The former Central Kongo Province Bas-Congo lies between 4 ? and 6 ? South Latitude and 12 ? and 16 ? East Longitude. It is bordered to the North by the Republic of Congo, to the South by Angola, to the East by the City of Kinshasa and the Bandundu Region and finally to the West by the Atlantic Ocean and the Angolan enclave of Kabinda. . This region is the only open gate of the country on the ocean.

Area in Km?
- Low-congo: 53.920 Km?
- Congo: 2,345,095 km?
-% Region / Country: 2,3
- Relative order: 8

The plain of Kinshasa follows the bed of the Congo River and is enclosed between the Congo River, the Bateke Plateau and the hills. It has an average width of 5 to 7 km and has the shape of a crescent. This plain is between 300 and 320 m above sea level and has an area of about 100 km2. It is divided into two parts:

- the Lemba plain west of the Ndjili River, slightly undulating; - the plain east of Ndjili, towards the river Nsele which has a more flat shape, intersected by several rivers which flow almost parallel from the South-East to the North-West, to throw themselves in the Congo River. This is where the largest portion of the population of the Kinshasa City-Province is concentrated.

Climate

The province of Bas-Congo is characterized by a tropical climate of Sudanese type whose dry season well marked extends a little more than 4 months (from May 15 to September 25). In addition, the long rainy season is often interrupted by a short dry season in February. According to the climate classification system of Koppen, the climate of Bas-Congo can be subdivided into two types, namely:

- The first extends over the coastal Hinterland (coastline) is a climate tending towards the type of steppe climate with a very high variability of precipitation;
- The second type of climate, which covers almost the entire province, belongs to the AW climatic type with four months of dry season.

Sunstroke is particularly low (about 50% between 7 and 17 hours), especially Mayumbe where it is less than 20% in the dry season (the annual duration of insolation does not exceed 1,300 hours per year, or 3 to 4 hours a day). This explains the low evaporation especially in the valleys that benefit from an advantage corresponding to 150 mm of water.

There are four types of soil, namely: - Sandy soils of the arenoferral type: it is a poor type of soil which is not suitable for agriculture, but which may be suitable for farming (North of the island). from Mateba and the island itself Muanda Territory); - Clay-sandy to clay soils are located at: Lukula, Tshela, North and Northwest of Seke-Banza (Lower River District); these lands belong to the group ferralsols on basic rock, except the west which is of the sandstone sublittoral Cretaceous type. In general, fertility is average to good with the exception of the western (sandy) part; - The sandy-clay soils are located south of Seke-Banza (Lower River District), southwest of Luozi (District of Cataractes), Mbanza-Ngungu, except North-West (District of Cataractes), Madimba, valley of Inkisi (Lukaya District). From the West to the East we can distinguish the Mayumbe system, the Haut-Shiloango system, the tillite and the schist-limestone system. The texture is argilolimonous to clay-sandy; it is a fertile soil, except in the south of Mbanza-Ngungu (District of Cataractes) where the texture consists of fine sand;

The sandy-clay soils with sandy-clay stains: lie north and east of Luozi (Cataractes District), north-west of Mbanza-Ngungu (Cataract District) and in the Lukaya District; these soils are fragile and weakly fertile.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLITICAL SITUATION

City of Matadi
at. Municipality of Matadi
b. Municipality of Mvuzi
c. Municipality of Nzanza
2. City of Boma
at. Commune of Kabondo
b. Municipality of Kalamu
c. Municipality of Nzadi
d. Muanda Territory
3. The Districts
at. Bas-Fleuve District
- Territory of Lukula
- Territory of Tshela
- Territory of Seke-Banza
b. District of Cataractes
- Territory of Mbanza-Ngungu
- Territory of Luozi
- Territory of Songololo
c. Lukaya District
- Territory of Kasangulu
- Territory of Madimba
- Territory of Kimvula

Of the 364 groups identified, 7 are seeking rehabilitation, namely: MANIANGA and MABA in the Mbanga Sector, Tshela Territory, KONGO in the Sea Sector, Muanda Territory; KIMBATA LUKUNGA in the Ngeba Sector, Madimba Territory; MAKE in the Lukunga Mputu Sector, Kasangulu Territory; MUDI-KIMBAUKA in the South Tsundi Sector, Lukula Territory and NKUSU in the Lunzadi Sector, Mbanza-Ngungu Territory.

Political environment

Unlike the situation in eastern Congo, Bas-Congo has no problems with armed groups. Nevertheless, the security situation is at times troubled by armed bandits who sow insecurity between the City of Kasangulu and the City of Kinshasa.

The City of Matadi
? Altitude: between 50 at the river and 500 m at the top of the hills;
? South Latitude: 5 ? 48'39 ''
East Longitude: 13 ? 29 '12' '
B. Area: 110 km?

The town of Matadi is located on a rocky site consisting mainly of quartz and lateritic and calcareous crusts.

The Matadi hydrographic network is composed of two main rivers namely: the Congo River and the Mpozo River.

The city of Matadi belongs to the type of climates AW according to the Koppers classification with 4 months of dry season from June to September and 8 months of rainy season from October to May.

Only Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to have access to the sea, Bas-Congo It is bounded in the South by Angola, in the East by the City Province of Kinshasa and the Province of Bandundu and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Enclave of Cabinda, and is divided into 3 Districts (BasFleuve, Cataractes and Lukaya) and 2 Cities (Matadi and Boma), subdivided into 10 Territories and 55 sectors.

Its population, estimated at 3,615,043 inhabitants, is unequally distributed spatially: Matadi 7%, Boma (+ Muanda): 10%, Bas-Fleuve: 28%; Cataracts: 36% and Lukaya: 19%. Its surface area is 53,920 square kilometers, or 2.3% of the country's area.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

1. Technical Sheet of the Province of Bas-Congo, Provincial Planning Division, 1999