Manono, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Manono | |
|---|---|
 Manono from the air | |
  Manono | |
| Coordinates: 7°17′41″S 27°27′16″E / 7.294704°S 27.454491°E | |
| Country | Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Province | Tanganyika |
| Territory | Manono |
| Climate | Aw |
| National language | Swahili |
Manono is a town and territory in Tanganyika Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
History
[edit]Manono was seriously affected by the Second Congo War (1998-2003), with many buildings destroyed. Rally for Congolese Democracy rebels and allied Rwandan soldiers took control of Manono in 1999.[1][2] A hydro-electric power plant used to provide electricity, and the town used to have a brewery, which supplied the surrounding region; both were destroyed during the war.[3]
The UN carried out arms decommissioning in 2008, offering to accept guns in exchange for a bicycle. The scheme was successful in removing weapons.[4] Manono later became affected by the Katanga insurgency; by 2014/15, Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga, the leader of the Mai Mai Kata Katanga rebel group, operated in the area before relocating. Elements of his group continued to hold out in Manono Territory. In November 2021, three commanders and 169 Mai Mai Bakata Katanga militants surrendered to the government in Manono's Mpyana sector.[5]
Location, economy, and culture
[edit]Manono lies on the western bank of the Lukushi River, a tributary of the Luvua River. The town is a river port, with barges bringing cargo from Lubumbashi.[3] Manono is also connected to a disused railway line[3][6] to Muyumba.[7] The town lies along National Road 33 (N33) and Regional Road 628 (R628).[8]
Economic activity is centered on mining, with the surrounding area containing approximately 100 million tonnes of minerals, including spodumene (lithium), columbite, tin and tantalite.[3][9] Mining by Géomines began in 1915.[10] The Manono-Kitolo mine was worked almost continuously until the late 1970s, first by Géomines and later by Congo-Etain and Zairetain. Perhaps 180,000 tonnes of cassiterite ore were extracted in this period.[11]
The collapse of the world tin price in the 1980s severely hit the town's economy.[3] However, since 2017 exploration has been underway for lithium minerals and tin at the historical tin mine in the Manono - Kitotolo region, with over $100 million spent by Australian mining company AVZ to assist the development of the mine and broader region.[12]
The town is served by Manono Airport.[13] Manono has a cathedral which was built by Belgian missionaries, and was severely damaged during the war.[3]
Climate
[edit]Manono has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw).
| Climate data for Manono | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 25.0 (77.0) |
25.2 (77.4) |
25.7 (78.3) |
25.8 (78.4) |
25.4 (77.7) |
24.2 (75.6) |
24.4 (75.9) |
25.5 (77.9) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.1 (79.0) |
25.2 (77.4) |
24.8 (76.6) |
25.3 (77.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 172 (6.8) |
146 (5.7) |
199 (7.8) |
122 (4.8) |
17 (0.7) |
2 (0.1) |
0 (0) |
6 (0.2) |
44 (1.7) |
90 (3.5) |
161 (6.3) |
181 (7.1) |
1,140 (44.7) |
| Source: Climate-Data.org[14] | |||||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "IRIN Update 688 for 8 June [19990608]". UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 8 June 1999. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ "Southern African News Features". sardc.net. 1 October 2000. Archived from the original on 22 February 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f "Beer and normality in DR Congo". BBC News. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ "The tragedy of Congo". The Guardian. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ "Tanganyika : reddition de 3 anciens proches de Gédéon Mutanga et 169 combattants". RadioOkapi. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- ^ National Geographic Atlas of the World, revised sixth edition, National Geographic Society, 1992
- ^ The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, third edition (1970-1979).
- ^ "ARRÊTÉ DÉPARTEMENTAL 79/BCE/TPAT/60/004/79 portant fixation des listes des routes constituant le réseau des routes nationales et régionales dans la République du Zaïre" (PDF) (PDF) (in French). 28 February 1979. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
- ^ "Manono, Katanga (Shaba), Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaïre)". mindat.org. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ Hillman, John (1997), "Chartered Companies and the Development of the Tin Industry in Belgian Africa, 1900-1939", African Economic History (25), University of Wisconsin Press: 154, doi:10.2307/3601883
- ^ Manono-Kitotolo Lithium Tailings Project, Tantalex Resources Corporation, retrieved 6 April 2021
- ^ "Manono Project". AVZ Minerals Limited. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
- ^ "Manono Airport (MNO) Details - Democratic Republic Of Congo". world-airport-codes.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
- ^ "Climate: Manono". Climate-Data.org. Retrieved 12 April 2014.