5°53S 22°26E, pop (2000e) 462 300. Capital of Kasai Occidental region, WC Democratic Republic of Congo, on R Lulua; scene of a mutiny by Congo Free State troops, 1895; airfield; railway; commerce, agricultural trade, diamonds.
Kananga, formerly (and on some company names) known as Luluabourg, is the capital of the Kasai-Occidental province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The city lies on the Sanguru River and the Ilebo – Lubumbashi railway.
History
German explorer Herman Wißmann established a station in the area around present-day Kananga, on the left-bank of the Lulua river. Later on, with the construction of the railway on the other bank of the river, the station was moved, and the Lulua train station gave its name to the new town, namely Luluabourg.
At the Brussels Round Table in 1960, name given to the negotiations for the independence of the (then) Belgian Congo , a decision was taken that the new state would move the location of its capital from Kinshasa to Kananga (then Luluabourg), due to the latter's central location.
In 1966, in a move to reclaim the "authenticity" of Congolese identity, Mobutu Sese Seko renamed a number of cities and towns that bore European names.
Locally, Kananga is known as Kananga-Malandji, or even Kananga-Malandji wa Nshinga.
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