Bas-Uele District (, ) was a district of the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. It was formed from part of

Uele District Uele District (, ) was a district of the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It roughly corresponded to the current provinces of Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé. Landscape The Uele District, shown as the Uellé District on an 1897 map of the Congo ...

in 1912 and was later merged into Uele District, then split out again. There were various boundary changes. It roughly corresponded in area to the present

Bas-Uélé Bas-Uélé (French for "Lower Uélé") is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, Ituri, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the forme ...

province.

Location

Bas-Uele District (Lower Uele District) was named after the

Uele River The Uele, also known by the phonetically identical Uélé, Ouélé, or Welle River, is a river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Course The Uele forms at Dungu, at the confluence of the Dungu and Kibali rivers, which both originate ...

, and covers the lower part of the river basin. To the west the river joins the

Mbomou River The Mbomou River or Bomu (also spelled M'bomou in French) forms part of the boundary between the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Mbomou merges with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River. The ...

to form the

Ubangi River The Ubangi River (; ; ; ), also spelled Oubangui, is a river in Central Africa, and the largest right-bank tributary of the Congo River. It begins at the confluence of the Mbomou River, Mbomou (mean annual discharge 1,350 m3/s) and Uele Rivers (mea ...

, which defined the northwest boundary of the colony. Most of the inhabitants of the Bas-Uele District, with a population of 900,000 in 2007, are

Boa people The Boa people or Baboa people (singular ''Boa'', also ''Ababua'', ''Ababwa'', ''Babua'', ''Babwa'', ''Bwa'') are an ethnic group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They speak the Bwa language. The Baboa live in the savanna region in the no ...

. They live mainly through subsistence farming and hunting, with some river commerce.

Belgian Congo

The district was created by an ''arrêté royal'' of 28 March 1912, which divided the Congo into 22 districts. A 1912 map shows that the former

had been broken into the Bas-Uele and Haut-Uele (Upper Uele) districts. Bas-Uele was bordered by French territory to the north, Haut-Uele to the east, Stanleyville and

Aruwimi The Aruwimi River (, ) is a tributary of the Congo River, located to the north and east of the Congo.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , Vol. Two The Aruwimi begins as the Ituri River, which rises near ...

to the south, and Bangala and Ubangi to the west. The Bas-Uele District became part of the

Orientale Province Orientale Province () is one of the former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its predecessors the Congo Free State and the Belgian Congo. It went through a series of boundary changes between 1898 and 2015, when it was divided ...

created in 1913. With the 1933 reorganization Bas-Uele and Haut-Uele were again combined into Uele District, and lay in the new

Stanleyville Province Stanleyville may refer to: United States * Stanleyville, North Carolina * Stanleyville, Ohio, an unincorporated community Elsewhere * Stanleyville, Belgian Congo, the former name for Kisangani Kisangani (), formerly Stanleyville (), i ...

. By 1954 Stanleyville Province had been renamed Orientale Province, and Uele District had again been split into Bas-Uele and Haut-Uele districts. A 1955–1957 map shows Bas-Uele District bordered by French territory to the north,

Haut-Uele District Haut-Uele District (, ) was a district of the Belgian Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was formed from part of Uele District in 1912. It roughly corresponded in area to the present Haut-Uélé province. Location Haut-Uele Distri ...

to the east,

Stanleyville District Stanleyville District (, ) was a district of the Belgian Congo and Democratic Republic of the Congo. It went through various changes in extent. Between 1933 and 1963 it had roughly the same extent as the current Tshopo province. Congo Free State ...

to the south and

Mongala District Mongala District (, ) was a district of the Belgian Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It went through various changes in extent. It covered roughly the same area as the present Mongala province and most of Nord-Ubangi province. Loca ...

to the west. The area was out of a total of for Orientale province as a whole.

Post-Independence

On 27 July 1962 the administration of Orientale Province was taken over by the central government. It was divided into the new provinces of Kibali-Ituri, Uélé and

Haut-Congo Haut-Congo Province was a province of the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was formed in April 1962 from part of the Orientale Province. In 1966 it was merged back into the reconstituted Orientale ...

. On 28 December 1966 Orientale Province was reunited. On 11 July 2015 it was split into the provinces of

Haut-Uélé Haut-Uélé (French for "Upper Uélé") is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Haut-Uélé, Bas-Uélé, Ituri, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the forme ...

Ituri Ituri Province ( in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the Subdivisions of the DR Congo#New provinces, 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces ...

and

Tshopo Tshopo is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. It is situated in the north central part of the country on the Tshopo River, for which it is named. Tshopo, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, ...

Maps

File:1912 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1912 provinces and districts File:1926 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1926 provinces and districts File:1933 provinces Belgian Congo cropped from 1950 administration map Atlas General du Congo 611.jpg, 1933 provinces and districts File:Democratic Republic of the Congo (26 provinces) - Bas-Uele.svg, Bas-Uélé province

References

Sources