Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are administrative divisions of provinces with the exception of Kinshasa which itself has the status of a province. Cities are further divided into communes. They are led by mayors except for Kinshasa which is led by a governor.

Provincial cities The 25 provinces of DR Congo are divided into 33 cities (fr. villes, sing. ville) and 145 territories (fr. territoires, sing. territoire). Each provincial division is also a constituency of the National Assembly as well as of the Provincial Assembly of its province.Electoral law 2017, Articles 115,143. (not modified in 2022)

Each city is led by a mayor (fr. maire) and is further divided into communes with each commune led by a burgomaster (fr. bourgmestre). Currently mayors, burgomasters, and their deputies are appointed by the government. Elections to bring about elected local government in provincial capitals are scheduled for December 2023—September 2024.

All provincial capitals are, by organic law, cities and do not need to meet the requirement of having a population of at least 100,000.

Kinshasa The capital city of Kinshasa is a one of a kind administrative division due to article 2 of the Constitution which makes it a division of the country and gives it the status of a province. In practice this means that—like a province—it has a provincial government with an elected governor and an Assembly, but—like a city—it is divided into communes led by burgomasters. Uniquely, its 24 communes are also Provincial Assembly constituencies and are grouped into four National Assembly constituencies.

List of cities

+ Cities directly represented in the 2024–2028 National AssemblyCompiled from the lists of candidates for the National Assembly and the provincial assemblies available at the CENI website. See for example Sankuru NDCs and Tshuapa PDCs. City Province Assembly Seats Coordinates Nat'l Prov'l Bandundu ✪ Kwilu 3 2 3 of 43 Bandundu Beni North Kivu 4 2 2 of 44 North Kivu Boende ✪ Tshuapa 2 1 1 of 17 Équateur (old) Boma Kongo Central 3 2 3 of 36 Bas-Congo Bukavu ✪ South Kivu 3 5 7 of 44 South Kivu Bunia ✪ Ituri 3 2 3 of 43 Orientale Buta ✪ Bas-Uélé 4 1 1 of 17 Orientale Butembo North Kivu 4 4 4 of 44 North Kivu Gbadolite ✪ Nord-Ubangi 3 1 2 of 17 Équateur (old) Gemena ✪ Sud-Ubangi 4 1 2 of 26 Équateur (old) Goma ✪ North Kivu 2 4 4 of 44 North Kivu Inongo ✪ Mai-Ndombe 3 1 1 of 17 Bandundu Isiro ✪ Haut-Uélé 3 1 1 of 18 Orientale Kabinda ✪ Lomami 4 1 1 of 25 Kasaï-Oriental (old) Kalemie ✪ Tanganyika 3 2 3 of 23 Katanga Kamina ✪ Haut-Lomami 3 1 1 of 24 Katanga Kananga ✪ Kasaï-Central 5 4 6 of 31 Kasaï-Occidental Kenge ✪ Kwango 5 1 1 of 22 Bandundu Kikwit Kwilu 4 3 4 of 43 Bandundu Kindu ✪ Maniema 3 1 3 of 20 Maniema Kinshasa n/a 24 56 44 n/a Kisangani ✪ Tshopo 6 6 9 of 27 Orientale Kolwezi ✪ Lualaba 2 3 6 of 22 Katanga Likasi Haut-Katanga 4 3 4 of 44 Katanga Lisala ✪ Mongala 2 1 1 of 18 Équateur (old) Lubumbashi ✪ Haut-Katanga 7 14 20 of 44 Katanga Lumumbaville Sankuru 2 1 1 of 23 Kasaï-Oriental (old) Lusambo ✪ Sankuru 4 1 1 of 23 Kasaï-Oriental (old) Matadi ✪ Kongo Central 3 3 4 of 36 Bas-Congo Mbandaka ✪ Équateur 2 2 3 of 19 Équateur (old) Mbuji-Mayi ✪ Kasaï-Oriental 5 6 10 of 22 Kasaï-Oriental (old) Mwene-Ditu Lomami 3 1 3 of 25 Kasaï-Oriental (old) Tshikapa ✪ Kasaï 5 2 4 of 30 Kasaï-Occidental Zongo Sud-Ubangi 2 1 1 of 26 Équateur (old) Total 139 140 provincial capital

Due to the lack of reliable and comparable population figures, electoral districts are allocated seats in proportion to their voter registration numbers. The number of seats allocated to a city in the National Assembly and the Provincial Assembly is one measure of its relative political importance nationally and within its province respectively.

In 2018 cities accounted for 27% of the electorate, or 16% when Kinshasa is excluded.11,004,059 of 40,371,439 from data in Annex I.4 p. 8.

Cities in the making

In mid-2018, just before the general election of that year, the government upheld the 2013 granting of city status to a large number of populated places, including 65 not listed above. It was further decided to make these cities operational in stages. Since then the following ones have had their first mayor appointed and take office but are not National Assembly districts :

+ Settlements transforming into cities Name Province Mayor Coordinates Baraka South Kivu 3 Jacques Mmbucwa South Kivu Kamituga South Kivu 2 Alexandre Bundya South Kivu Kasaji Lualaba 3 Georges Kazadi Katanga Kasumbalesa Haut Katanga 3 André Kapamba Katanga Oicha North Kivu 3 Faustin Kambale Siluhwere North Kivu Tshimbulu Kasaï-Central 3 Marcel Mutamba Kasaï Occidental Uvira South Kivu 3 Kiza Muhato South Kivu

Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

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