Kisangani
From Roach Busters
| Region Mayor | Haut-Zaïre Ernest Etula Libanje |
| Population - City (2004) | 682,599 |
| Time zone - Summer (DST) | EET (UTC +2) not observed (UTC +2) |
| Coordinates | 00° 31' NR, 25° 11' E |
Kisangani, originally called Stanleyville (in honor of explorer Henry Morton Stanley), is the regional capital of Haut-Zaïre. Established in the 1880s, Kisangani is located where the Lualaba River becomes the Zaire River north of the Boyoma Falls. It is the farthest navigable point upstream from the capital city, Kinshasa. The city is also home to Bangoka International Airport. A railway links the town to Ubundu, while National Road No. 2 connects it to Goma in the far east, and beyond that, to Rwanda.
The town came to international prominence in 1964, when the Maoist Simba rebels captured the town, took hostage over 1,600 Europeans (many of them missionaries), and committed acts of terror against both their captives as well as the native population. Such atrocities included torture, rape, cannibalism, and more. In conjunction with mercenary forces under the command of the legendary "Mad Mike" Hoare, Belgian paratroopers, airlifted by U.S. transport planes, launched Operation Dragon Rouge, and liberated the town from the Simbas, who were defeated by 1965.
In 1967, President Joseph-Désiré Mobutu (as he was then called) renamed the town Kisangani. Today the town has nearly 700,000 inhabitants. The lingua franca of the town is KiSwahili.
