Likasi
Encyclopedia
Demographics
Likasi has a population of around 367,000 (2005). During the 1990s the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
set up feeding centres and refugee centres in and around Likasi to assist with the refugees fleeing ethnic violence in Shaba
Shaba
Shaba may refer to:* Shaba, Kenya* Shaba National Reserve in Kenya* Shaba Province, name of Katanga Province in present DR Congo between 1971 and 1997* variant spelling of Shebaa`* Shaba Games...
, whose arrival had increased the population of the town some 41,000.
History
In 1961, during the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
intervention in the Katanga
State of Katanga
Katanga was a breakaway state proclaimed on 11 July 1960 separating itself from the newly independent Democratic Republic of the Congo. In revolt against the new government of Patrice Lumumba in July, Katanga declared independence under Moise Tshombe, leader of the local CONAKAT party...
conflict, a company of Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
UN troops deployed to Jadotville was forced to surrender to troops loyal to the Katangese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe
Moise Tshombe
Moïse Kapenda Tshombe was a Congolese politician.- Biography :He was the son of a successful Congolese businessman and was born in Musumba, Congo. He received his education from an American missionary school and later trained as an accountant...
(see Siege of Jadotville
Siege of Jadotville
The Siege of Jadotville took place in September 1961, during the United Nations intervention in the Katanga conflict in the Congo, central Africa, when a company of Irish UN troops was attacked by troops loyal to the Katangese Prime Minister Moise Tshombe...
).
Economy
Likasi remains a centre for industry, especially mining, and is a transport hub for the surrounding region. There are mines and refineries supplied by nearby deposits of copperCopper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
and cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
.