The Tshilongo River () is a river in the southeast 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 ...

Course

The watershed of the Tshilongo River, which flows from north to south, is west of the watershed of the Dipeta and Mofia rivers. The Tshilongo River originates just south of the village of Tshilongo and flows south-east to Tenke. Along this stretch the RP615 provincial highway and the

Lubudi Lubudi is a territory in the Lualaba Province 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 ne ...

–Tenke railway run parallel to the river. The Tshilongo River then runs south from Tenke to join the Kando River. The Kando flows west to join the

Lualaba River The Lualaba River (, , ) flows entirely within the eastern part of Democratic Republic of the Congo. It provides the greatest streamflow to the Congo River, while the River source, source of the Congo is recognized as the Chambeshi River, Chambeshi ...

near

Kolwezi Kolwezi or Kolwesi is the capital city of Lualaba Province in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, west of Likasi. It has an airport and a railway to Lubumbashi. Just outside of Kolwezi there is the static inverter plant of the ...

. A new plant species, ''

Streptocarpus ''Streptocarpus'' ("twisted fruit" from Greek στρεπτός (''streptos'') "twisted" and καρπός (''karpos'') "fruit") is an Afrotropics, Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is native to Afromont ...

malachiticola'', was found along the Tshilongo in the rocks bordering the right bank near Kabwe village in 1980.

History

The Compagnie de Chemin de fer du Katanga opened the section of the

Lubumbashi Lubumbashi ( , ; former ; former ) is the second-largest Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the country's southeasternmost part, along the border with Zambia. The capital ...

–

Bukama Bukama is a town in Haut-Lomami Province of south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of 2009 it had an estimated population of 42,718. Climate Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as a tropical savanna c ...

line that ran from Kamatanda Junction to Tenke and the Tshilongo River on 15 July 1914. The section from the Tshilongo River to

opened on 1 April 1918. The Benguela Railway ran through

Portuguese West Africa In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1972), and the State of Angola of the Portuguese Empire (19 ...

(Angola) from

Lobito Lobito is a municipality in Angola. It is located in Benguela Province, on the Atlantic Coast north of the Catumbela Estuary. The Lobito municipality had a population of 393,079 in 2014. History The city was founded in 1843 and owes its existe ...

Bay on the Atlantic to the border of Katanga province in 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 ...

. It opened to the border on 10 June 1929. The next step was construction of the section from the frontier to the Tshilongo at Tenke. The

Dilolo Dilolo is a town in Dilolo Territory, Lualaba province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies within five miles of the eastern bank of the Luao River, the DRC-Angolan border, and the Angolan town of Luau, at an altitude of 3510 ft ...

–Tenke line opened on 26 April 1931. During

Operation Grandslam Operation Grandslam was an offensive undertaken by United Nations peacekeeping forces from 28 December 1962 to 15 January 1963 against the forces of the State of Katanga, a secessionist state rebelling against the Republic of the C ...

, where

United Nations peacekeeping Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role of the United Nations's Department of Peace Operations and an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is ...

forces attacked the secessionist

State of Katanga The State of Katanga (; ), also known as the Republic of Katanga, was a breakaway state that proclaimed its independence from Republic of Congo (Léopoldville), Congo-Léopoldville on 11 July 1960 under Moïse Tshombe, leader of the local CO ...

, on 17 January 1963 forward elements of the 99th Brigade reached the Tshilongo River where they were ordered to halt. That afternoon

Moïse Tshombe Moïse Kapenda Tshombe (sometimes written Tshombé; 10 November 1919 – 29 June 1969) was a List of people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese businessman and politician. He served as the president of the secessionist State of ...

formally surrendered.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tshilongo River Lualaba River Rivers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Tributaries of the Congo River