CONGO (Democratic Republic)

CONGO Democratic Republic / République démocratique du CONGO.

25th anniversary of the United Nations. International Cooperation.
Mines in Katanga.
Second stamp in a set of 6, issued on 25.10.1965.
Face value: 8 Congolese francs.
Design: Jean Van Noten (1903-1982).
Printing: Potogravure.
Size: 61 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 241.
- Scott No. 548.
- StampWorld No. 238.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 587.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 600.

Katanga was one of the four large provinces created in the Belgian Congo in 1914. Katanga was one of the eleven provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1966 and 2015, when it was split into four provinces. Between 1971 and 1997 (during the rule of Mobutu Sese Seko when Congo was known as Zaire), its official name was Shaba Province. The eastern part of the province is considered to be a rich mining region, which supplies cobalt, copper, tin, radium, uranium, and diamonds. Copper mining in Katanga dates back over 1,000 years, and mines in the region were producing standard-sized ingots of copper for international transport by the end of the 10th century CE. After 1900, the Société Génerale de Belgique practically controlled all of the mining in the province through Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK). In 1960, after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then called Republic of the Congo) gained independence from Belgium, the UMHK, Moise Tshombe and Godefroid Munongo supported the secession of Katanga province from the Congo. This was supported by Belgium but opposed by the Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. This led to the assassination of Lumumba and the Congo Crisis, which lasted from 1960 to 1965. The breakaway State of Katanga existed from 1960 to 1963. In 1966, the Congolese central government nationalized the UMHK, under the name of Gécamines.