 2016 |access-date=7 June 2016 |publisher=AmbiWeb GmbH}}</ref> Weatherbase (extremes)<ref name="Kinshasa-Kinshasa-Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo">{{Cite web |title=KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO |url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=1246&cityname=Kinshasa-Kinshasa-Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807212430/http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=1246&cityname=Kinshasa-Kinshasa-Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo |archive-date=7 August 2016 |access-date=7 June 2016 |publisher=Weatherbase}}</ref> |source 2 = Danish Meteorological Institute (precipitation, sun, and humidity)<ref>{{Cite web |title=STATIONSNUMMER 64210 |url=http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/tr01-17.pdf |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116071752/http://www.dmi.dk/dmi/tr01-17.pdf |archive-date=16 January 2013 |access-date=7 June 2016 |publisher=Danish Meteorological Institute}}</ref> }}
=== Parks and gardens === Kinshasa is home to a diverse range of parks and gardens: [[File:Nsele Valley Park, Kinshasa, DR Congo.jpg|thumb|Nsele Valley Park, Kinshasa, October 2021]]
* Nsele Valley Park is the largest urban park in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LE PARC – Parc de la Vallée de la N'sele |url=https://parcdelavalleedelansele.com/le-parc/ |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=parcdelavalleedelansele.com |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607155036/https://parcdelavalleedelansele.com/le-parc/ |url-status=live }}</ref> * Parc Présidentiel, situated along the Congo River, is a park that offers ponds, pools, and fountains, while the Théâtre de Verdure serve as venues for cultural performances. * Jardin Zoologique houses a variety of mammals, reptiles, and birds. * Jardin Botanique de Kinshasa is a botanical garden that houses various plants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Abanda |first=Samuel |date=2020 |title=Tfc: inventaire dendrométrique et floristique des arbres du jardin botanique de Kinshasa |trans-title=Tfc: dendrometric and floristic inventory of trees in the Kinshasa Botanical Garden |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/02/22/12699/m_Tfc-inventaire-dendrometrique-et-floristique-des-arbres-du-jardin-botanique-de-Kinshasa3.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703005447/https://www.memoireonline.com/02/22/12699/m_Tfc-inventaire-dendrometrique-et-floristique-des-arbres-du-jardin-botanique-de-Kinshasa3.html |archive-date=3 July 2023 |access-date=3 July 2023 |publisher=University of Kinshasa |language=fr |publication-place=Lemba, Kinshasa}}</ref> * Lola ya Bonobo is the world's only sanctuary for orphaned bonobos.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Friends of Bonobos {{!}} We save bonobos and their Congo rainforest home |url=https://www.bonobos.org/ |access-date=3 July 2023 |website=Bonobos |language=en |archive-date=5 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605183535/https://www.bonobos.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Demographics== === Population === {{Multiple image | total_width = 230 | image1 = Kinshasa by night.jpg | caption1 = Night view of Kinshasa along Boulevard du 30 Juin | caption_align = center }}
Kinshasa is the most populous city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with its metropolitan area estimated at around 18,552,800 people as of January 2026,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kinshasa Population January 2026|url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/dr-congo/kinshasa|access-date=24 June 2025|website=Worldpopulationreview.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=18 April 2025 |title=Le Congo à la recherche de partenaires belges pour un ambitieux projet d'extension de Kinshasa |trans-title=Congo seeks Belgian partners for ambitious Kinshasa expansion project |url=https://www.lesoir.be/670019/article/2025-04-18/le-congo-la-recherche-de-partenaires-belges-pour-un-ambitieux-projet-dextension |access-date=24 June 2025 |website=Le Soir |language=fr |publication-place=Brussels, Belgium}}</ref> making it the nation's most densely populated city, Africa's third-largest metropolitan area, and the fourth-most populous capital in the world.
The city has experienced rapid demographic growth since the early 1900s, driven by migration from rural areas, natural population increase, and political instability. Its population grew from 5,000 in 1889 to 10,000 in 1910 and 39,530 in 1930, with an annual rise of roughly 4,700 people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Encyclopædia Universalis |title=Kinshasa: La population et les activités |trans-title=Kinshasa: Population and activities |url=https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/kinshasa/3-la-population-et-les-activites/ |access-date=24 June 2025 |website=Encyclopædia Universalis |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref name="Kinyamba-2015c">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=4 August 2023 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=37 |language=French |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref> Between 1935 and 1945, the growth rate rose from 1.1% to 1.5% annually due to wartime economic mobilization,<ref name="Kinyamba-2015c" /> and the 1940s saw the population expand from 50,000 to more than 200,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Stewart |first=Gary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gKEHO1z413EC&q=Belgium%20and%20the%20Congo%20once%20again%20unimpeded,%20a%20Belgian%20entrepreneur%20named%20Fernand%20Janssens%20had%20come%20to%20L%C3%A9opoldville%20with%20a%20portable,%20direct-to-disc%20recording%20machine. |title=Rumba on the River: A History of the Popular Music of the Two Congos |date=17 November 2003 |publisher=Verso |isbn=978-1-85984-368-0 |pages=29–30}}</ref> By the time Congo gained independence in 1960, Kinshasa covered 5,500 hectares and had 400,000 residents. Subsequent decades saw increased urban migration, conflict-related displacements, and a 3.8% annual growth rate, bringing the population to 2.6 million in 1984,<ref name="Bukasa-2015">{{Cite web |last=Bukasa |first=Ismael |date=2015 |title=Entrepreneuriat et la lutte contre la pauvreté en république démocratique du Congo |trans-title=Entrepreneurship and the fight against poverty in the Democratic Republic of Congo |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/01/19/10556/m_Entrepreneuriat-et-la-lutte-contre-la-pauvrete-en-republique-democratique-du-Congo13.html |access-date=24 June 2025 |publisher=Université International Al-Mustafa |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref name="Bédécarrats2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Bédécarrats |first1=Florent |last2=Lafuente-Sampietro |first2=Oriane |last3=Leménager |first3=Martin |last4=Lukono Sowa |first4=Dominique |year=2019 |title=Building commons to cope with chaotic urbanization? Performance and sustainability of decentralized water services in the outskirts of Kinshasa |journal=Journal of Hydrology |volume=573 |pages=1096–1108 |doi=10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.07.023 |doi-access=free}}</ref> 5.3–7.3 million in 2005,<ref name="Flouriot2013" /> and nearly 12 million by 2015.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015c" /> {| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:650px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;" |+ style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em" |2015 demography | style="width:37%; text-align:center; background:#ccf;" |'''Communes''' | style="width:21%; text-align:center; background:#ccf;" |'''Land area''' '''(in km<sup>2</sup>)<ref name="Kinyamba-2015g">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=4 August 2023 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=40–41 |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref>''' | style="width:21%; text-align:center; background:#ccf;" |'''Population<ref name="Kinyamba-2015g" />''' | style="width:30%; text-align:center; background:#ccf;" |'''Density''' '''(inh. per km<sup>2</sup>)<ref name="Kinyamba-2015g" />''' |- style="text-align:center;" |Kimbanseke |237.8 |2,631,205 |11,066 |- style="text-align:center;" |Ngaliema |224.3 |2,025,942 |9,032 |- style="text-align:center;" |Masina |69.7 |1,571,124 |22,532 |- style="text-align:center;" |Ndjili |11.4 |1,157,619 |106,721 |- style="text-align:center;" |Kisenso |16.6 |1,157,619 |69,736 |- style="text-align:center;" |Lemba |23.7 |1,120,992 |47,299 |- style="text-align:center;" |Selembao |23.2 |1,038,819 |44,815 |- style="text-align:center;" |Limete |67.6 |1,330,874 |15,294 |- style="text-align:center;" |Kalamu |6.6 |974,669 |146,787 |- style="text-align:center;" |Bumbu |5.3 |905,943 |170,933 |- style="text-align:center;" |Matete |4.9 |854,908 |175,186 |- style="text-align:center;" |Mont Ngafula |358.9 |718,197 |2,001 |- style="text-align:center;" |Makala |5.6 |698,495 |124,731 |- style="text-align:center;" |Bandalungwa |6.8 |934,821 |93,082 |- style="text-align:center;" |Ngaba |4 |539,135 |134,784 |- style="text-align:center;" |Maluku |7.948 |494,332 |62 |- style="text-align: center;" |Ngiri-Ngiri |3.4 |481,110 |141,503 |- style="text-align: center;" |Kinshasa |2.9 |453,632 |158,060 |- style="text-align: center;" |Kasa-Vubu |5 |437,824 |86,870 |- style="text-align: center;" |Barumbu |4.7 |413,628 |87,633 |- style="text-align: center;" |Nsele |898.8 |387,790 |431 |- style="text-align: center;" |Kintambo |2.7 |340,260 |125,096 |- style="text-align: center;" |Lingwala |2.9 |277,831 |96,469 |- style="text-align: center;" |Gombe |29.3 |89,080 |3,037 |- style="text-align:center;" |'''Metropolitan''' '''Kinshasa''' |'''9.965''' |'''12,000,066''' |'''1,200''' |} According to United Nations Human Settlements Programme, the city receives an average of 390,000 new migrants annually, with many fleeing conflict or economic hardship.<ref name="Iazzolino2016">Gianluca Iazzolino, "[http://mgafrica.com/article/2016-03-29-kinshasa-the-dysfunctional-megapolis-of-12-million-souls Kinshasa, megalopolis of 12 million souls, expanding furiously on super-charged growth] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709174042/http://mgafrica.com/article/2016-03-29-kinshasa-the-dysfunctional-megapolis-of-12-million-souls |date=9 July 2017 }}"; ''Mail & Guardian Africa'', 2 April 2016.</ref> Projections anticipate that Kinshasa's metropolitan population will reach 35 million by 2050, 58 million by 2075, and 83 million by 2100, making it one of the largest projected urban areas on the planet.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hoornweg |first1=Daniel |last2=Pope |first2=Kevin |year=2017 |title=Population predictions for the world's largest cities in the 21st century |journal=Environment and Urbanization |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=195–216 |doi=10.1177/0956247816663557 |bibcode=2017EnUrb..29..195H |doi-access=free}}</ref>
==== Ethnic groups and migration ==== The original inhabitants of Kinshasa included the Humbu, Teke, and Bamfununga, alongside the Yaka and Banunu Bobangi from Kongo Central and the river-trading Bayanzi. When Henry Morton Stanley arrived at the Pool Malebo, these groups formed the majority of the population, but as the area's influence grew, additional Congolese and African groups, including the Lari from the Republic of the Congo and the Zombo from Angola, were drawn in, often by commercial opportunities.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba|first1=S. Shomba|last2=Nsenda|first2=F. Mukoka|last3=Nonga|first3=D. Olela|last4=Kaminar|first4=T.M.|last5=Mbalanda|first5=W.|date=2015|title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa|url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf|archive-date=27 March 2023|access-date=4 August 2023|publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES)|pages=31–36|language=Fr|publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref> These newcomers settled on Humbu lands, where they established small villages such as Mikwa, Ngabwa, Ndolo, and Mfumo, some of which later developed into larger settlements. The Teke, who were "neither very mercantile nor warlike", were welcomed by the Humbu for protection against neighboring populations.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> Disputes arose, however, when chief Ngaliema ceded Humbu land to Stanley without consulting its traditional owners, which, according to scholars Sylvain Shomba Kinyamba, François Mukoka Nsenda, Donatien Olela Nonga, T.M. Kaminar, and W. Mbalanda, demonstrates that the Teke were not landowners in the same way as the Humbu and the Bamfunuga.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> The establishment of Pool Malebo and the subsequent growth of Kinshasa drew Congolese from various regions, as well as West Africans, Europeans, and Asians, who all sought employment as Kinshasa developed.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" />
The city's internal migration began during the colonial era and intensified after independence in 1960. Waves of Congolese from various provinces moved to Kinshasa in search of economic opportunity, political stability, and access to education and services.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> During the colonial era, significant migrations happened along two main routes: the river route for populations from the north and center of the Congo River, and the road route through Bandundu and Kongo Central. This movement intensified after independence and peaked during the political transition of the 1990s and the First and Second Congo Wars in the east, which transformed Kinshasa into a refuge for displaced populations from across the country.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" />
{{Multiple image | total_width = 150 | image1 = Cutie pies..at Kinshasa Congo.jpg | caption1 = A woman dressed in a traditional African dress with a bright pink headscarf beside her young daughter wearing a maroon hijab and a patterned skirt in Kinshasa | caption_align = center }}
Beyond domestic migrations, Kinshasa has historically attracted transnational populations, including the Lari, who settled on fertile, vacant land and were the first to introduce various vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers. The ''Coastmen'', or ''Ndingari'', a term that refers to West African migrants from present-day Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Benin, Guinea, and Togo.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> Predominantly Muslim, they were primarily employed in public works, education, commerce, and other trades. They also influenced local culture by introducing polygamy and wax-printed fabrics (''pagnes'' wax).<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> Among the most demographically and culturally prominent expatriate communities are the Zombo, originally from Maquela do Zombo in Angola's Uíge Province. As the most populous foreign African demographic in Kinshasa, they initially migrated as traders and laborers and, from the 1950s onward, were extensively conscripted to work at the port of CITAS, where they primarily handled and transported colonial commodities such as palm derivatives, copal resin, cotton, and ivory.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" />
The Zombo became known for their physical endurance and work ethic, making them ideal laborers in the eyes of colonial authorities. Outside the workplace, they introduced door-to-door trade in indigenous ''quartiers'', selling rice, doughnuts, and beans, a practice that later evolved into mobile street vending with handmade carts (''pousse-pousse'').<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> Their numbers escalated markedly during World War II, spurred by economic incentives in the Belgian Congo and by repressive governance in Angola under António de Oliveira Salazar. The authoritarian policies of the ''Estado Novo'' regime, particularly the brutal enforcement tactics of the PIDE, pushed many Angolans to seek refuge in Kinshasa.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> Belgian colonial authorities, constrained by porous borders and entrenched kinship networks among the Bakongo across both nations, were largely ineffectual in stemming this border-crossing migration.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> In contrast to other diasporic groups, the Zombo showed a strong tendency toward integration and avoided repatriation while raising successive generations in Kinshasa, where they became culturally and linguistically assimilated. Zombo youths were often enlisted in the ''Force Publique'', while their elders became known for their frugality, temperance, and entrepreneurial self-sufficiency.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" /> Over time, many transitioned into artisanal vocations and small-scale manufacturing, and introduced handcrafted women's footwear fashioned from repurposed automobile tires.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015d" />
Long-established communities such as the Lebanese, Greeks, Indians, and Pakistanis have remained active.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Promouvoir les atouts touristiques de la ville de Kinshasa à l'ère des terminaux mobiles|url=https://www.memoireonline.com/11/19/11299/Promouvoir-les-atouts-touristiques-de-la-ville-de-Kinshasa--l-ere-des-terminaux-mobiles.html|access-date=31 January 2026|date=2015|last=Ilunga|first=Aristarque|trans-title=Promoting the tourist attractions of the city of Kinshasa in the era of mobile devices|publisher=University of Picardy Jules Verne|language=fr}}</ref>
===Language=== The official language is French (See: Kinshasa French vocabulary). Kinshasa is the largest officially Francophone city in the world, though many residents struggle to speak it.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 March 2016 |title=Populations of 150 Largest Cities in the World |url=http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828095658/http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm |archive-date=28 August 2017 |access-date=1 August 2016 |website=World Atlas}}</ref><ref name="Nadeau">{{Cite book |last=Nadeau |first=Jean-Benoit |title=The Story of French |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780312341831 |page=301; 483}}</ref><ref name="Trefon">{{Cite book |last=Trefon |first=Theodore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5VAAHi93y0sC&q=Kinshasa+second+largest+French+city&pg=PA7 |title=Reinventing Order in the Congo: How People Respond to State Failure in Kinshasa |publisher=Zed Books |year=2004 |isbn=9781842774915 |location=London and New York |page=7 |access-date=31 May 2009 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230062746/https://books.google.com/books?id=5VAAHi93y0sC&q=Kinshasa+second+largest+French+city&pg=PA7#v=snippet&q=Kinshasa%20second%20largest%20French%20city&f=false |url-status=live }} A third factor is simply a demographic one. At least one in ten Congolese live in Kinshasa. With its population exceeding eleven million, it is the second-largest city in sub-Saharan Africa (after Lagos). It is also the second-largest French-speaking city in the world, according to Paris (even though only a small percentage of Kinois speak French correctly),</ref> The city was the host of the 14th Francophonie Summit in October 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title=XIVe Sommet de la Francophonie|url=http://www.francophonie.org/XIVe-Sommet-de-la-Francophonie,36849.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619065536/http://www.francophonie.org/XIVe-Sommet-de-la-Francophonie,36849.html|archive-date=19 June 2012|access-date=25 June 2012|publisher=OIF}}</ref> Four national languages, such as Lingala, Tshiluba, Kikongo, and Swahili, are also spoken, along with several vernacular languages.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="Manning">{{Cite book |last=Manning |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwzFF2FnbzMC&q=Kinshasa+second+largest+francophone+city&pg=PA189 |title=Francophone sub-Saharan Africa: Democracy and Dependence, 1985–1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=9780521645195 |location=London and New York |page=189 |access-date=31 May 2009}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
While the culture is dominated by the Francophonie, a complex multilingualism is present in Kinshasa. Many in the francophonie of the 1980s labelled Zaïre as the second-largest francophone country, and Kinshasa as the second-largest francophone city. Yet Zaïre seemed unlikely to escape a complex multilingualism. Lingala was the language of music, of presidential addresses, of daily life in government and in Kinshasa. But if Lingala was the spoken language of Kinshasa, it made little progress as a written language. French was the written language of the city, as seen in street signs, posters, newspapers and in government documents. French dominated plays and television as well as the press; French was the language of the national anthem and even for the doctrine of authenticity. Zairian researchers found French to be used in vertical relationships among people of uneven rank; people of equal rank, no matter how high, tended to speak Zairian languages among themselves. Given these limits, French might have lost its place to another of the leading languages of Zaïre – Lingala, Tshiluba, or Swahili – except that teaching of these languages also suffered from limitations on its growth.</ref>
== Government and politics == [[File:Kinshasa, tour de l'échangeur de Limete - 20090705.jpg|thumb|Statue of Lumumba, and behind it the Limete Tower|229x229px]]
=== Administrative history === Founded on 1 August 1881, as Léopold II's Station, Kinshasa has maintained a distinct administrative status over time, eventually becoming the administrative center for the Stanley Pool District, Haute-N'sele, and Panzi-Kasaï.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=4 August 2023 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=43–46 |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref> A Royal Decree promulgated on 11 April 1914 instituted a territorial reform in the Belgian Congo, reaffirming Kinshasa's dual role as the colonial capital and the central administrative seat for the districts of Bas-Congo, Kwango, Kasaï, Sankuru, and Léopoldville.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> In 1941, Legislative Ordinance No. 293/AIMO of 25 June granted Kinshasa official city status and established an Urban Committee. Following Congolese independence, the colonial charter was replaced by the Fundamental Law of 19 May 1960, which designated Kinshasa as a neutral city and the political seat of national institutions.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> This legal evolution culminated in Ordinance No. 68/024 of 20 January 1968, which granted Kinshasa the same politico-administrative status comparable to that of the provinces, thus expanding its communal subdivisions from 11 to 24. The advent of the Third Republic, as codified in the 2006 Constitution, officially institutionalized Kinshasa as a fully-fledged province.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" />
=== Government === {{See also|Provincial Assembly of Kinshasa|List of governors of Kinshasa}}
Pursuant to Article 2 of Law No. 08/012 of 31 July 2008, a province is defined as a political and administrative component of the national territory endowed with legal personality and managerial autonomy over its human, economic, financial, and technical resources.<ref name="Leganet.cd-2008a">{{Cite web |date=31 July 2008 |title=31 juillet 2008- Loi n°08/012 portant principes fondamentaux relatifs à la libre administration des provinces |trans-title=31 July 2008 - Law No. 08/012 on fundamental principles relating to the free administration of the provinces, col. 1. |url=https://leganet.cd/Legislation/Droit%20Public/Administration.ter/LOI.31.07.2008.provinces.htm |access-date=8 July 2025 |website=Leganet.cd |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> Kinshasa exercises its constitutional mandates through two principal organs: the Provincial Assembly and the Provincial Government.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> The Provincial Assembly serves as the city's legislative body.<ref name="Leganet.cd-2008a" /><ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> Comprising 48 deputies elected by universal suffrage, the Assembly is administratively structured with a Bureau composed of a President, Vice-President, Questeur, Rapporteur, and Deputy Rapporteur.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" />
The provincial executive branch is constituted by the Governor, the Vice-Governor, and a cabinet of provincial ministers.<ref name="Leganet.cd-2008a" /><ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> The Provincial Director, serving as the Governor's principal administrative advisor, oversees the coordination of fifty departmental directorates and inspectorates.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> These entities function as provincial extensions of national ministries, entrusted with the territorial execution of state policies and regulatory directives.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" />
==== Communes and neighborhood ==== The 24 communes are recognized as administrative subdivisions of the city, each further divided into smaller entities known as ''quartiers'' (neighborhoods). As decentralized territorial entities ({{Lang|fr|entités territoriales décentralisées}}, ETD), the communes have legal personality and administrative autonomy, and operates through two main governing bodies: the {{Lang|fr|Conseil Communal}} (Communal Council) and the {{Lang|fr|Collège Exécutif Communal}} (Communal Executive College).<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba|first1=S. Shomba|last2=Nsenda|first2=F. Mukoka|last3=Nonga|first3=D. Olela|last4=Kaminar|first4=T.M.|last5=Mbalanda|first5=W. .|date=2015|title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa|url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf|archive-date=27 March 2023|access-date=4 August 2023|publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES)|pages=48–50|language=fr|publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref>
* The {{Lang|fr|Conseil Communal}} serves as the commune's deliberative body. Its members, known as ''Conseillers Communaux'', are elected by direct universal suffrage. The council deliberates on all matters of communal interest, including those of an economic, social, cultural, or technical nature. It also elects the ''Bourgmestre'' (Mayor) and Deputy Mayor through indirect suffrage and oversees the implementation of the executive's program of action.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" /> * The {{Lang|fr|Collège Exécutif Communal}} is responsible for the management of the commune and the implementation of decisions made by the Communal Council. It comprises the ''Bourgmestre'', Deputy ''Bourgmestre'', and two communal aldermen ({{Lang|fr|échevins communaux}}), all appointed based on merit, credibility, and community representation. This executive body coordinates all tasks of communal interest and is led by the Bourgmestre, assisted by the Deputy.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" /> {{Multiple image | total_width = 190 | image1 = Les urnes pour les élections présidentielles et provinciales (6325399545).jpg | caption1 = Two women carrying a transparent ballot box marked with the logo of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) at the Palais du Peuple | caption_align = center }}
Every commune is managed by a ''Bourgmestre'' and their Deputy, and each is provisioned with public services such as civil registry ({{Lang|fr|État civil}}), sanitation, and general population services. These are supported by technical services representing central ministries, made available to municipal authorities to enable the exercise of devolved functions.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" /> These technical services include urban planning and development, rural infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries and livestock, public health, education, environmental protection, alternative energy, finance, budget, demographic statistics, and more.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" /> Additionally, specialized branches such as the Agence Nationale de Renseignements (ANR), the Direction Générale de Migration (DGM), and the Commissariat Communal of the Congolese National Police maintain a presence at the communal level.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" />
Neighborhoods (''quartiers'') function as subunits of the communes. As of 2015, the 24 communes of Kinshasa are divided into approximately 310 neighborhoods. These ''quartiers'' vary in structure depending on whether they fall within formally planned urban zones or more informally developed areas.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" /> Popular semi-urban neighborhoods often exceed the size of planned residential districts and represent the core of the city's urban makeup. Each neighborhood is administered through a simplified structure that includes the ''chef de quartier'' (neighborhood chief), the {{Lang|fr|chef de quartier adjoint}} (deputy), the {{Lang|fr|secrétaire du quartier}} (secretary), the {{Lang|fr|chargé de la population}} (population officer), and two to three agents ''recenseurs'' (enumerators).<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" /> These officials are appointed by the Governor of Kinshasa and assigned to their respective territories.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" /> In highly populated semi-urban neighborhoods, administrative overload is common due to insufficient infrastructure for public health, urban roads, potable water, and electricity, resources that remain concentrated in lower-density, affluent residential areas.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015i" />
=== Politics === As of 2015, the Mouvement de Libération du Congo (MLC) held legislative predominance; however, the provincial elections of 20 December 2023 resulted in a power shift in favor of the presidential coalition, the Union Sacrée de la Nation (USN), led by President Félix Tshisekedi's Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social (UDPS), which secured 14 seats.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> Daniel Bumba assumed the governorship on 21 June 2024.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 June 2024 |title=Kinshasa: Daniel Bumba a pris officiellement les commandes de la ville |trans-title=Kinshasa: Daniel Bumba officially takes command of the city |url=https://actualite.cd/2024/06/21/kinshasa-daniel-bumba-pris-officiellement-les-commandes-de-la-ville |access-date=21 June 2024 |work=Actualite.cd |language=fr}}</ref> Kinshasa wields sovereign powers, encompassing the authority to issue passports and to act on behalf of the country in international forums.<ref name="Trapido2016" /> The city also hosts the headquarters of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), formerly known as MONUC.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Nagel |first1=Robert Ulrich |last2=Fin |first2=Kate |last3=Maenza |first3=Julia |date=May 2021 |title=United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) |url=https://giwps.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/MONUSCO-Case-Study.pdf |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Giwps.georgetown.edu |publisher=Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security |page=6}}</ref> In 2016, the United Nations bolstered its peacekeeping presence in Kinshasa in response to civil unrest related to President Joseph Kabila's controversial extension of power.<ref>"[https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/UN-beefs-up-peacekeeping-force-in-DR-Congo-capital/2558-3422076-f1xlb8/index.html UN beefs up peacekeeping force in DR Congo capital] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013105417/https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/UN-beefs-up-peacekeeping-force-in-DR-Congo-capital/2558-3422076-f1xlb8/index.html |date=13 October 2017 }}", ''East African'' / AFP, 19 October 2016.</ref>
In addition to state institutions, international and non-governmental organizations exert significant influence on local development and governance.<ref>Inge Wagemakers, Oracle Makangu Diki, & Tom De Herdt, "[http://www.ua.ac.be/objs/00280289.pdf Lutte Foncière dans la Ville: Gouvernance de la terre agricole urbaine à Kinshasa] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918104109/http://www.ua.ac.be/objs/00280289.pdf |date=18 September 2017 }}"; ''L'Afrique des grands lacs: Annuaire 2009–2010''.</ref> The Belgian development agency, Enabel, has been a key actor since 2016 through its sponsorship of the Programme d'Appui aux Initiatives de Développement Communautaire (PAIDECO), a €6 million initiative aimed at stimulating economic development in the region. The initial implementation took place in Kimbanseke, a densely populated hill commune with an estimated population of nearly one million.<ref>Inge Wagemakers & Jean-Nicholas BCH, "[http://www.cairn.info/revue-politique-africaine-2013-1-page-113.htm Les Défis de l'Intervention: Programme d'aide internationale et dynamiques de gouvernance locale dans le Kinshasa périurbain] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518200011/https://www.cairn.info/revue-politique-africaine-2013-1-page-113.htm |date=18 May 2018 }}"; ''Politique africaine'' 2013/1 no. 129; doi:10.3917/polaf.129.0113.</ref> In a strategic effort to address urban overcrowding and stimulate regional development, the provincial government established the {{Lang|fr|Comité Stratégique pour la Supervision du Projet d'Extension de la Ville de Kinshasa}} (CSSPEVK) in October 2023. The committee, under the leadership of a provincial coordinator, was tasked with overseeing the "Kinshasa Kia Mona" urban expansion project in the Maluku district.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 October 2023 |title=Décret n° 23/35 du 10 octobre 2023 portant création, organisation et fonctionnement du Comité Stratégique pour la Supervision du Projet d'extension de la Ville de Kinshasa, "CSSPEVK" en sigle |trans-title=Decree No. 23/35 of 10 October 2023 establishing the creation, organization and operation of the Strategic Committee for the Supervision of the Kinshasa City Extension Project, "CSSPEVK" in acronym |url=https://leganews.pro/articles/018c1799-6d32-7ea3-9e86-b9c08cc45490 |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Leganews.pro |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=10 July 2024 |title=DRC: Kinshasa woos US private sector as it plans to enlarge capital city |url=https://www.africaintelligence.com/central-africa/2024/07/10/kinshasa-woos-us-private-sector-as-it-plans-to-enlarge-capital-city,110256119-bre |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Africa Intelligence |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mayenikini |first=Jordan |date=13 January 2024 |title=RDC: le gouvernement travaille sur un nouveau projet d'extension de la ville de Kinshasa |trans-title=DRC: Government working on new Kinshasa city expansion project |url=https://actualite.cd/2024/01/13/rdc-le-gouvernement-travaille-sur-un-nouveau-projet-dextension-de-la-ville-de-kinshasa |access-date=9 July 2025 |website=Actualite.cd |language=fr}}</ref>
==Economy== {{See also|Economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo}}{{Multiple image | total_width = 330 | image1 = Straatbeeld in Kinshasa, Bestanddeelnr 926-7681.jpg | image2 = Straatbeeld in Kinshasa, Bestanddeelnr 926-7694.jpg | footer_align = center | footer = Street scenes in Kinshasa, Zaire, captured in 1973, by Dutch photographer Rob Mieremet }}
Historically, Kinshasa experienced a period of robust economic growth driven predominantly by a flourishing industrial sector. During its economic peak, often nostalgically referred to as ''la '''belle époque''''', the city's industrial activities spanned diverse domains including food processing, textiles, metallurgy, and assembly-line production.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j">{{Cite web |last1=Kinyamba |first1=S. Shomba |last2=Nsenda |first2=F. Mukoka |last3=Nonga |first3=D. Olela |last4=Kaminar |first4=T.M. |last5=Mbalanda |first5=W. . |date=2015 |title=Monographie de la ville de Kinshasa |url=https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327044324/https://www.fsmtoolbox.com/assets/pdf/Monographie_de_la_ville_de_Kinshasa.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2023 |access-date=4 August 2023 |publisher=Institut Congolais de Recherche en Développement et Etudes Stratégiques (ICREDES) |pages=50–52 |language=fr |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref> These industries produced goods for domestic consumption and international export. It was during this era that Kinshasa earned the affectionate monikers '''''Kin la belle''''', '''''Kin-Kiese''''', and '''''Kin la joie'''''.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" /> By the 1970s, Kinshasa had become a critical economic hub in Zaire, employing approximately 25% of the country's salaried workforce and accounting for nearly half (50%) of the national wage bill. Surveys conducted between 1974 and 1977 indicated that 33.7% of Kinshasa's working population held positions as executives or skilled laborers, with respective shares of 6.5% and 27.2%.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" /> In terms of industrial concentration, Kinshasa in 1977 accounted for 49.9% of the country's manufactured industries.<ref name="Sukisa-2008">{{Cite web |last=Sukisa |first=Maspy Yeta |date=2008 |title=La pression de l'habitat sur le site maraicher de Lukunga dans la commmune de Ngaliema a Kinshasa: problématique de planification urbaine et pistes d'aménagement |trans-title=The pressure of housing on the Lukunga market gardening site in the commune of Ngaliema in Kinshasa: issues of urban planning and development prospects |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/07/10/3702/La-pression-de-lhabitat-sur-le-site-maraicher-de-Lukunga-dans-la-commmune-de-Ngaliema-a-Kinshasa.html |access-date=27 August 2025 |publisher=University of Kinshasa |language=fr |publication-place=Lemba, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref> It ranked second in secondary sector activity with 18%, following Katanga, which held 67.3%. In the tertiary sector, Kinshasa ranked first with 27.3%, followed by Katanga at 22%. The city also hosted 22.8% of all registered businesses nationwide, compared to 18% in Katanga.<ref name="Sukisa-2008" /> By 1980, an estimated 412,000 people were in stable employment, supporting an average household of six. However, by the 1990s, inflation and economic deterioration significantly diminished purchasing power.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" /> Studies revealed that by 1988, only 20% of workers could meet basic living costs on their wages, and by 1990, Kinshasa had become more expensive to live in than other interior cities of the country.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" /> In 1977, wages could cover 62% of basic needs and 51% of family needs; these figures declined steeply in the subsequent decades.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" />
{{Multiple image | total_width = 190 | image1 = Modern buildings on the outskirts of Kinshasa ZNTO.jpg | caption1 = Modern buildings on the outskirts of Kinshasa, c. 1980–1993 | caption_align = center | align = left }}
The 1990s marked a particularly devastating decade for Kinshasa's economy, beginning with waves of looting in 1991 and 1992. These events inflicted severe damage on the city's economic infrastructure. In the aftermath of these upheavals, an estimated 300,000 executives and skilled workers lost their jobs, with no prospect of compensation.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" /> According to the Agence Nationale des Entrepreneurs du Zaïre (ANEZA), Kinshasa lost approximately 100,000 jobs during this period. Subsequent years of political instability and warfare further paralyzed the city's already weakened economic sectors.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" /> Since then, industrial activity in Kinshasa has largely stagnated or been dismantled altogether. The city's rapidly expanding population, combined with a shortage of economic reintegration mechanisms for unemployed graduates from technical and tertiary institutions, has worsened the unemployment crisis.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" /> The dismantling of the industrial sector has been significant, with much of the wage-earning population absorbed into the informal sector. This informal economy has now become the city's primary employment source, engaging nearly 70% of Kinshasa's total labor force.<ref name="Kinyamba-2015j" />thumb|right|Marsavco
=== Companies, foreign exchange reserves, international support === Big manufacturing companies such as Marsavco S.A., All Pack Industries and Angel Cosmetics are located in the center of town (Gombe) in Kinshasa.
There are many other industries, such as Trust Merchant Bank, located in the heart of the city. Food processing is a major industry, and construction and other service industries also play a significant role in the economy.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Kinshasa – national capital, Democratic Republic of the Congo |encyclopedia=britannica.com |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318863/Kinshasa |access-date=25 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012111432/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/318863/Kinshasa |archive-date=12 October 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Despite housing only about 13% of the DRC's population, Kinshasa generates approximately 85% of the country's gross domestic product.<ref name="ChirisaEtAl2017">Innocent Chirisa, Abraham Rajab Matamanda, & Liaison Mukarwi, "Desired and Achieved Urbanisation in Africa: In Search of Appropriate Tooling for a Sustainable Transformation"; in Umar Benna & Indo Benna, eds., ''Urbanization and Its Impact on Socio-Economic Growth in Developing Regions''; IGI Global, 2017, {{ISBN|9781522526605}}; pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qfYoDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 101]–102.</ref> A 2004 investigation found 70% of inhabitants employed informally, 17% in the public sector, 9% in the formal private sector, and 3% other, of a total 976,000 workers. Most new jobs are classified as informal.<ref name=Flouriot2013 /> By late 2022, the city's foreign exchange reserves had improved significantly, surpassing $4.5 billion. The DRC maintains support and partnerships with major international organizations and financial institutions, including the IMF, World Bank, African Development Bank, the European Union, China, and France.<ref name="Direction générale du Trésor-2023">{{Cite news |date=27 April 2023|title=La situation économique de la RD Congo en 2022 – Perspectives 2023|work=Direction générale du Trésor|url=https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Pays/CD/l-economie-de-la-rd-congo|access-date=2 July 2023|archive-date=2 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702222245/https://www.tresor.economie.gouv.fr/Pays/CD/l-economie-de-la-rd-congo|url-status=live}}</ref>
The People's Republic of China has been heavily involved in the Congo since the 1970s, when they financed the construction of the Palais du Peuple and backed the government against rebels in the Shaba war. In 2007–2008 China and Congo signed an agreement for an $8.5 billion loan for infrastructure development.<ref>Emizet Francois Kisangani, Scott F. Bobb, "China, People's Republic of, Relations with"; ''Historical Dictionary of the Democratic Republic of the Congo'', Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2010; pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FvAWPTaRvFYC&pg=PA74 74] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401095511/https://books.google.com/books?id=FvAWPTaRvFYC&pg=PA74 |date=1 April 2023 }}–75.</ref> In recent years, Chinese entrepreneurs have increasingly dominated local markets in Kinshasa, and gradually displacing in the process formerly successful Congolese, West African, Indian, and Lebanese merchants.<ref>Nuah M. Makungo, "[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258339820_Is_The_Democratic_Republic_of_Congo_DRC_being_Globalized_by_China Is the Democratic Republic of Congo being Globalized by China? The Case of Small Commerce at Kinshasa Central Market] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517153734/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258339820_Is_The_Democratic_Republic_of_Congo_DRC_being_Globalized_by_China |date=17 May 2018 }}", ''Quarterly Journal of Chinese Studies'' 2(1), 2012.</ref>
Mean household spending in 2005 was the equivalent of US$2,150, amounting to $1 per day per person. The median household spending was $1,555, 66 cents per person per day. Among the poor, more than half of this spending goes to food, especially bread and cereal.<ref name=Flouriot2013 />
=== Tourism === {{Multiple image | total_width = 180 | image1 = Hôtel du gouvernement(Kinshasa).jpg | caption1 = In front of Government Hall located on Boulevard Du 30 Juin | image2 = La beauté de notre ville Kinshasa.jpg | caption2 = Gombe is Kinshasa's fastest-growing commune and is a central business district. | image3 = Secretary Blinken Holds a Meet and Greet With Employees and Families From U.S. Embassy Kinshasa (52277604655).jpg | caption3 = Employees and families from the US Embassy in Kinshasa | direction = vertical | caption_align = center }}
Several of Kinshasa's most visited areas are located in communes such as Ngaliema, Kintambo, Gombe, Mont-Ngafula, Nsele, Lemba, Limete, Kalamu, Kasa-Vubu, and the commune of Kinshasa. Ngaliema is the city's earliest and most historically significant area, as it marks the birthplace of Kinshasa. Because of this, it has a high concentration of historical sites and monuments, ranging from the camp established by explorer Henry Morton Stanley and the Stanley Pool Station to later phases of urban growth.<ref name=":5" /> The commune is characterized by panoramic views of the Congo River and Ngaliema Bay, centuries-old trees, and its numerous heritage sites. Sims Chapel (1891), built by Reverend Aaron Sims of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and regarded as Kinshasa's first Christian building; the Saint-Léopold Catholic parish founded in 1899; and the Institute of National Museums of Congo, which preserves and exhibits national artifacts and historical collections.<ref name=":5" />
Also located there is the Palais de Marbre, once a guest residence during Mobutu's rule and later the presidential residence under Laurent-Désiré Kabila.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabuni |first=Popol |date=20 April 2024 |title=Palais de Marbre: 12 ans depuis que Kabila interdit son survol! |trans-title=Marble Palace: 12 years since Kabila banned flights over it! |url=https://ouragan.cd/2024/04/palais-de-marbre-12-ans-depuis-que-kabila-interdit-son-survol/ |access-date=5 February 2026 |website=Ouragan.cd |language=FR |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=17 January 2021 |title=Vif engouement de la population au Mémorial Mzee Laurent Désiré Kabila au Palais de marbre |trans-title=There was great enthusiasm from the public at the Mzee Laurent Désiré Kabila Memorial at the Marble Palace |url=https://acp.cd/nation/vif-engouement-de-la-population-au-memorial-mzee-laurent-desire-kabila-au-palais-de-marbre/ |access-date=5 February 2026 |website=Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) |language=fr-FR |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kouadio |first=Jean-Francois |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/La_Republique_des_singes/WYzPEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Palais+de+Marbre+kinshasa&pg=PA110&printsec=frontcover |title=La Republique des singes |date=26 October 2017 |publisher=Botsotso Publishing |isbn=978-1-990922-62-6 |location=Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa |pages=110 |language=fr |trans-title=The Republic of Monkeys}}</ref> Nearby stands the Colonel Tshatshi Military Camp, which is situated on Mount Ngaliema (formerly Mount Stanley), initially the residence of Léopoldville's colonial governor and later home to President Joseph Kasa-Vubu after independence.<ref name=":5" /> In 1966, President Mobutu renamed the site Mont Ngaliema and transformed it into a Presidential Park, landscaped by architect Olivier-Clément Cacoub and decorated with statues of figures such as Leopold II and Stanley, as well as the Théâtre de la Verdure amphitheater completed in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bayo |first=Herman Bangi |date=2 July 2020 |title=Mont Ngaliema: musée en plein air… |trans-title=Mount Ngaliema: open-air museum… |url=https://e-journal.info/2020/07/mont-ngaliema-musee-en-plein-air/ |access-date=5 February 2026 |website=E-journal.info |publisher=E-Journal Kinshasa |language=fr-FR |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Why_Art_Criticism_A_Reader/jjZUEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Olivier+Cacoub+Mont+Ngaliema&pg=PA393&printsec=frontcover |title=Why Art Criticism? A Reader |date=20 April 2022 |publisher=Hatje Cantz Verlag |others=Compiler: Juli Carson |isbn=978-3-7757-5093-6 |editor-last=Söntgen |editor-first=Beate |pages=393 |language=en |editor-last2=Voss |editor-first2=Julia}}</ref> Ngaliema also includes the African Union City, created in 1967 for the OAU summit, the Pioneers' Cemetery, remnants of colonial shipyards and port facilities, the Kintambo-Magasins commercial center, an old caravan route terminus, early communal buildings that once served as the region's first European hospital, artisanal furniture workshops using ''kekele'' liana, and natural sites known as the Symphonies Naturelles.<ref name=":5" />
Kintambo is also historically known as the site of the first contact with colonial powers. Situated at the base of Mount Ngaliema, it rapidly gained strategic and urban significance, becoming the first designated ''cité indigène''. Owing to its location and past, the commune preserves important memories of the city, particularly of Léo-Ouest. Numerous landmarks and historic buildings reflect Kinshasa's origins and colonial history, with the Kintambo Vélodrome Stadium, built in 1936, and Saint Francis Parish, established in 1939, standing out as particularly emblematic of the commune's heritage.<ref name=":5" /> In Gombe, there are well-known primary and secondary schools founded during the colonial era, such as Boboto College, Bosangani High School (formerly Sacré-Cœur), the Gombe Institute (formerly the Royal Atheneum of Kalina), the Gombe Technical Institute, and Notre-Dame Institute. Apart from the Académie des Beaux-Arts, universities and other higher education institutions were created after independence. Beyond its scenic sunset views over the Congo River, Gombe hosts the nation's largest hotels and shopping complexes, including the Grand Hôtel de Kinshasa, Hotel Memling, Hotel Venus, Fleuve Congo Hotel, Empire Complex, and the Presidential Galleries. The ''Palais de la Nation'' and the prime minister's office are also located here, along with the Nautic Club and the Kinshasa Yacht Club, which offer river excursions.<ref name=":5" />
Kinshasa is the only one of the city's 24 communes to share its historical name with the capital itself, having been created at the start of the colonial period as a ''cité indigène'' that functioned mainly as a residential area for African workers and later became home to some of the city's earliest public, sports, and leisure infrastructures, including Stade Cardinal Malula. It also has the oldest Catholic mission, Saint Peter's Church, which was founded in 1933. The historic Kimwenza Catholic Mission, dating back to the Congo Free State era, is regarded as one of the city's major cultural landmarks, while the Sainte Marie Mission, established in July 1893, laid the foundations for the colonial and present-day education systems.<ref name=":5" /> Mont-Ngafula tourist attractions include Lac Ma Vallée, Joli Camp Site, Auberge, the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya, Tilapia, and Kasangulu. Along the Matadi Road, plaques, signposts, and scenic paths guide visitors to colonial-era villas. The area also hosts Lola ya Bonobo, a sanctuary dedicated to protecting these endangered primates. Nsele encompasses two major tourist destinations, Kinkole and Nsele. Kinkole is primarily known for its famous dish, Maboké, a fish steamed in banana leaves, which has contributed significantly to its reputation.<ref name=":5" /> Lemba gained prominence with the establishment of Lovanium University (now the University of Kinshasa), the country's first university, which was founded in 1954. It was also home to Kinshasa's earliest planned residential ''quartiers'', including Righini, where the Tabernacle of the Disciples of William Marrion Branham is located. Mount Amba provides a panoramic view of Kinshasa.<ref name=":5" />
Limete was initially designed as a residential area for Europeans before evolving into the city's third-largest industrial hub after Gombe and Ngaliema. It hosts the Limete Tower and a 6.5-meter statue of national hero Patrice Lumumba. Kasa-Vubu follows a grid-based urban layout with numerous access roads and broad avenues. Many streets and squares bear names recalling the victories of the ''Force Publique'' during the 1940–45 military campaigns, such as Victoire, Gambela, and Ethiopia. The commune also features Kimpwanza Square, a potent symbol of national independence.<ref name=":5" /> Historically, it played a central role in political life, linked to leaders such as Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Gaston Diomi Ndongala of the ABAKO party. Before Matonge's rise, Kasa-Vubu was Kinshasa's main nightlife hub. The Kasa-Vubu monument stands at the junction of Victoire and Assossa avenues. Kalamu, home to the busiest Matonge ''quartier'', is home to the Stade Tata Raphaël, famous for hosting the legendary boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Matonge is also a major hub of Kinshasa's music culture, building on the legacy of earlier pioneers such as Wendo Kolosoy and Le Grand Kallé. It gave rise to major musical bands including Quartier Latin International, Viva La Musica, and Molokaï Village, and has landmarks such as Place des Artistes, shopping centers, and other entertainment venues.<ref name=":5" />
==Education== [[File:Parc de L'Université de Kinshasa 2.jpg|thumb|238x238px|Park of the University of Kinshasa with the Administrative Building in the background]] Kinshasa is home to several education institutes, covering a wide range of disciplines, including civil engineering, nursing, and journalism. The city is also home to three large universities and an arts school: * University of Kinshasa * National Pedagogy University * National Institute of Agronomic Studies and Research (INERA) * Cardinal Malula University * Académie de Design (AD) * Institut Supérieur d'Architecture et Urbanisme * Pan-African University of the Congo * Université Libre de Kinshasa * {{Interlanguage link|Université catholique du Congo|fr}} * Congo Protestant University * Université Chretienne de Kinshasa * National Institute of Arts * Institut Supérieur de Publicité et Médias * Centre for Health Training (CEFA)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cefacongo.org |url=http://www.cefacongo.org/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725151811/http://www.cefacongo.org/index.html |archive-date=25 July 2011 |access-date=14 March 2011 |publisher=Cefacongo.org }}</ref>
Primary and secondary schools: * Lycée Prince de Liège (primary and secondary education, French Community of Belgium curriculum) * Prins van Luikschool Kinshasa (primary education, Flanders curriculum)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Onze school |url=https://wordpress.pls-rdc.com/onze-school/ |access-date=16 May 2020 |publisher=Prins van Luikschool Kinshasa |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802210609/https://wordpress.pls-rdc.com/onze-school/ |url-status=live }}</ref> *Lycée Français René Descartes (primary and secondary education, French curriculum) * The American School of Kinshasa * Allhadeff School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collection_Congo_ Art: School Alhadeff |url=http://www.collectioncongo-art.nl/school_Alhadeff.html |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=www.collectioncongo-art.nl |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211170254/http://www.collectioncongo-art.nl/school_Alhadeff.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The education system in DRC is plagued by low coverage, low quality and poor educational infrastructure, especially in rural areas. According to USAID (2018), 3.5 million children of primary school age are out of school, and 44% of those who do attend school started only after age six. Various statistical estimates by UNESCO, (2013) regarding secondary and tertiary education also reveal the difficulties facing the country. In DRC it is difficult to get a reliable estimate on the actual proportion of the population who can read and write, however, according to data from UIS (2016), the literacy rate of the population of 15 years and older in the country, is estimated to 77.04%. This rate is 88.5% for men and 66.5% for women. There is also a shortage of reading material, and no culture of reading for pleasure.<ref>[https://www.uil.unesco.org/en/litbase/congo-literacy-project-democratic-republic-congo] UNESCO :The Congo Literacy Project (The Democratic Republic of Congo)</ref>
==Health and medicine== thumb|166x166px|Monkole Hospital, Kinshasa There are twenty hospitals in Kinshasa, plus various medical centers and polyclinics.<ref>[http://www.afdevinfo.com/htmlreports/org/org_55841.html "Provincial Health Division of Kinshasa"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414194221/http://www.afdevinfo.com/htmlreports/org/org_55841.html |date=14 April 2011 }} ''African Development Information Services''</ref>
== Culture == [[File:National Museum of RD Congo 01.jpg|thumb|National Museum of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kinshasa]] {{See also|Académie des Beaux-Arts (Kinshasa)|Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste|La Sape}} Kinshasa has a flourishing music scene which, since the 1960s, has operated under the patronage of the city's elite.<ref name="Trapido2016" /> The Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste, formed in 1994, began using improved musical instruments and has since grown in means and reputation.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last1=Morgan |first1=Andy |title=The scratch orchestra of Kinshasa |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/09/scratch-orchestra-of-kinshasa-congo |access-date=22 June 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=9 May 2013 |archive-date=22 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230622163920/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/09/scratch-orchestra-of-kinshasa-congo |url-status=live }}</ref>
A pop culture ideal type in Kinshasa is the ''mikiliste'', a fashionable person with money who has traveled to Europe. Adrien Mombele, a.k.a. Stervos Niarcos, and musician Papa Wemba were early exemplars of the mikiliste style.<ref name="Trapido2016" /> La Sape, a linked cultural trend also described as dandyism, involves wearing flamboyant clothing.<ref name=":4">{{cite news |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/13/world/africa/congo-dandy-sapeur/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511153411/https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/13/world/africa/congo-dandy-sapeur/index.html|archive-date=11 May 2024|title=Dedicated followers of fashion: Congo's designer dandies|first=Mark|last=Tutton|work=Cnn.com|date=13 February 2012|access-date=7 October 2025|publisher=CNN}}</ref>
=== Arts and museums ===
==== Music and dance ==== {{See also|Music of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Ndombolo|Congolese rumba|Soukous|Music industry and copyright in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}} [[File:Congolese band Zaïko Langa Langa in 1971.jpg|thumb|Congolese band Zaïko Langa Langa performing in Kinshasa, in 1971|210x210px]]Kinshasa's music scene has had a significant impact on popular culture, as many major figures of Congolese rumba launched their careers in the city, including Henri Bowane, Manuel d'Oliveira, Wendo Kolosoy, Franco Luambo, TPOK Jazz, Beguen Band, Syran Mbenza, Le Grand Kallé, Léon Bukasa, Nico Kasanda, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Verckys Kiamuangana Mateta, African Jazz, Zaïko Langa Langa, Mbilia Bel, Madilu System, Papa Noël Nedule, Vicky Longomba, Awilo Longomba, Pépé Kallé, Sam Mangwana, Kanda Bongo Man, Nyboma, Général Défao, Papa Wemba, Viva La Musica, Koffi Olomide, Jolie Detta, Barbara Kanam, Werrason, Abeti Masikini, Jossart N'Yoka Longo, King Kester Emeneya, Lokua Kanza, Fally Ipupa, Ferré Gola, and Héritier Watanabe.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Deboick|first=Sophia|date=8 June 2020|title=Heart of smartness – DR Congo's city united in music|url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news-sophia-deboick-music-in-kinshasa-congo-81780/|access-date=1 July 2023|website=The New European|language=en-GB|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160219/https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news-sophia-deboick-music-in-kinshasa-congo-81780/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 July 2016|title=Kinshasa|url=https://citiesofmusic.net/city/kinshasa/|access-date=1 July 2023|website=UNESCO Cities of Music|language=en|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160221/https://citiesofmusic.net/city/kinshasa/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=the congolese musicians making music like you've never heard before|url=https://i-d.co/article/the-congolese-musicians-making-music-like-youve-never-heard-before/|access-date=1 July 2023|website=i-d.vice.com|language=en|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160220/https://i-d.vice.com/en/article/kzwbq9/the-congolese-musicians-making-music-like-youve-never-heard-before|url-status=live}}</ref> During the 1950s and 1960s, Kinshasa emerged as what American journalist Susan Orlean as "Africa's most energetic recording industry",<ref>{{Cite news |last=Orlean, Susan|first=|date=7 October 2002|title=The Congo Sound|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/10/14/the-congo-sound|access-date=2 November 2025|work=The New Yorker|language=en-US|publication-place=New York, New York, United States|issn=0028-792X}}</ref> supported by several Greek-owned studios that allowed local musicians to earn a living.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Vogel|first=Christoph|date=23 August 2013|title=Say my name: How 'shout-outs' keep Congolese musicians in the money|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/23/congo-musicians-kinshasa-rumba|access-date=2 November 2025|website=The Guardian|language=en|publication-place=Kings Place, London, England}}</ref> As rumba became deeply rooted in Congolese society, Congolese-owned studios began to flourish in the city. In 1971, Mobutu Sese Seko enlisted OK Jazz to tour the nation in support of his ''Authenticité'' campaign, which sought to elevate local culture above Western influences.<ref name=":0" /> However, this golden era was short-lived, as Mobutu's authoritarian rule, combined with economic decline, falling copper prices, and high inflation, crippled Kinshasa's once-thriving music industry.<ref name=":0" /> Many recording companies relocated abroad, especially to France and Belgium, while smaller domestic bands struggled to survive, most notably through ''kobwaka mabanga'', a "name-dropping" system where musicians earn income by mentioning patrons' names during performances, often accounting for most of their earnings.<ref name=":0" /> {{Multiple image | total_width = 220 | image1 = Jupiter & Okwess Rudolstadt 05.jpg | caption1 = Jupiter Bokondji and his band Okwess International at Rudolstadt-Festival in 2017 | caption_align = center }}
The Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste, formed in 1994, began using improved musical instruments and has since grown in means and reputation.<ref name=":3" /> Following the upheavals of the 1990s, the music scene evolved dramatically: while some artists turned to Christian gospel, others revived indigenous traditions through the ''tradi-modern'' movement, led by bands like Swédé Swédé and supported by Belgian producer Vincent Kenis.<ref name="Sutter-2017">{{Cite web |last=Sutter|first=Anne-Sophie de|date=19 July 2017|title=Kinshasa en musiques|trans-title=Kinshasa in music|url=https://www.mediatheque.be/outils-de-mediations/mediagraphies/kinshasa-en-musiques/|access-date=15 June 2025|website=Médiathèque Nouvelle|language=fr-BE}}</ref> This led to the acclaimed ''Congotronics'' album series, which introduced international audiences to bands like Konono Nº1, Kasai Allstars, Staff Benda Bilili, and Mbongwana Star, who performed using handmade instruments and rudimentary amplification.<ref name="Sutter-2017" /> In 2011, the DRC Music collective, curated by Damon Albarn, recorded the collaborative album ''Kinshasa One Two'' in just five days, bringing together over fifty Congolese musicians and international producers.<ref name="Sutter-2017" /> Among the featured artists was Jupiter Bokondji, whose band is Okwess International.
Since 2009, the Royal Flemish Theatre in Brussels has organized the Connexion Kin arts festival in Limete.<ref name="Sutter-2017" /> In 2011, Belgian-Congolese rapper and singer Baloji, who was born in Lubumbashi, returned to Kinshasa to record his album ''Kinshasa Succursale''.<ref name="Sutter-2017" />[[File:Foreman tira golpe a clay.jpg|thumb|Foreman trying to punch Ali, October 1974]] Kinshasa has been featured in various films, most famously in ''When We Were Kings'' (1996), which documents the historic 1974 Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman held in the city.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ali|first=Muhammad|date=24 October 1999|title=Muhammad Ali Remembers the Rumble in the Jungle|url=https://www.newsweek.com/muhammad-ali-remembers-rumble-jungle-167950|access-date=1 July 2023|website=Newsweek|language=en|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160219/https://www.newsweek.com/muhammad-ali-remembers-rumble-jungle-167950|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yocum|first=Thomas|date=15 October 2014|title=Forty years on from the Rumble in the Jungle, Kinshasa is a city of chaos|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/15/-sp-forty-years-rumble-in-the-jungle-kinshasa-muhammad-ali-george-foreman|access-date=1 July 2023|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=3 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903121039/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/oct/15/-sp-forty-years-rumble-in-the-jungle-kinshasa-muhammad-ali-george-foreman|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Erenberg|first=Lewis A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i9SWDwAAQBAJ|title=The Rumble in the Jungle: Muhammad Ali and George Foreman on the Global Stage|publisher=University of Chicago Press|date=22 May 2019|isbn=9780226059570|location=Chicago, United States|language=English|access-date=10 July 2023|archive-date=8 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908053208/https://books.google.com/books?id=i9SWDwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Other cinematic representations include ''Viva Riva!'' (2010) by Djo Tunda Wa Munga and ''Félicité'' (2017) by Alain Gomis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Catsoulis|first=Jeannette|date=9 June 2011|title='Viva Riva!'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/movies/viva-riva.html|access-date=1 July 2023|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=4 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104185542/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/movies/viva-riva.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|date=9 November 2017|title=Félicité review – gritty story of Kinshasa bar singer|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/09/felicite-review-gritty-story-of-kinshasa-bar-singer|access-date=1 July 2023|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702061019/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/09/felicite-review-gritty-story-of-kinshasa-bar-singer|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, the mini-series ''The Widow'' premiered on Amazon Prime and the UK's ITV network, following a woman searching for her husband in Kinshasa after he was presumed dead in a plane crash.<ref>''[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_widow/s01] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516094943/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_widow/s01|date=16 May 2024}}'', Rotten Tomatoes Season 1 The Widow 8 July 2019</ref> The city has also inspired literature: Fiston Mwanza Mujila's ''Tram 83'' captures Kinshasa's nightlife while also examining postcolonial identity and social and economic struggles, whereas In Koli Jean Bofane's ''Congo Inc.: Bismarck's Testament'' portrays the city as a microcosm of postcolonial Congo.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mujula|first=Fiston Mwanza|date=7 January 2016|title=Tram 83, the Congolese novel that's wowing the literary world – extract|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/07/tram-83-congolese-novel-wowing-literary-world-extract|access-date=1 July 2023|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160220/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/07/tram-83-congolese-novel-wowing-literary-world-extract|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bofane|first1=In Koli Jean|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2204p5d|title=Congo Inc.: Bismarck's Testament|last2=De Jager|first2=Marjolijn|date=2018|publisher=Indiana University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctt2204p5d|jstor=j.ctt2204p5d|access-date=1 July 2023|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160219/https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2204p5d|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== Museums ==== Located in Kinshasa are the National Museum and the Kinshasa Fine Arts Academy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cybriwsky|first=Roman Adrian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qb6NAQAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa++National+Museum+and+the+Kinshasa+Fine+Arts+Academy&pg=PA145|title=Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture|date=23 May 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-61069-248-9|language=en|access-date=28 November 2022|archive-date=1 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401095509/https://books.google.com/books?id=qb6NAQAAQBAJ&dq=Kinshasa++National+Museum+and+the+Kinshasa+Fine+Arts+Academy&pg=PA145|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== Visual arts and fashion ==== {{Main|La Sape}}
thumb|251x251px|A traditional sapeur dressed in an outfit made from pearls in kinshasa, February 2015 Kinshasa's street art has earned international attention, with artists using murals and graffiti rich in color to convey strong social and political messages across the city.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bromwich|first=Kathryn|date=25 March 2023|title=Rubbish fashion: street art costumes of Kinshasa – in pictures|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2023/mar/25/rubbish-fashion-street-art-costumes-of-kinshasa-in-pictures|access-date=1 July 2023|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160219/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2023/mar/25/rubbish-fashion-street-art-costumes-of-kinshasa-in-pictures|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kinshasa Street Artists|url=https://www.krispannecoucke.org/kinshasa-street-artists|access-date=1 July 2023|website=Kris Pannecoucke|language=en|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701160220/https://www.krispannecoucke.org/kinshasa-street-artists|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 June 2023|title=Kinshasa Shines Brightly at Kin Graff 4: Part I|url=https://www.brooklynstreetart.com/2022/07/13/kinshasa-shines-brightly-at-kin-graff-4-part-i/|access-date=1 July 2023|language=en-US|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701161722/https://www.brooklynstreetart.com/2022/07/13/kinshasa-shines-brightly-at-kin-graff-4-part-i/|url-status=live}}</ref> A prominent pop culture figure in Kinshasa is the ''mikiliste'', a stylish, affluent individual who has traveled to Europe, with early representatives including Adrien Mombele, known as Stervos Niarcos, and Papa Wemba.<ref name="Trapido2016" /> Closely connected to this image is ''La Sape'', a form of modern dandyism that is characterized by extravagant fashion.<ref name=":4" /> Photographer Daniele Tamagni's book ''Gentlemen of Bacongo'' (2009) captures the distinctive style and personalities of Kinshasa's ''sapeurs''.<ref name="lejournalinternational.fr">{{Cite web |title=Le Journal International – Archives|url=https://www.lejournalinternational.fr/La-Sape-an-elegance-that-brought-peace-in-the-midst-of-Congolese-chaos_a1871.html|access-date=1 July 2023|website=www.lejournalinternational.fr|archive-date=1 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001022237/https://www.lejournalinternational.fr/La-Sape-an-elegance-that-brought-peace-in-the-midst-of-Congolese-chaos_a1871.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tamagni|first1=Daniele|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcZOAQAAIAAJ|title=Gentlemen of Bacongo|last2=Goodwin|first2=Paul|publisher=Trolley|others=Contributors: Paul Goodwin, Paul Smith|year=2009|location=London, England|isbn=9781904563839|language=English|access-date=10 July 2023|archive-date=8 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908053209/https://books.google.com/books?id=kcZOAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>
==== Martial arts ==== WWE wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura uses a running knee strike, called the ''Kinshasa'', as his finisher, a reference to the eponymous city. The move was previously named as ''Bomaye'' (which translated to "kill him") during his time in New Japan Pro Wrestling but was renamed in 2016 when he was signed with the WWE for trademark reasons.<ref name="cagesideseats.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/2016/4/2/11353328/the-story-behind-shinsuke-nakamuras-bomaye-becoming-kishasa-in-wwe|title=The story behind Shinsuke Nakamura's Bomaye becoming Kinshasa in WWE|date=2 April 2016|access-date=28 June 2022|archive-date=28 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628124056/https://www.cagesideseats.com/platform/amp/wwe/2016/4/2/11353328/the-story-behind-shinsuke-nakamuras-bomaye-becoming-kishasa-in-wwe|url-status=live}}</ref> Both ''Bomaye'' and ''Kinshasa'' are homages to Nakamura's mentor, Antonio Inoki, who received ''Bomaye'' as a nickname from Muhammad Ali when Inoki and Ali fought in 1976, with Ali first hearing ''Bomaye'' in Kinshasa during the Rumble In The Jungle.<ref name="cagesideseats.com" />
== Places of worship == <gallery mode="" widths="200" heights="180"> File: Preĝejo de Sankta Anna en Kinŝaso 01.jpg |Église Sainte-Anne de Kinshasa (Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) File: Église Francophone CBCO Kintambo.jpg| Église Francophone CBCO Kintambo (Baptist Community of Congo) File:Eglise Saint Léopold.jpg | Eglise Saint Léopold à Ngaliema, Kinshasa </gallery>
Among the places of worship, which are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa (Catholic Church), Kimbanguist Church, Baptist Community of Congo (Baptist World Alliance), Baptist Community of the Congo River (Baptist World Alliance), The Salvation Army, Assemblies of God, Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo (Anglican Communion), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which has a temple and over 100 congregations in Kinshasa, Presbyterian Community in Congo (World Communion of Reformed Churches).<ref>J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, ''Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2010, p. 777</ref> There are also Muslim mosques. A Baha'i House of Worship is in construction.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bahai-rdc.org/les-travaux-de-construction-de-la-maison-dadoration-nationale-en-bonne-progression/ |title=Les travaux de construction de la Maison d'Adoration Nationale en bonne progression ! |date=20 May 2021 |access-date=28 May 2021 |archive-date=13 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210613091220/https://www.bahai-rdc.org/les-travaux-de-construction-de-la-maison-dadoration-nationale-en-bonne-progression/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A Jewish synagogue, operated by the Chabad world movement, exists.[https://www.chabad.org/jewish-centers/location/1-267/Kinshasa-Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo Chabad Centers in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo]
==Media== {{see also|List of television stations in Kinshasa}} thumb|Office of the Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) Kinshasa serves as the nation's principal media hub, hosting the largest concentration of media outlets in the country. The primary languages used in media production are French and Lingala, with other indigenous languages seldom appearing.<ref name="Matanga-2007">{{Cite web |last=Matanga |first=John Lungila |date=2007 |title=La construction imaginaire de la réalité du Congo à travers les médias congolais |trans-title=The imaginary construction of the reality of the Congo through the Congolese media |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/12/07/732/m_construction-imaginaire-realite-congo-medias24.html |access-date=1 July 2025 |publisher=University of Kinshasa |language=fr |publication-place=Lemba, Kinshasa}}</ref> Press freedom remains limited, with journalism subject to strict control and censorship. The 2023 Press Freedom Index rated the Democratic Republic of the Congo at 48.55%.<ref>[Statistica: Africa Press Freedom https://www.statista.com/statistics/1221101/press-freedom-index-in-africa-by-country/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922194844/https://www.statista.com/statistics/1221101/press-freedom-index-in-africa-by-country/ |date=22 September 2023 }}]</ref> State-run channels generally provide minimal political content, and restrictive regulations limit investigative journalism. In the early 2000s, especially during the political transition, Kinshasa's media scene grew rapidly. By 2004, the city had 23 radio stations and 26 TV stations, with the number of television broadcasters increasing dramatically to 63 by 2007.<ref name="Matanga-2007" />
These outlets are primarily commercial, religious, or community-based and are often affiliated, formally or informally, with political figures or parties. For instance, Numerica TV is owned by Kibambi Shintwa and Kabeya Pindi Pasi, both of whom were candidates in the 2006 parliamentary elections. Mirador TV is owned by Michel Ladi Luya, a former Member of Parliament and newspaper publisher.<ref name="Matanga-2007" /><ref name="Welo-2016">{{Cite web |last=Welo |first=Pancrace Koy |date=2016 |title=La place de la radio à Kinshasa |trans-title=The place of radio in Kinshasa |url=https://www.memoireonline.com/02/22/12670/m_La-place-de-la-radio--Kinshasa4.html |access-date=1 July 2025 |publisher=University of Kinshasa |language=fr |publication-place=Lemba, Kinshasa}}</ref> Digital Congo TV was co-founded by Croatian businessman Nicolas Vazonne and Jaynet Kabila, twin sister of then-President Joseph Kabila.<ref name="Matanga-2007" /> Africa TV is associated with Azarias Ruberwa, a former vice president and 2006 presidential candidate, and Eugène Serufuli Ngayabaseka, the then-governor of North Kivu. CCTV ({{Lang|fr|Canal Congo Télévision}}) and Canal Kin are linked to Jean-Pierre Bemba.<ref name="Matanga-2007" /> While many of these channels deny formal political affiliations, their ownership structures suggest otherwise.<ref name="Matanga-2007" /> Not all stations are politically aligned. Neutral and independent outlets such as Antenne A and Congoweb TV contribute to a more balanced media environment. RTNC1 remains the primary public broadcaster with nationwide reach, while other widely viewed stations include RTGA (''Radio Télévision Groupe L'Avenir''), Digital Congo TV, Mirador TV, Congoweb TV, and Antenne A.<ref name="Matanga-2007" />
Several prominent national radio and television stations are headquartered in Kinshasa. The RTNC operates multiple channels, RTNC1, RTNC2, RTNC3, and RTNC4, providing news, cultural programming, and public service broadcasts. The UN-supported Radio Okapi, jointly managed with MONUSCO, is also based in the city and is widely regarded for its balanced reporting.<ref name="Welo-2016" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Democratic Republic of Congo country profile – Media |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13283212 |url-status=live |access-date=15 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224051127/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1076399.stm#media |archive-date=24 February 2011}}</ref> Other notable broadcasters include Top Congo FM, RTGA, Radio Télévision Message de Vie (RTMV), Raga FM, and Digital Congo FM. In addition to these, Kinshasa hosts a wide array of specialized and religious broadcasters, such as Radio Télévision Armée de l'Éternel (RTAE), Radio Télévision Sentinelle (RTS), Canal Chemin de Vérité et Vie (CVV), Radio Télévision Catholique Elikya (RTCE), Radio Parole de l'Éternel (RPE), and Radio Télé Assemblée Chrétienne (RTACK).<ref name="Welo-2016" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 November 2000 |title=Congo-Kinshasa: New RTKM Director Brought Before the Court |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200011130306.html |access-date=2 July 2025 |website=Journaliste en danger |publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 August 2006 |title=Congo-Kinshasa: Three TV Stations Suspended for 24 Hours for 'Inciting Violence'; RSF Praises 'Restrained' Punishment |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200608211523.html |access-date=2 July 2025 |website=International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House |publication-place=Toronto, Ontario, Canada}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=21 March 2000 |title=Congo-Kinshasa: RTKM Staff Protest The Requisitioning Of Their Station |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200003210030.html |access-date=2 July 2025 |website=International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House |publication-place=Toronto, Ontario, Canada}}</ref> Community-based stations include Radio Shaloom Racha, Radio 7, Tam Tam Africain, Jo Dacosta FM, Afri Radio, and Mirador FM. International broadcasters such as the BBC (on 92.6 FM), Radio France Internationale (RFI), Africa Radio, China Radio International, and Euronews are also present and broadcast according to the editorial policies of their parent organizations.<ref name="Welo-2016" /><ref name="Matanga-2007" />
The print and digital media sector is equally diverse, with the capital being home to the state-owned news agency {{Lang|fr|Agence Congolaise de Presse}} (ACP) and a range of newspapers and online platforms. Among the most prominent publications are ''L'Avenir, L'Observateur'', ''Le Potentiel'', ''Le Phare'', ''Le Soft'', ''La Conscience'', and ''LeCongolais''.<ref>"[http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/congok/congoknews.html Countries: Democatric Republic of the Congo: News]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20131213055112/http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/congok/congoknews.html Archive]).{{sic}} Stanford University Libraries & Academic Information Resources. Retrieved on 28 April 2014.</ref>
== Sports ==
thumb|The exterior of the Stade des Martyrs, the largest sports venue by capacity in DR Congo
Sports, especially football and martial arts are popular in Kinshasa. The city is home to the country's national stadium, the Stade des Martyrs (Stadium of the Martyrs). The Vita Club, Daring Club Motema Pembe and AS Dragons frequently draws large crowds, enthusiastic and sometimes rowdy, to the Stade des Martyrs. Dojos are popular and their owners influential.<ref name=Trapido2016 />
In 1974, Kinshasa hosted The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, in which Ali defeated Foreman, to regain the World Heavyweight title.
==Buildings and institutions== thumb|The People's Palace, seat of the Congolese parliament
Kinshasa is home to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo including:
* the Palais de la Nation, home of the President, in Gombe; * the Palais du Peuple, meeting place of both houses of Parliament, Senate and National Assembly, in Lingwala; * the Palais de Justice, in Gombe; * the Cité de l'OUA, built for the Organization of African Unity in the 1970s and now serving government functions, in Ngaliema.
The Central Bank of the Congo has its headquarters on Boulevard Colonel Tshatshi, across the street from the Mausoleum of Laurent Kabila and the presidential palace.
Notable features of the city include the Gecamines Commercial Building (formerly SOZACOM) and Hotel Memling; L'ONATRA, the building of the Ministry of Transport; the central market; the Limete Tower.
== Infrastructure and housing == thumb|Road of Kinshasa City
The city's infrastructure for running water and electricity is generally in bad shape.<ref>Nzuzi (2008), p. 14.</ref> The electrical network is in disrepair to the extent that prolonged and periodic blackouts are normal, and exposed lines sometimes electrify pools of rainwater.<ref name=Trapido2016 /><ref name=Flouriot2013 />
Regideso, the national public company with primary responsibility for water supply in the Congo, serves Kinshasa only incompletely, and without uniform quality. Other areas are served by decentralized {{Lang|fr|Associations des Usagers des Réseau d'Eau Potable}} (ASUREPs).<ref name="Bédécarrats2016" /> Gombe uses water at a high rate (306 liters per day per inhabitant) compared to other communes (from 71 L/d/i in Kintambo down to 2 L/d/i in Kimbanseke).<ref name="Flouriot2013" />
Since 2008, the provincial government has established several technical public services, collectively known as "{{Lang|fr|urban régies}}", which fall under the governor's authority. These include:<ref name="Leganet.cd-2008b">{{Cite web |date=7 August 2008|title=Arrêté n° SC/0178/BGV/MINPR/COJU/PLS/ 008 du 07 août 2008 portant création de la Régie d'Assainissement et de Travaux Publics de Kinshasa. "R.A.T.P.K." en sigle|trans-title=Order No. SC/0178/BGV/MINPR/COJU/PLS/ 008 of 7 August 2008 establishing the Kinshasa Sanitation and Public Works Authority. "RATPK" in acronym|url=https://www.leganet.cd/Legislation/Provinces/Kinshasa/A.07.08.2008.htm|access-date=8 July 2025|website=Leganet.cd|language=fr|publication-place=Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo}}</ref><ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> {| class="wikitable" !No. !Agency !Acronym !Function !Ref. |- |'''1.''' |''Régie Immobilière de Kinshasa'' |RIMMOKIN |Manages real estate |<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> |- |'''2.''' |''Régie d'Assainissement et des Travaux Publics de Kinshasa'' (now ''Régie d'Assainissement de Kinshasa'') |RATPK (now RASKIN) |Oversees sanitation and public works |<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Baku|first=Erlin Lokato|date=2018|title=Évaluation d'un projet d'installation d'une entité de ramassage et de stockage des déchets ménagers dans la ville de Kinshasa|trans-title=Evaluation of a project to install a household waste collection and storage entity in the city of Kinshasa|url=https://www.memoireonline.com/11/21/12411/m_valuation-d-un-projet-d-installation-d-une-entit-de-ramassage-et-de-stockage-des-dchets22.html|access-date=8 July 2025|publisher=University of Kinshasa|language=fr|publication-place=Lemba, Kinshasa}}</ref> |- |'''3.''' |''Régie de Transport Urbain de Kinshasa'' |RETRANSKIN |Handles urban transportation services |<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Mudiayi|first=Auguy|date=6 June 2019|title=Kinshasa: Exclu de l'APK, une motion de Mukebayi sur le solde de 2.400.000 $ du contrat Retranskin-Van Vliet Trucks Holland BV reste lettre morte|trans-title=Kinshasa: Excluded from the APK, a motion by Mukebayi on the balance of $2,400,000 of the Retranskin-Van Vliet Trucks Holland BV contract remains a dead letter|url=https://actualite.cd/index.php/2019/06/06/kinshasa-exclu-de-lapk-une-motion-de-mukebayi-sur-le-solde-de-2400000-du-contrat|access-date=9 July 2025|website=Actualite.cd|language=fr}}</ref> |- |'''4.''' |''Direction Générale de Recettes de Kinshasa'' |DGRK |Manages city revenue collection |<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> |- |'''5.''' |''Commission Permanente sur la Publicité Extérieure'' |CPPE |Regulates outdoor advertising |<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> |- |'''6.''' |''Autorité de Régulation de la Publicité Extérieure'' | |Enforces advertising standards |<ref name="Kinyamba-2015h" /> |}
The housing market has seen rising prices and rents since the 1980s. Houses and apartments in the central area are expensive, with houses selling for a million dollars and apartments going for $5000 per month. High prices have spread outward from the central area as owners and renters move out of the most expensive part of the city. Gated communities and shopping malls, built with foreign capital and technical expertise, began to appear in 2006. Urban renewal projects have led in some cases to violent conflict and displacement.<ref name="Trapido2016" /><ref>Aurélie Fontaine, "Housing: Kinshasa is for the rich"; ''Africa Report'' 5 May 2015.</ref> The high prices leave incoming refugees with few options for settlement besides illegal shantytowns such as Pakadjuma.<ref name="Iazzolino2016" /> The Cité du Fleuve, an upmarket residential development, has had significant delays.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hit by delays and shoddy work, Kinshasa's urban housing project falters|url=https://www.africanews.com/2021/04/20/hit-by-delays-and-shoddy-work-kinshasa-s-urban-housing-project-falters/|website=Africanews|date=2021-04-20|access-date=2025-11-27|language=en|last=AfricaNews}}</ref> In 2005, 55% of households had televisions and 43% had mobile phones. 11% had refrigerators and 5% had cars.<ref name="Flouriot2013" />
==Transport== ===Road=== thumb|The Boulevard Lumumba The city-province has {{Convert abbreviated|5000|km}} of roadways, 10% of which are paved. The Boulevard du 30 Juin (Boulevard of 30 June) links the main areas of the central district of the city. Other roads also converge on Gombe. The east–west road network linking the more distant neighborhoods is weak and thus transit through much of the city is difficult.<ref name=Flouriot2013 /> The quality of roads has improved somewhat, developed in part with loans from China, since 2000.<ref name=Trapido2016 />
The public bus company for Kinshasa, created in 2003, is Transco (Transport au Congo).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Trans urbain kinshasa |url=https://transurbainkinshasa.wordpress.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819051539/http://transurbainkinshasa.wordpress.com/ |archive-date=19 August 2013 |access-date=13 August 2019}}</ref> Kinshasa is the largest city in the world without a dedicated bus terminal for intercity services.{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}}
thumb|A Transco Bus in 2020
Several companies operate registered taxis and taxi-buses, identifiable by their yellow color. In addition, an app-based taxi hailing service was introduced in 2023.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://yango.com/en_cd/city/kinshasa/ | title=Request a ride in Kinshasa via the Yango app! | access-date=11 May 2024 | archive-date=11 May 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240511151102/https://yango.com/en_cd/city/kinshasa/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
Kinshasa is located along National Road 1, the highway between the provinces of Kongo Central and Haut-Katanga. It connects the capital with other cities in the western and southern DRC, including Lubumbashi.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) National Highway 1 Rehabilitation Project Starts |date=24 July 2025 |access-date=12 December 2025 |work=China Railway Group |url=https://www.crecg.com/zgztywz/cs11/10210606/2025021110100611328/index.html }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=DR Congo gets US$ 74.69 million grant for roads rehabilitation |date=29 December 2005 |access-date=12 December 2025 |work=ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/dr-congo-gets-us-7469-million-grant-roads-rehabilitation }}</ref> A recent complete reconstruction of the section between Kinshasa and the provinces of Kwango and Kwilu significantly improved road quality and reduced travel time from up to a week down to six hours.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Keller |first=Mitchell |title=Upgraded highway improves trade links in southwest Congo, Africa |date=8 August 2025 |access-date=12 December 2025 |work=Constructionbriefing.com |url=https://www.constructionbriefing.com/news/upgraded-highway-improves-trade-links-in-southwest-congo-africa/8082980.article?zephr_sso_ott=YOig9Y }}</ref> Kinshasa does not have direct road connections to many provincial capitals, especially those in the north.<ref name="WorldBank-2016">{{Cite web |first1=Richard |last1=Damania |first2=Alvaro Federico |last2=Barra |first3=Mathilde |last3=Burnouf |first4=Jason Daniel |last4=Russ |title=Transport, Economic Growth, and Deforestation in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A Spatial Analysis |year=2016 |publisher=World Bank |url=https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/135731468184171732/pdf/103695-WP-P145907-PUBLIC-Transport-Economic-Growth-and-Deforestation-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo-1-13-16.pdf |access-date=12 December 2025 |archive-date=14 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250214000716/https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/135731468184171732/pdf/103695-WP-P145907-PUBLIC-Transport-Economic-Growth-and-Deforestation-in-the-Democratic-Republic-of-Congo-1-13-16.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Air=== The city has two airports: N'djili Airport (FIH) is the main airport with connections to other African countries as well as to Istanbul, Brussels, Paris and some other destinations. N'Dolo Airport, located close to downtown, is used for domestic flights only with small turboprop aircraft. Several international airlines serve Ndjili Airport including Kenya Airways, South African Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Air France and Turkish Airlines. An average of ten international flights depart each day from N'djili Airport.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flightera.net/airport/Kinshasa/FZAA?mode=departure#flights |title=Flightera.net |date=21 August 2022 |access-date=10 November 2019 |archive-date=1 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401101503/https://www.flightera.net/airport/Kinshasa/FZAA?mode=departure#flights |url-status=live }}</ref> A small number of airlines provide domestic service from Kinshasa, for example Congo Airways and CAA. Both offer scheduled flights from Kinshasa to a limited number of cities inside DR Congo.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aeroport-kinshasa.com/en/index_en.php |title=N'djili Airport website |access-date=11 November 2019 |archive-date=27 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027073223/https://www.aeroport-kinshasa.com/en/index_en.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Rail=== {{See also|Railways in the Democratic Republic of the Congo}} [[File:Kinshasa train station (21237028852).jpg|thumb|A memorial at Kinshasa train station remembering those who died during the construction of the railroad]] Plans to build an urban railway system in Kinshasa called MetroKin were announced in 2023. The start of service is not expected until 2026 at the earliest.<ref name="RG-2023">{{Cite web |title=Kinshasa Urban Train aims to improve transport in fast-growing city |work=Railway Gazette |date=7 March 2023 |access-date=12 December 2025 |url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/passenger/kinshasa-urban-train-aims-to-improve-transport-in-fast-growing-city/63666.article }}</ref>
The Kinshasa central station is in the riverside commune of Gombe,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clowes |first=William |title=The Atlantic to Kinshasa: A journey on the River Congo |date=15 July 2017 |access-date=12 December 2025 |work=Al Jazeera |url= https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2017/7/15/the-atlantic-to-kinshasa-a-journey-on-the-river-congo}}</ref> and is on the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway, a line connecting it with the country's main Atlantic seaport of Matadi and the province of Kongo Central.<ref>{{cite web |title=DRC Unveils $956 Million Plan to Modernize Matadi-Kinshasa Railway – Efficacy News |url=https://efficacynews.africa/2024/02/21/drc-unveils-956-million-plan-to-modernize-matadi-kinshasa-railway/ |website=efficacynews.africa |access-date=22 December 2024 |date=21 February 2024}}</ref><ref name="MB-2025">{{Cite web |title=Kinshasa-Matadi Rail Line Restored After Five Years of Silence |work=Miningandbusiness.com |date=12 September 2025 |access-date=12 December 2025 |url=https://miningandbusiness.com/2025/09/12/kinshasa-matadi-rail-line-restored-after-five-years-of-silence/ }}</ref> The railway reopened in 2025 for passenger service multiple times per week, after five years of renovation.<ref name="Eco">{{Cite web |title=DRC Reconnects Capital to Coast as Rail Service Resumes After 5 Years |date=8 September 2025 |access-date=12 December 2025 |work=Ecofinagency.com |url=https://www.ecofinagency.com/news-services/0809-48480-drc-reconnects-capital-to-coast-as-rail-service-resumes-after-5-years }}</ref> Before the reopening, service was provided twice daily along the smaller section between Kinshasa and Kasangulu.<ref name="RG-2023" /><ref name="MB-2025" />
There is no rail direct connection between Kinshasa and the interior of the DRC, though it is historically connected by river transport to Ilebo, Kasaï Province, which is the start of the line south to Lubumbashi and the Zambian border.<ref name="WorldBank-2010">{{Cite web |last1=Foster |first1=Vivien |last2=Benitez |first2=Daniel Alberto |title=The Democratic Republic of Congo's Infrastructure: A Continental Perspective |year=2010 |publisher=World Bank |url=https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/sites/default/files/2022-06/AICD-DRC-country-report.pdf |access-date=12 December 2025 |archive-date=7 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250307211604/https://ppp.worldbank.org/public-private-partnership/sites/default/files/2022-06/AICD-DRC-country-report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Log">{{Cite web |title=Democratic Republic of Congo Railway Assessment |access-date=12 December 2025 |work=Logistics Cluster |url=https://lca.logcluster.org/democratic-republic-congo-24-democratic-republic-congo-railway-assessment }}</ref>
===River=== Kinshasa is the major river port of the Congo, which handles over two million tons of freight annually. Rivers are the main connection of Kinshasa with much of the country due to the fractured and poor state of the road network, and the limited extent of rail network.<ref name="WorldBank-2016" /> The port, called 'Le Beach Ngobila' extends for about {{cvt|7|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} along the river, comprising scores of quays and jetties with hundreds of boats and barges tied up. Ferries cross the river to Brazzaville, a distance of about {{cvt|4|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}. River transport also connects to dozens of ports upstream, such as Kisangani and Bangui. thumb|Port of Kinshasa
==Social issues== thumb|Downtown Kinshasa at night
===Crime and punishment=== Since the Second Congo War, the city has been striving to recover from disorder, with many youth gangs living and operating from Kinshasa's poorer areas.<ref>Jonny Hong, "Gang crime threatens the future of Congo's capital", ''Reuters'', 19 June 2013.</ref> The U.S. State Department in 2010 informed travelers that Kinshasa and other major Congolese cities are generally safe for daytime travel, but to beware of robbers, especially in traffic jams and in areas near hotels and stores.<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Dept. of State – Congo, Democratic Republic of the Country Specific Information |url=https://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1104.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219124428/http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1104.html |archive-date=19 December 2010 |access-date=15 December 2010 |publisher=United States Department of State}}</ref>
Some sources say that Kinshasa is extremely dangerous, with one source giving a homicide rate of 112 per 100,000 people per year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bruce Baker |title=Nonstate Policing: Expanding the Scope for Tackling Africa's Urban Violence |url=http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AfricaBrief-7.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005100432/http://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AfricaBrief-7.pdf |archive-date=5 October 2011 |access-date=17 August 2018 |website=Africacenter.org}}</ref> Another source cites a homicide rate of 12.3 per 100,000.<ref name="ElechiMorris2010">O. Oko Elechi and Angela R. Morris, "Congo, Democratic Republic of the (Congo-Kinshasa)"; in Mahesh K. Nalla & Graeme R. Newman (eds.), ''Crime and Punishment around the World'', Volume 1: Africa and the Middle East; Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010; pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2uK6bR9byVIC&pg=PA53 53]–56.</ref> By some accounts, crime in Kinshasa is not so rampant, due to relatively good relations among residents and perhaps to the severity with which even petty crime is punished.<ref name=Trapido2016 />
While the military and National Police operate their own jails in Kinshasa, the main detention facility under the jurisdiction of the local courts is the Kinshasa Penitentiary and Re-education center in Makala. This prison houses much more than its nominal capacity of 1,000 inmates. In 2024, the population of Makala Prison was reported at 15,000.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjwknzy20xo] BBC News - 'Hell behind bars' - life in DR Congo's most notorious jail</ref> The Congolese military intelligence organization, Détection Militaire des Activités Anti-Patrie (DEMIAP) operates the Ouagadougou prison in Kintambo commune with notorious cruelty.<ref name=ElechiMorris2010 /><ref>''[http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/Prisons%20in%20the%20DRC.pdf Prisons in the Democratic Republic of Congo] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918175258/http://acjr.org.za/resource-centre/Prisons%20in%20the%20DRC.pdf |date=18 September 2017 }}'', ed. Ryan Nelson, Refugee Documentation Center, Ireland; May 2002.</ref>
===Street children=== In the 2010s, street children, or "Shegués", often orphaned, are subject to abuse by the police and military.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Manson |first=Katrina |date=22 July 2010 |title=Congo's children battle witchcraft accusations |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66L2TB20100722?sp=true |access-date=14 March 2011 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201063814/https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE66L2TB20100722?sp=true |url-status=live }}</ref> Of the estimated 20,000 children living on Kinshasa's streets, almost a quarter are beggars, some are street vendors and about a third have some kind of employment.<ref>{{Cite web |date=8 July 2009 |title=Street Children in Kinshasa |url=http://africaaction.typepad.com/justafrica/2009/07/african-street-children-kinshasa-drc.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811051604/http://africaaction.typepad.com/justafrica/2009/07/african-street-children-kinshasa-drc.html |archive-date=11 August 2011 |access-date=14 March 2011 |publisher=Africa Action}}</ref> Some have fled from physically abusive families, notably step-parents, others were expelled from their families as they were believed to be witches,<ref>{{Cite web |title=A night on the streets with Kinshasa's 'child witches' |url=http://www.warchild.org.uk/our_projects/democratic_republic_of_congo/blog/child-witches-in-kinshasa |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212202739/http://www.warchild.org.uk/our_projects/democratic_republic_of_congo/blog/child-witches-in-kinshasa |archive-date=12 February 2011 |access-date=14 March 2011 |publisher=War Child UK – Warchild.org.uk}}</ref> and have become outcasts.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Danballuff – Children of Congo: From War to Witches(video) |url=http://www.gvnet.com/streetchildren/Congo.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724075658/http://www.gvnet.com/streetchildren/Congo.htm |archive-date=24 July 2011 |access-date=14 March 2011 |publisher=Gvnet.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1 June 2007 |title=Africa Feature: Around 20,000 street children wander in Kinshasa |url=http://english.people.com.cn/200706/01/eng20070601_379840.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017203028/http://english.people.com.cn/200706/01/eng20070601_379840.html |archive-date=17 October 2012 |access-date=14 March 2011 |publisher=English.people.com.cn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children |url=http://www.gvnet.com/streetchildren/Congo.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724075658/http://www.gvnet.com/streetchildren/Congo.htm |archive-date=24 July 2011 |access-date=14 March 2011 |publisher=Gvnet.com}}</ref>
Street children are mainly boys,<ref>{{Cite web |title=At the centre – Street Childrens |url=http://streetchildrenofkinshasa.com/whatwedo/meeting-the-street-children-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402122101/http://streetchildrenofkinshasa.com/whatwedo/meeting-the-street-children-2/ |archive-date=2 April 2016 |access-date=21 March 2016 |website=streetchildrenofkinshasa.com}}</ref> but the percentage of girls is increasing according to UNICEF. Ndako ya Biso provides support for street children, including overnight accommodation for girls.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ross |first=Aaron |date=13 March 2016 |title=Beaten and discarded, Congo street children are strangers to mining boom |work=reuters.com |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-congodemocratic-streetchildren-idUKKCN0WF09C |url-status=dead |access-date=21 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314192348/http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-congodemocratic-streetchildren-idUKKCN0WF09C |archive-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> There are also second generation street children.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Future? Street Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo: IV. Background |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/drc0406/4.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404023125/https://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/drc0406/4.htm |archive-date=4 April 2016 |access-date=21 March 2016 |website=hrw.org}}</ref>
These children have been the object of considerable outside study.<ref>Camille Dugrand, "Subvertir l'ordre? Les ambivalences de l'expression politique des Shégués de Kinshasa"; ''Revue Tiers Monde'' 4(228), 2016; doi:10.3917/rtm.228.0045. "Figures incontournables de l'urbanité kinoise, les Shégués ont fait l'objet de plusieurs travaux scientifiques (Biaya, 1997, 2000; De Boeck, 2000, 2005; Geenen, 2009)."</ref>
==Notable people== {{main|List of people from Kinshasa}}
==International relations == Kinshasa is twinned with:
* {{flagicon|CGO}} Brazzaville, Republic of Congo * {{flagicon|Belgium}} Brussels, Belgium<ref>{{cite web |title=Brussels |url=https://efus.eu/about-us/brussels/ |website=efus.eu |date=21 January 2012 |publisher=European Forum for Urban Security |access-date=15 February 2022 |archive-date=8 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808183020/https://efus.eu/about-us/brussels/ |url-status=live}}</ref> * {{flagicon|RSA}} Johannesburg, South Africa * {{flagicon|TUR}} Ankara, Turkey, since 2005<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sister Cities of Ankara |url=http://www.ankara.bel.tr/en/foreign-relations-department/sister-cities-of-ankara#.V649oGVvfxt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609230147/http://www.ankara.bel.tr/en/foreign-relations-department/sister-cities-of-ankara#.V649oGVvfxt |archive-date=9 June 2016 |access-date=17 August 2018 |website=Ankara.bel.tr}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Democratic Republic of the Congo|Cities}} * Traffic robots in Kinshasa * Lake Chad replenishment project
=== Films about Kinshasa === * ''Kinshasa Kids'' * ''Kinshasa palace'' * ''Kinshasa Symphony''
==References== {{reflist}}
=== Bibliography === * Nzuzi, Francis Lelo (2008). ''Kinshasa: Ville et Environnement''. Paris: L'Harmattan, September 2008. {{ISBN|978-2-296-06080-7}}. * Pain, Marc (1984). ''[http://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:15877 Kinshasa: la ville et la cité].'' Paris: Orstom, Institut Français de Recherche Scientifique pour le Développement en Coopération.
==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wikivoyage|Kinshasa}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20011027044821/http://www.kinshasa.cd/ Official website of the city of Kinshasa] * [http://www.wdl.org/en/item/59 Map of the Belgian Congo]{{Dead link|date=May 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }} from 1896 includes a map of Kinshasa * [https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/photo-exhibit-explores-life-urban-now Slideshow of 21 photos of Kinshasa] from 2013 to 2015 on Open Society Foundations website * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faJ1z7YUQMk Kinshasa: a travers le centre ville, May 2015] – footage from streets of Kinshasa
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