Lodja
Town
Lodja is located in Democratic Republic of the Congo
Lodja
Lodja
Coordinates: 3°31′21.91″S 23°35′49.52″E / 3.5227528°S 23.5970889°E / -3.5227528; 23.5970889
Population
 (2016)
 • Total68,244[1]

Lodja is a remote town in the Sankuru (formerly Kasaï-Oriental) province in central Democratic Republic of the Congo.[1] It is serviced by the Lodja Airport which is about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from town.[2] Lodja is a hub for both rice production in the province and diamond mining in the country.[3][4][5] Lodja is and has been home to many Tetela.[6]

History

Lodja Hospital was built in the 1950s by Belgian colonizers but was abandoned unfinished when the Republic of the Congo declared independence in 1960.[7] The town was captured by rebel forces during the Second Congo War in April 1999 but returned to Congolese rule by January 2000.[7][8]

According to censuses, Lodja had 28,671 residents in 1984; 52,798 in 2004; 64,147 in 2012; and 68,244 in 2016.[1]

Language

The Sankuru province consists mainly of the Otetela Bantu, often shortened to Tetela, language tribal areas, with 98% speaking the language and 50-60% speaking it exclusively. Thirty to forty percent of Lodja speak Lingala, a military and trade language, with those from the Kinshasa and Équateur provinces. French is used mainly by government officials and those who are well-educated; about 20-30% of Lodja residents speak it at least conversationally. English and neighboring tribal languages, such as Tshiluba and Swahili are spoken by about 1-2%.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Lodja, Sankuru, Democratic Republic of the Congo". Mindat. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  2. ↑ "Lodja Airport". SkyVector. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  3. ↑ "Democratic Republic of the Congo: Staple food market fundamentals October 2015" (PDF). United States Agency for International Development. 2015. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  4. ↑ United Nations (2002-10-16). "Plundering of DR Congo natural resources: Final report of the Panel of Experts (S/2002/1146)". reliefweb. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  5. ↑ "Overview of the Congolese Diamond Economy" (PDF). Africa Portal. Diamond Industry Annual Review. n.d. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  6. ↑ "RD Congo/Lodja : Après les incendies des maisons, Caritas prête à assister les familles victimes". Relief Web. United Nations. 2010-04-22. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  7. 1 2 Scoofs, Mark (2000-12-01). "Congo's Isolated Villages Struggle To Survive, Seek Desperate Remedies". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
  8. ↑ "DR CONGO TROOPS RETAKE LODJA". Mail & Guardian. 2000-01-26. Retrieved 2022-04-24.
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