Kinshasa

Lore & Background

The Kinshasa site has been inhabited by Teke and Humbu people for centuries and was known as Nshasa before transforming into a commercial hub. The city was named Léopoldville by Henry Morton Stanley in honor of Leopold II of Belgium. Several theories exist about the origin of the name Kinshasa; Paul Raymaekers suggests it derives from Kikongo and Kihumbu words meaning a hill or inhabited area and a bag of salt, while Hendrik van Moorsel proposes it evolved from a Teke term for 'place of exchange'.

Reader's Guide

Kinshasa is the most densely populated city in the DRC, the third-most populous city and third-largest metropolitan area in Africa, and the world's seventh-most populous city proper. It is the largest nominally Francophone urban area globally. The city hosts significant institutional buildings such as the People's Palace, Palace of the Nation, Constitutional Court, and African Union City. Over 90 percent of the province's land remains rural.

Did You Know?

• Kinshasa and Brazzaville form the world's closest pair of capital cities, separated by a four-kilometer-wide unbridged span of the Congo River.
• Kinshasa is the largest nominally Francophone urban area globally.