Ikela is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Tshuapa Tshuapa is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Tshuapa, Équateur, Mongala, Nord-Ubangi, and Sud-Ubangi provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Équate ...

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, lying on the

Tshuapa River The Tshuapa River or Rivière Tshwapa is a river in Democratic Republic of the Congo, the main tributary of the Busira River. Course The river rises in the south of the Sankuru Nature Reserve and meanders north-northwest to Elinga-Mpango and on ...

east of

Boende Boende is a town and capital of Tshuapa Province, lying on the Tshuapa River, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a river port with riverboats sailing to Kinshasa via Mbandaka and is also home to an airport. As of 2009 it had an estimated ...

. Founded by

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in the early twentieth century as a

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

, it became an important local centre. It is the headquarters of the

Ikela Territory Ikela Territory an administrative division of Tshuapa Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The headquarters of the Territory is the town of Ikela Ikela is a market town in Tshuapa, Democratic Republic of Congo, lying on the Tshua ...

. The town was largely destroyed in the Second Congo War, being for many years under

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

from

Congolese Rally for Democracy The Congolese Rally for Democracy (french: Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie; abbreviated RCD), also known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy, is a political party and a former rebel group that operated in the eastern region of the ...

forces. Its population of 15,000 almost all fled, but around half have since returned to reconstruct it. Ikela is served by

Ikela Airport Ikela Airport is an airport serving the market town of Ikela in Tshuapa Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. See also * * * Transport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * List of airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo This ...

External links

Mines Advisory Group on the Zanga-Zanga group operations in Ikela

References

Populated places in Tshuapa {{DRCongo-geo-stub