View source for Isangila

{{Infobox settlement
|name                    = Isangila
|settlement_type         =
|image_skyline           = Congo River by the station Isanghila.jpg
|imagesize               =
|image_alt               =
|image_caption           = Congo River by the station Isanghila 1890
|image_map               =
|map_alt                 =
|map_caption             =
|pushpin_map             = Democratic Republic of the Congo
|pushpin_map_alt         =
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|coordinates             =  {{coord|-5.288210|13.600346|type:city|display=inline,title}}
|coor_pinpoint           =
|coordinates_footnotes   =
|subdivision_type        = Country
|subdivision_name        = {{flag|DR Congo}}
|subdivision_type1       = [[Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Province]]
|subdivision_name1       = [[Kongo Central]]
|subdivision_type2       = [[Territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Territory]]
|subdivision_name2       = [[Seke-Banza]]
|subdivision_type3       = [[Sectors of the Democratic Republic of the Congo|Sector]]
|subdivision_name3       = Isangila
|established_title       =
|established_date        =
|founder                 =
|unit_pref               = Metric
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'''Isangila''', formerly called '''Isanghila''' or '''Isanguila''' is the headquarters of a sector of the [[Seke-Banza]] territory in [[Kongo Central]] province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
==Location==
The lower part of the Congo River below Stanley Pool first descends through the Livingstone Falls and rapids, then has a navigable section from [[Manyanga]] to Isangile, and then has further rapids and cataracts down to [[Matadi]], from where it is navigable to the Atlantic Ocean.{{sfn|Kucher|1962–1963|p=20}}
Isangila is on the right bank of the [[Congo River]], about {{convert|52|km}} north and upstream from [[Vivi, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Vivi]].
From there the river is navigable for small steamers and whaleboats for about {{convert|90|mi}} upstream to Manyanga.{{sfn|Congo Free State - Stations - 1885}}
It was an important post for portage operations to [[Léopoldville]] before the construction of the [[Matadi-Léopoldville Railway]].
==History==
In 1880 [[Henry Morton Stanley]] established stations for the [[International African Association]] at Vivi, Isanghila, [[Lukungo]], Manyanga South and Leopoldville below Stanley Pool.{{sfn|Congo Free State - Stations - 1885}}
Stanley returned to [[Vivi, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Vivi]] on 4 July 1882 and began organizing an expedition up the Congo River to the [[Stanley Falls, Congo|Stanley Falls]], which would take control of the country along the route.
When [[Louis Valcke]] and [[Alphonse van Gèle]] arrived in Vivi with a contingent of Zanzibari troops soon after, Stanley at once instructed them to work on construction of the road from Vivi to Isangila, bypassing the rapids and leading to the navigable section up to [[Manyanga]], then to connect Manyanga to Léopoldville.
The work had to be done quickly so the dismantled ''Association internationale Africaine'' steamer and goods could be carried to Léopoldville for the planned expedition.{{sfn|Engels|1951|pp=928–937}}
The road to Isangila is mentioned by [[William Holman Bentley]] in his account of the [[Baptist Missionary Society]], which came to the lower Congo in 1878.
The African traders refused to let them travel up to Stanley Pool, for fear that they would bypass them and destroy the trade.{{sfn|Bentley|1886|p=xiv}}
Eventually they heard of Stanley's new steamer-road, which they found to extend about {{convert|50|mi}} from Vivi along the north bank up to Isangila.
From there they managed to travel quickly and unobtrusively up to the Pool.{{sfn|Bentley|1886|p=xv}}
The Baptist missionary [[George Grenfell]] established a chain of missions at [[Musuko]], Isangila and Manyanga.{{sfn|Hawker|1909|p=112}}
==Notes==
{{notes}}{{reflist|30em}}
==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |url=https://dl.wdl.org/2533/service/2533.pdf |accessdate=2020-09-03  |title=Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language
|last=Bentley |first=W. Holman, Reverend |publisher=Baptist Missionary Society |location=London |year=1886}}
*{{citation |first=A.  |publisher=Institut royal colonial belge |volume=2 |year=1951 |pages=928–37
|last=Engels |chapter=Vangele (Alphonse) |title=Biographie Coloniale Belge |chapter-url=http://www.kaowarsom.be/documents/bbom/Tome_II/Vangele.Alphonse.pdf}}
*{{citation |url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/congo/history-2-4.htm |accessdate=2020-09-04
|title=Congo Free State - Stations - 1885 |work=Global Security |ref={{harvid|Congo Free State - Stations - 1885}} }}
*{{citation |url=https://missiology.org.uk/pdf/e-books/hawker_george/life-of-george-grenfell_hawker.pdf |accessdate=2020-09-04
|last=Hawker |first=George |year=1909 |publisher=The Religious Tract Society |location=London |title=The Life of George Grenfell}}
*{{citation |url=https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Abh-Naturhist-Ges-Nuernberg_31_0001-0126.pdf |accessdate=2020-09-04 |title=Belgien und der Kongo
|last=Kucher |first=Walter |lang=de |series=Abhandlungen der Naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg |volume=XXXI |date=1962–1963}}
{{refend}}
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[[Category:Populated places in Kongo Central]]