Ituri Province
| Ituri Province | |
|---|---|
| Province | |
_-_Ituri.svg) |
|
| Coordinates: 1°50′N 29°30′E / 1.833°N 29.500°ECoordinates: 1°50′N 29°30′E / 1.833°N 29.500°E | |
| Country |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo
|
| Capital | Bunia |
| Largest city | Bunia |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Jefferson Abdallah |
| Area | |
| • Total | 65,658 km2 (25,351 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 16th |
| Population (2005 est.) | |
| • Total | 4,241,236 |
| • Rank | 4th |
| • Density | 65/km2 (170/sq mi) |
| Official language | French |
| National language | Swahili |
Ituri is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is the city of Bunia.
The Ituri Rainforest is in this area. It is located northeast of the Ituri River and on the western side of Lake Albert. It has borders with the Uganda and Sudan. Its five administrative territories are:
Ituri is a region of high plateau (2000–5000 meters) that has a large tropical forest but also the landscape of savannah. The district has rare fauna, including the okapi, the national animal of the Congo. As for flora, an important species is Mangongo, whose leaves are used by the Mbuti to build their homes.
The Kilo-Moto gold mines are located in Ituri. In the beginning of the 21st century, petroleum reserves have been found by Heritage Oil and Tullow Oil on the shores of Lake Albert.
Ituri, as Kibali-Ituri, was a province of the DRC from 1962-1966. Prior to the adoption of the 2006 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the legal status of Ituri was a topic of some dispute. From the beginning of the Second Congo War in 1998, it was held by soldiers of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) and the Ugandan-backed Movement for Liberation faction of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD-ML). In June 1999, the commander of UPDF forces in the DRC, Brig. Gen. James Kazini, ignored the protests of RCD-ML leaders and re-created the province of Kibali-Ituri out of the eastern section of the northeastern Orientale province. It is almost always referred to simply as Ituri. The capital is Bunia. The creation of a new province under the governorship of a Hema contributed to the start of the current Ituri conflict, that has caused thousands of deaths. Most official cartographers did not include the new province, and those referring to it as a "province" rather than a "region" were sometimes viewed as having a pro-Uganda bias. With the new constitution, Ituri's status as a province is finally settled.
...
Wikipedia