Did You Know?
Africa's Roaring Megacity Across the River
1. The fastest-growing megacity in Africa.
Home to over 17 million people, Kinshasa adds more than 2,000 new residents every single day (~750,000 a year). Kinshasa overtook Paris around 2016 as the world's most populous French-speaking city, and by 2050 it is projected to be one of the largest cities on Earth.
2. The world's closest twin capitals.
Kinshasa and Brazzaville (capital of the Republic of the Congo) face each other directly across the Congo River, just four kilometres apart. They are the closest pair of national capital cities in the world outside of Rome and the Vatican.
3. The clock: Kinshasa operates at UTC+1 (West Africa Time) year-round. Because it sits just 4 degrees south of the equator, daylight is virtually constant throughout the entire year — 12 hours of sun, every day, without daylight saving adjustments.
Sources
- UN World Urbanization Prospects (UN WUP)
- Macrotrends Urban Agglomeration Data
- Britannica, Kinshasa & Brazzaville