Katanga(2) Region with nearly 500 thousand square kilometers consists of two geophysical zones: the upper Congo basin and the highlands that surround it.
The upper Congo, known as Lualaba starts in the high country near the Zambia border and flows north into Maniema Region. Before exiting the Mitumba Mountains it is dammed to form Lake Delcommune. After reaching relatively low elevations it travels through swamps, which include Lake Upemba. In this zone it is joined by the Lubidi and the Lovoi on its left, and the Lufira on its right. The latter is dammed in the mountains to form Lake Tshangalele. Yet further downstream the Lualaba's right bank receives both the Luvua, which emerges from Lake Mweru, straddling the Zambian border, and the Lukuga, which drains from Lake Tanganyika in the Great Rift Valley, cutting through the mountains.
Tributaries of the Congo that do not enter the Lualaba are the Lomani, the Kasai(3), and the headwaters of the Sankuru and the Lulua, both tributaries of the Kasai.
The highest peaks in the Malimba Mountains are near Lake Tanganyika, where one reaches near to 3,000 meters. Other named subdivisions of the Mitumba System are the Mulumbe Mountains, northwest of Lake Mweru and the Plateau of Manika, northwest of Lake Delcommune.
Almost two in three of the four and a half million people living here speak members of the L Group of Bantu languages. The single most important language is Luba(4), spoken by almost one in three as a first language. In the dialect continuum with it are Songe (more than three in 20) and Sanga (almost one in ten).
Important languages not in the L Group are Chokwe (more than one in ten), Taabwa (one in 20) and Bemba(5) (more than one in 20).(6,7)
Perhaps the usual Congolese pattern for religion prevails.
There is one city with more than a million residents, the capital, Lubumbashi.
Bantu people moved into the area, either from the north or the northeast, or both, being here for at least 2,000 years. Luba gained more prominence in the late 19th century, first under a Swahili city state, then under the Belgians--in both cases as a mobile labor pool. The Chokwe moved into the area in the late 19th century from the south, conquering a Lunda state; by their own tradition they were returning to their homeland. Bemba speakers, most of whom live in Zambia, claim a traditional homeland among Luba peoples in today's Katanga.
north, from the northeast
northeast
southeast and south
southwest
west, from the southwest
northwest
(1) Formerly known as Zaïre. Also called Kinshasa Congo.
(2) Also known as Shaba.
(3) Known as the Casai by Angolans.
(4) The dialect called Luba-Katanga (or Luba-Shaba or kiLuba or Central Luba) is the language's local form.
(5) There is more than one language called Bemba. This one is in the M Group.
(6) Some consider Taabwa a northern dialect of Bemba.
(7) The numbers represented by several languages along the Zambian border are very uncertain.