Mbuji-Mayi

Mbuji-Mayi, formerly (until 1966) Bakwanga, city, south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is situated on the Mbuji-Mayi River. It was developed by Europeans as a mining town after diamonds were found in the area in 1909. The region in which Mbuji-Mayi is situated annually produces one-tenth in weight of the world’s industrial diamonds, with mining managed by the Société Minière de Bakwanga. The city had only 30,000 inhabitants in 1960, but since then massive immigration from neighbouring areas has increased the city’s population dramatically. There is a teacher-training college in the city, which is accessible from Kananga (100 miles [160 km] west-northwest) by road and from Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and Kananga by air. Pop. (2010 est.) 1,488,000.