Ituri Province

Ituri
Province
From left to right: Ituri Rainforest, Green landscape at Bunia, Lake Albert, An Okapi native to the Ituri province in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.
Official seal of Ituri
Seal
Location of Ituri
Coordinates: 1°50′N 29°30′E / 1.833°N 29.500°E / 1.833; 29.500
Country DR Congo
Established2015
Named forIturi River
CapitalBunia
Government
 • GovernorJohnny Luboya Nkashama (military)
Area
 • Total
65,658 km2 (25,351 sq mi)
 • Rank16th
Population
 (2020)
 • Total
4,392,200
 • Rank7th
 • Density66.895/km2 (173.26/sq mi)
Ethnic groups
 • NativeKakwa • Lugbara • Alur • Batwa • Bambuti • Lendu • Babira • Abatooro • Babali • Banyali • Bandaka • Okebu • Babudu • Logo • Mamvu • Bahema • Bakaiku • Imbo
 • SettlerCongolese Banyarwanda
Time zoneUTC+2 (CAT)
License Plate CodeDemocratic Republic of the Congo CGO / 07
Official languageFrench
National languageSwahili
Websiteprovinceituri.co archive

Ituri Province (French: Province de l'Ituri; Swahili: Mkoa wa Ituri) is one of the 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the subdividing of the former Orientale province. Ituri was formed from the Ituri district, whose town of Bunia was elevated to capital city of the new province.

Geography

Ituri Rainforest

Ituri is a region of high plateau (2,000–5,000 meters) that has a large tropical forest but also the landscape of savannah. The province has rare fauna, including the okapi, the national animal of the Congo. As for flora, an important species is Mongongo, whose leaves are used by the Mbuti to build their homes.[citation needed]

Map of Ituri showing tree-cover loss years, with forest remaining since 2000 in green and loss years shaded yellow through purple.
A map of tree-cover loss in Ituri, 2001-2024, from the Global Forest Change dataset.

The Ituri Rainforest is in this area, and is located northeast of the Ituri River and on the western side of Lake Albert. It has borders with Uganda and South Sudan.

Administration

Ituri is divided in to five territories and one independently administered city.

Administrative division Type Map
BuniaCityBunia
AruTerritoryAru
DjuguTerritoryDjugu
IrumuTerritoryIrumu
MahagiTerritoryMahagi
MambasaTerritoryMambasa

History

Prior to the adoption of the 2006 Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the legal status of Ituri was a topic of some dispute. From the beginning of the Second Congo War in 1998, it was held by soldiers of the Uganda People's Defense Force (UPDF) and the Ugandan-backed Movement for Liberation faction of the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD-ML). In June 1999, the commander of UPDF forces in the DRC, Brig. Gen. James Kazini, ignored the protests of RCD-ML leaders and re-created the province of Kibali-Ituri out of the eastern section of the northeastern Orientale province.

The province is almost always referred to simply as Ituri. The creation of the new province under the political rivalry contributed to the start of the current Ituri conflict, which has caused thousands of deaths. Most official cartographers did not include the new province, and those referring to it as a "province" rather than a "region" were sometimes viewed as having a pro-Uganda bias. With the new constitution, Ituri's status as a province was finally settled.[citation needed]

Creation as a province (2015)

In 2015, the Orientale Province was divided into 4 new provinces, one of which was Ituri.

Ebola outbreak (2026–present)

The earliest known case of ebola in Ituri in the 2026 epidemic was a 59-year old man. He became symptomatic on 24 April 2026 and died three days later on 27 April. As of 15 May 2026, the epidemic had reached 3 health zones, Bunia, Mongbwalu, and Rwampara. As of 26 May 2026, the ebola epidemic reached 4 more health zones, Aru, Kilo, Nizi, and Nyankunde.

Government

In 2003, an Ituri Interim Administration was formed through the efforts of the Ituri Pacification Commission, a commission sponsored by the United Nations Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC, abbreviation of the French name "Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo") that was set up, after much initial delay, after the pull-out of Ugandan troops from the district. It led to the creation of the Ituri Interim Assembly, which elected an administrator and an assembly chairperson. Petronille Vaweka, served as chairperson, and was also the sole deputy for the district to the National Assembly in Kinshasa.

The Interim Assembly was dissolved two years after its establishment.

Leaders

Governor of Kibali-Ituri from 1962-1966

Governors of Kibali-Ituri since 1999

Administrator of the Ituri Interim Administration

Governors of Ituri (from 2015)

Economy

Coffee and cocoa beans are major agricultural exports from Ituri. The cultivation of cocoa beans is growing in popularity among farmers.

The Kilo-Moto gold mines are partly located in Ituri. In the beginning of the 21st century, petroleum reserves were found by Heritage Oil and Tullow Oil on the shores of Lake Albert.

Demographics

Bunia from the air

The 2020 population was estimated to be 4,392,200.

Ethnic groups

The population is composed primarily of Alur, Hema, Lendu, Ngiti, Bira and Ndo-Okebo. Figures differ on which one of the groups constitutes the largest percentage of the population in the province. The Mbuti, a pygmy ethnic group, primarily live in the Ituri forest near the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. Some Mbuti have been forced into urban areas by deforestation, over-hunting and violence.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mokonzi, Azarias (10 May 2021). "Ituri : le Lieutenant-Général Johnny Nkashama Luboya nouveau gouverneur dit venir pour imposer la paix". Infocongo (in French). Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Découpage territorial : procédures d'installation de nouvelles provinces". Radio Okapi (in French). 13 July 2015. Archived from the original on 19 July 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  3. ↑ "Provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo". Statiods.com.
  4. ↑ "Background to the Hema-Lendu Conflict in Uganda-Controlled Congo (Human Rights Watch Press release, )". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  5. ↑ Asadu, Chinedu; Mwanamilongo, Saleh (17 May 2026). "WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda". AP News. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Congo confirms new Ebola outbreak, 80 deaths". Reuters. 15 May 2026. Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "Rapport de la Situation de la 17ème Epidémie de la Maladie à Virus EBOLA/RDC" [Report of the Situation of the 17th Ebola Virus Disease Epidemic]. insp.cd (in French). Retrieved 28 May 2026.
  8. ↑ "DR Congo: The Ituri Pacification Committee (IPC) adopts, by consensus, an interim mechanism - Democratic Republic of the Congo | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int. 14 April 2003. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  9. ↑ "Action for Peacekeeping: "I try to awaken humanity in every person" says Pétronille Vaweka". United Nations Peacekeeping. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  10. ↑ Studies, the Africa Center for Strategic. "Ituri Becomes Congo's Latest Flashpoint". Africa Center. Retrieved 4 February 2026.
  11. ↑ Kimonyo, Anicet (19 July 2024). "In DRC's Ituri, uncertainty for coffee farmers amid conflict, climate woes". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "Congo (Dem. Rep.): Provinces, Major Cities & Towns – Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information". www.citypopulation.de. Retrieved 11 February 2024.

Further reading