Isiro
Town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Isiro (pronounced [iˈsiro]), formerly known as Paulis, is the capital of Haut-Uele Province in the northeastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies between the equatorial forest and the savannah and its main resource is coffee. Isiro's population is estimated at approximately 182,000. Most people speak Pa-Zande (Zande language), Lingala and Swahili.
01History
Isiro was named Paulis after colonel, later diplomat, Albert Paulis when it was part of the Belgian Congo. The city was developed in 1934 and reached its peak in 1957. In the troubled days of Congo's independence and its aftermath, operation Black Dragoon brought fighting between Belgian paratroopers and local Simba militias.
In 1998, Isiro became the home of a newly created Dominican-operated university called Université de l'Uélé. It is the third city in Orientale province (after Kisangani and Bunia) to welcome a university.
In 2015 Isiro became the capital of the Province of Haut-Uele, under governor Jean-Pierre Lola Kisanga 2015-2019.
In 2024 Isiro's population rose to over 400.000.
02Transport
Isiro is served by Matari Airport, a national airport with flights to Kinshasa, the capital. The isolated narrow gauge Vicicongo line to the river port of Bumba on the Congo River is not currently operational. The dirt roads to and from Isiro allow commercial trade with Uganda and South Sudan, in principle, but may be impassable in the wet season.
03People
- Marie Daulne (born 1964), singer
- Jean Bakomito Gambu (politician) Governor of Haut-Uele 2024-
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Isiro”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Isiro.jpg by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
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