Bunia
| Bunia | |
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Bunia from the air, looking north toward the Nyakasanza district
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 Bunia
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| Coordinates: 1°34′N 30°15′E / 1.567°N 30.250°E | |
| Country |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo
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| Province | Ituri |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Marie Louise Uronya Fwanuti |
| Area | |
| • Total | 57.6 km2 (22.2 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,277 m (4,190 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Total | 366,126 |
| • Density | 6,400/km2 (16,000/sq mi) |
| Climate | Aw |
| National language | Swahili |
Bunia is a city in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration. It was part of the Orientale Province until that province's dissolution.
It lies at an elevation of 1275 m on a plateau about 30 km west of Lake Albert in the Albertine Rift, and about 25 km east of the Ituri Forest.
The city is at the center of the Ituri conflict between the Lendu and Hema. In the Second Congo War the city and district were the scene of much fighting and many civilian deaths from this conflict, and related clashes between militias and Uganda-based forces. Consequently, the city is the base of one of the largest United Nations peace-keeping forces in Africa, and its headquarters in northeastern DRC. The area's natural resources include gold mines over which militias and foreign forces have been fighting.
The main dirt highways connecting north-eastern DR Congo with Kisangani to the west and Butembo and Goma to the south pass through Bunia, but have fallen into disrepair and are virtually impassable, especially after the frequent rains.
Bunia is only 40 km from the Ugandan border running down Lake Albert, but there are no road connections across the Great Rift Valley to the closest Ugandan towns of Toro and Fort Portal. Instead a dirt highway going north-east reaches Arua and Gulu north of the lake. Before the war made the route impassable, this was the chief trade route between the DRC and Uganda, as well between the DRC and Juba in South Sudan, and Bunia was an important market city, for cross-border trade as well as internal trade.
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Wikipedia