Isiro () is the capital of Haut-Uele Province in the northeastern part of 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 lies between the equatorial forest and the

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

and its main resource is coffee. Isiro's population is estimated at approximately 182,000. Most people speak Pa-Zande (

Zande language Zande is the largest of the Zande languages. It is spoken by the Azande, primarily in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and western South Sudan, but also in the eastern part of the Central African Republic. It is called Pazand ...

Lingala Lingala (or Ngala, Lingala: ) is a Bantu languages, Bantu language spoken in the northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the northern half of the Republic of the Congo, in their capitals, Kinshasa and Brazzaville, and to a lesser de ...

and Swahili.

History

Isiro was named ''Paulis'' after colonel, later diplomat, when it was part 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 ...

. The city was developed in 1934 and reached its peak in 1957. In the troubled days of Congo's independence and its aftermath, operation ''Black Dragoon'' brought fighting between Belgian paratroopers and local

Simba Simba is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's ''The Lion King (franchise), The Lion King ''franchise. First appearing as a cub in ''The Lion King'' (1994), the character flees his homeland when his father, Mufasa, is ...

militias. In 1998, Isiro became the home of a newly created Dominican-operated university called '' Université de l'Uélé''. It is the third city in Orientale province (after Kisangani and Bunia) to welcome a university. In 2015 Isiro became the capital of the Province of Haut-Uele, under governor Jean-Pierre Lola Kisanga 2015-2019. In 2024 Isiro's population rose to over 400.000.

Transport

Isiro is served by

Matari Airport Matari Airport ( French: ''Aéroport de Matari'') is an airport serving Isiro, a city in Haut-Uélé Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The airport is northwest of the city. The Isiro-Matari VOR/DME (Ident: IRO) is located southea ...

, a national airport with flights to Kinshasa, the capital. The isolated

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Vicicongo line Chemins de fer des Uele (Uele Railways or Vicicongo line) is a narrow-gauge line in the north east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was built between 1924 and 1937 as a portage railway bypassing Congo River rapids. Route The line ru ...

to the river port of Bumba on the Congo River is not currently operational. The dirt roads to and from Isiro allow commercial trade with

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

and

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

, in principle, but may be impassable in the wet season.

People

Marie Daulne Marie Daulne (born 20 October 1964) is a Belgian singer. Daulne was born in Isiro, Haut-Uele District, Democratic Republic of the Congo to a Belgian who was killed that same year by Congo Crisis#Rural insurgencies in Eastern Provinces, Simba r ...

(born 1964), singer * (politician) Governor of Haut-Uele 2024-

References

{{Coord, 02, 47, N, 27, 37, E, region:CD_type:city, display=title Populated places in Haut-Uélé Cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

History

Transport

People

See also

References