Masina is a municipality (''
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
'') in the
Tshangu district of
Kinshasa, the
capital city
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
of the
Democratic Republic of the 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 ...
.
It is bordered by the
Pool Malebo
The Pool Malebo, formerly Stanley Pool, also known as Mpumbu, Lake Nkunda or Lake Nkuna by local indigenous people in pre-colonial times, is a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River. in the north and ''Boulevard Lumbumba'' to the south.
Masina shelters within it the ''
Marché de la Liberté "M’Zee Laurent-Désiré Kabila''”, one of the largest markets of Kinshasa, which was built under the presidency of
Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Laurent-Désiré Kabila () (27 November 1939 – 18 January 2001) or simply Laurent Kabila ( US: ), was a Congolese revolutionary and politician who was the third President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1997 until his assassinatio ...
to repay the inhabitants of the district of Tshangu who had resisted the rebels in August 1998.
The area is known by the nickname "''
Chine Populaire''" ("People's China").
Geography
Masina, together with the communes of
Ndjili and
Kimbanseke, belong to the district of
Tshangu 20 km east of central Kinshasa.
Relief Web copy of RDC public works map
/ref>
Most of the municipality is occupied by a wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
bordering the Pool Malebo
The Pool Malebo, formerly Stanley Pool, also known as Mpumbu, Lake Nkunda or Lake Nkuna by local indigenous people in pre-colonial times, is a lake-like widening in the lower reaches of the Congo River. , which explains the low population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
relative of the municipality. The urban area, stretching along Boulevard Lumumba, however, reaches population densities comparable to those of other municipalities in the heart of Kinshasa (about 50,000 inhabitants per km).
See also
References
External links
City Map of Kinshasa
(2001)
Map of Léopoldville
(1954)
Communes of Kinshasa
Tshangu District
{{DRCongo-geo-stub