Bandundu, formerly known as Banningville or Banningstad, is a city in Bandundu Province

Bandundu Province

Bandundu is one of the ten provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It borders the provinces of Kinshasa and Bas-Congo to the west, Équateur to the north, and Kasai-Occidental to the east. The provincial capital is also called Bandundu .In 1966, Bandundu was formed by merging the three...

 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...

.

Bandundu is the capital of Bandundu Province. It is located on the north bank of the Kwango River

Kwango River

The Cuango or Kwango is a transboundary river of Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo. It is the largest left bank tributary of the Kasai River in the Congo River basin. It flows through Malanje town in Angola...

, just below the juncture of the Kwango and the Kwilu, 8 km upstream from the junction of the Kwango and the Kasai River

Kasai River

The Kasai River is a tributary of the Congo River, located in central Africa. The river begins in Angola and serves as the border between Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo , then flows into the DRC, where it joins the Congo northeast of Kinshasa. The Kasai's tributaries include the...

. It is around 260 kilometres from Kinshasa

Kinshasa

Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....

 by air, or about 400 km by road. As of 2009, Bandundu had an estimated population of 133,080.

Bandundu was once a significant river port, as it is the largest town on the river between Kinshasa and Kikwit

Kikwit

Kikwit is the largest city of Kwilu District, lying on the Kwilu River in the southwestern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kikwit is also known in the region under the nickname "The Mother". The population is approximately 294,210...

. However, traffic on the Kasai and Kwango Rivers dropped dramatically as a result of the Second Congo War

Second Congo War

The Second Congo War, also known as Coltan War and the Great War of Africa, began in August 1998 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , and officially ended in July 2003 when the Transitional Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo took power; however, hostilities continue to this...

, and has yet to recover. Bandundu does have intermittent passenger and freight service to Kinshasa, Mushie

Mushie

Mushie is a town in, and a territory of Mai-Ndombe District, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It lies at an altitude of 1118 ft , on the northern bank of the Kasai River, along the section where the Kasai is known as the Kwa River, approximately 10 miles west of the Kasais confluence with the Fimi...

 and Kikwit. Since 2008, there is a car/truck ferry service running several times per day across the Kwango. An unpaved road, roughly 250 km long, runs from this point to the main (paved) highway between Kinshasa and Kikwit.

Bandundu has a small regional airport, with direct flights to Kinshasa.

Unlike many cities in the Congo, Bandundu has a fairly constant supply of electricity. However this has nothing to do with Inga-Shaba HVDC line, as this line has no intermediate terminals.

As a provincial capital, Bandundu has had a MONUC presence since 2004.