North Kivu
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| Country |  Democratic Republic of the Congo |
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| Capital | Goma | ||||
| Largest city | Goma | ||||
| National language | French, Swahili | ||||
| Land area¹ | 59,483 km² | ||||
| Governor | Julien Paluku Kahongya | ||||
| Population Density |
3,564,434 (est. 1998) 59.92/km² |
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| Districts | 1 | ||||
| Cities | 3 | ||||
| Demonym | North Kivutian | ||||
| Official Website | Province du Nord-Kivu | ||||
| Territorial Organisation - Cities | |||||
Nord-Kivu (also Kivu-Nord, North Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Its provincial capital is Goma.
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It borders Orientale to the north-west, Maniema to the west, and Sud-Kivu to the south. To the east it borders Uganda and Rwanda.
The province consists of three towns — Goma, Butembo and Beni — and five territories — Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Rutshuru and Walikale. The province is home to the Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site containing the endangered Mountain Gorillas.
The region was the scene of much fighting during the Second Congo War (1998–2003), and the Kivu conflict (2004-present).
In 2003 the Eighth Military Region of the new Congo Government's FARDC was established covering the province. Brigadier General Vainqueur Mayala is the current military region commander.[1] During late 2008, the FARDC maintained its dismal record in combat against Laurent Nkunda's CNDP faction, losing the Rumangabo military camp to the rebels.
The dissident Mai-Mai 85th Brigade, commanded by Colonel Samy Matumo, controls the casserite mine at Bisie, just north of Manoire in Walikale, in the south-east of North Kivu.[2] The former RCD-K/ML also has fighters in the province; 'at the beginning of the transition [2002-3] the RCD-Mouvement de Libération president declared he had 8-10,000 Armée Patriotic Congolaise (APC) troops in the Beni-Lubero area of North Kivu.’[3]
In October 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned of an increasing number of internally displaced people (IDP) in North Kivu related to the fighting there between the government army, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels and renegade troops, including Laurent Nkunda's forces, and a build-up of military supplies and forces, including the reported recruitment of child soldiers by armed groups across North Kivu. The UNHCR thought that there were over 370,000 people in North Kivu displaced since December 2006, and is expanding its camps in the Mugunga area where over 80,000 IDPs were estimated.[4]
| Nord-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
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- ^ Rwanda: War Rages in DRC as Government Forces Seek FDLR Support, The New Times, 21 September 2008
- ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/world/africa/16congo.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
- ^ International Crisis Group, Security Sector Reform in the Congo, Africa Report N°104, 13 February 2006, p.14
- ^ "DR Congo: UN agency concerned at military buildup in North Kivu", UN News Service (2007-10-05). Retrieved on 6 October 2007.
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