Leopoldville Renamed Kinshasa

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31111, 14 July 1966, Page 13

Leopoldville Renamed Kinshasa

(N Z P A . Reuter —Copariflht? LEOPOLDVILLE, July 12.

Leopoldville and five other Congolese cities have changed their names in what is regarded as a Government move to promote nationalism and strengthen the Congo’s unity.

The change took place on July I—the day after the sixth anniversary of the Congo’s independence from Belgium. Leopoldville, the capital which the Belgians named after King Leopold IL has become Kinshasa—a name the exact origin of which is steeped in Congolese lore.

One legend says that when European explorers reached the spot where Leopoldville now stands, there was a village there named Kinshasa, after the local chief. Another version claims the name arose because of a misunderstanding by the Europeans of the local language. According to this, the Europeans summoned the local

chief and asked him in their own language: “What is the name of this village?” “N’ki sasa (What do you want)?” the chief was said to have replied in his Banfununga dialect The explorers wrote down Kinshasa as the name of the village. This stuck until years later when the booming city was selected as the Congolese capital and renamed Leopoldville. Tshombe’s Stronghold Elisabethville, the capital of South Katanga province and political stronghold of the former secessionist leader, Moise Tshombe. is now known as Lubumbashi.

Stanleyville, capital of the former rebel State and hub of the north-east region, has become Kisangani. The provincial capitals of Coquilhatville, Banningville, and Paulis have changed to Mbandaka, Bandundu, and Isoro respectively. The names of seven other provincial capitals, already Congolese in origin, have not been changed, though it is expected that other small towns which have Belgian names will make changes. Lubumbashi and Bandundu are the names of important rivers in their respective areas. The regions where the cities now stand were re-

ferred to by those names before the Belgians arrived in the latter part of the last century. Kisangani, Mbandaka, and Isoro were also locally-known names before the Belgian arrival. The changes are going to have international ramifications. Besides the necessity to change maps, aviation guides and other items, the rest of the world will probably start calling the Congo by another name—Congo-Kin-shasa.