Map of Bas-Congo
Bas-Congo is a first-level division of DR Congo. Its largest mapped city is Matadi, with about 245,862 people in the metropolitan area. The interactive map below is centred on Bas-Congo, and the tables list its 7 mapped cities along with the ports nearest to them.
- Cities Mapped
- 7
- Largest City
- Matadi
- Country
- DR Congo
Interactive Map of Bas-Congo
About Bas-Congo
Kongo Central (Kongo: Kongo dia Kati), formerly Bas-Congo, is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Matadi.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Kongo Central (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Bas-Congo in Depth
History
At the time of independence, the area now encompassing Kongo Central was part of the greater province of Léopoldville, along with the capital city of Kinshasa and the districts of Kwango, Kwilu and Mai-Ndombe. Under Belgian colonial rule, the territory of the current province was a district known as Bas-Congo (as in "Lower Congo River") and was renamed Kongo Central after independence.
Under the regime of Mobutu Sese Seko from 1965 to 1997, the Congo river was renamed as Zaire. The province was named as Bas-Zaïre. The name was later reverted to Bas-Congo. It was subsequently renamed as Kongo Central in 2015.
Geography
Kongo Central is the only province in the country with an ocean coastline; it has narrow frontage on the Atlantic Ocean to the west. It borders the city-province of Kinshasa to the north-east, the province of Kwango to the east, and the Republic of Angola to the south as well as the Republic of the Congo and Cabinda to the north. The entire province has a tropical savanna climate by the Köppen-Geiger climate classification.
The lower Congo River traverses the province from the north-east to the south-west. It is navigable from the Atlantic Ocean to the port city of Matadi after which there are a series of rapids that make it unnavigable until the Malebo Pool.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Kongo Central (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Bas-Congo: Key Facts
| Population | 6,838,500 (2020) |
|---|---|
| Area | 53,920 km² |
| Capital | Matadi |
Facts from Wikidata Q1043494 (CC0).
History of Bas-Congo: Empires and States
The atlas records 6 polities whose mapped territory included part of Bas-Congo, from Kingdom of Kongo in 1440 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.
| Polity | Period here |
|---|---|
| Kingdom of Kongo | 1440–1669 CE |
| Kingdom of Lunda | 1709–1889 CE |
| Kingdom of Belgium | 1885–1899 CE |
| Belgian Congo | 1890–1959 CE |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1960–2024 CE |
| Zaire | 1973–1995 CE |
Historical Maps of Bas-Congo
Bas-Congo on the world map in each year one of these states held it:
Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.
Largest Cities in Bas-Congo
7 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.
| # | Name | Population | Region | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matadi | 245,862 | Bas-Congo | Admin-1 capital |
| 2 | Mbanza-Ngungu | 197,545 | Bas-Congo | Populated place |
| 3 | Boma | 178,638 | Bas-Congo | Populated place |
| 4 | Moanda | 153,915 | Bas-Congo | Populated place |
| 5 | Tshela | 38,845 | Bas-Congo | Populated place |
| 6 | Kasangulu | 27,961 | Bas-Congo | Populated place |
| 7 | Kimpese | 10,578 | Bas-Congo | Populated place |
Ports in Bas-Congo
2 ports mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.
Bas-Congo: Quick Answers
- Where is Bas-Congo?
- Bas-Congo is a first-level division of DR Congo, in Africa. Its mapped cities centre on 5.4168° S, 13.7512° E.
- What is the largest city in Bas-Congo?
- Matadi is the largest city mapped in Bas-Congo, with a metropolitan population of about 245,862.
- How many cities are in Bas-Congo?
- YearMaps maps 7 cities and towns in Bas-Congo, with a combined metropolitan population of about 853,344. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.