Orientale Province


Orientale is one of the eleven former provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The province lay in the northeast of the country. It bordered Équateur to the west, Kasaï-Oriental province to the southwest, Maniema to the south, and North Kivu to the southeast. It also bordered the Central African Republic and South Sudan to the north, and Uganda to the east. The provincial capital is Kisangani.
The province was divided into the Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé and Tshopo districts and the Ituri Interim Administration. These became were elevated to provinces in 2015 under the 2006 constitution.

History

Orientale Province was formed in 1966 from the amalgamation of the regions of Uele, Kibali-Ituri and Haut-Congo. In 2015, the province dissolved into the provinces of Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, Ituri and Tshopo.
In 1998 the Orientale villages of Durba and Watsa were the center of an outbreak of Marburg virus disease among gold mine workers.
The Ituri district of Orientale was the scene of the Ituri conflict.
As of 2014, militia groups continue to fight in the province and have reportedly committed many atrocities against the local population, such as forcing women into sex slavery and forcing men to work in mines.

Approximate correspondence between historical and current province

Current divisions