Makanza

---

title: "Makanza" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-équateur-province", "communities-on-the-congo-river", "communes-of-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-equateur-province" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makanza" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Makanza
native_name_lang
settlement_type	Commune
image_skyline	File:Station bangala.jpg
image_caption	Map of Makanza, around 1890
pushpin_map	Democratic Republic of the Congo
coordinates
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	DR Congo
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Équateur
subdivision_type2	Territory
subdivision_name2	Makanza
unit_pref	Metric
population_density_km2	auto
timezone1	West Africa Time
utc_offset1	+1
website
::

| name = Makanza | native_name = | native_name_lang = | settlement_type = Commune | image_skyline = File:Station bangala.jpg | image_alt = | image_caption = Map of Makanza, around 1890 | image_flag = | flag_alt = | image_seal = | seal_alt = | image_shield = | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = | map_alt = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = Democratic Republic of the Congo | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = DR Congo | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Équateur | subdivision_type2 = Territory | subdivision_name2 = Makanza | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | seat_type = | seat = | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = | leader_name = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | area_water_percent = | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = | population_as_of = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | timezone1 = West Africa Time | utc_offset1 = +1 | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | iso_code = | website = | footnotes =

Makanza or Mankanza is a town in the Équateur province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, headquarters of Makanza territory.

History

Makanza was formerly known as Bangala Station and then as Nouvelle-Anvers / Nieuw-Antwerpen (New Antwerp). It is a port on the River Congo. Located midway between Kinshasa and Kisangani, the location housed a trading post from the 1890s. The town was one of the main stages of the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. The Bangala people of the area were among the first people to come in contact with the colonialists. Their language, Lingala, eventually merged with the "Lobangi" lingua franca of the river.

From 1884 onwards, the city played an important role in the development of the Force Publique (the colonial army). This led to Lingala becoming the working language of the army. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/DUPONT(1889)_pg047_Fig.1.Tatouage_de_la_tribu_des_Bangalas.(Dessin_du_lieutenant_Roget.).jpg" caption="Bangala tattoos, 1889"] ::

Demographics

::data[format=table]

Year	Population
1994	37,048
2004	41,447
::

References

References

1. par), SPINDLER Marc et STEENBRINK Karel (dossier dirigé. (2011-12-21). "Histoire et Missions Chrétiennes N-019. Les chrétiens indonésiens : une minorité qui a des racines et des ailes". KARTHALA Editions.
2. Meeuwis, Michael. (2020). "Koloniaal Congo: een geschiedenis in vragen". Polis.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::