copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-02-24): The Democratic Republic of the Congo occupies an area of 2,345,409 sq. km in Central Africa. It is the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa. [...] The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is located in Central Africa. As it straddles the Equator, it has territories in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It is located to the east of the Prime Meridian in the Eastern Hemisphere. Nine countries border the DRC. These are the Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, and South Sudan to the northwest, north, and northeast respectively. Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda bound it to the east. Tanzania is located to the east across Lake Tanganyika. Zambia lies to the southeast and Angola to the southwest respectively. DRC also has a coastline on the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Angola's Cabinda exclave also borders DRC in this direction.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-02): It is rich in natural resources but has suffered from political instability, a lack of infrastructure, centuries of both commercial and colonial exploitation, and little widespread development since independence. [...] DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: FACTS [...] 1959 - Belgium begins to lose control over events in the Congo following serious nationalist riots in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa).
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): King Leopold II of the Belgians set in motion the conquest of the huge domain that was to become his personal fiefdom. The king’s attention was drawn to the region during British explorer and journalist Henry Morton Stanley’s exploration of the Congo River in 1874–77. In November 1878 Leopold formed the Committee for Studies of the Upper Congo (Comité d’Études du Haut Congo, later renamed Association Internationale du Congo) to open up the African interior to European trade along the Congo River. Between 1879 and 1882, under the committee’s auspices, Stanley established stations on the upper Congo and opened negotiations with local rulers. By 1884 the Association Internationale du Congo had signed treaties with 450 independent African entities and, on that basis, asserted its right to govern all the territory concerned as an independent state.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): Kabila was assassinated in January 2001. He was succeeded by his son, Joseph, who immediately declared his commitment to finding a peaceful end to the war. Soon after Joseph Kabila assumed power, the Rwandan and Ugandan governments and the rebels agreed to a UN-proposed pull-out plan, but it was never fully actualized. Finally, in December 2002, an agreement reached in Pretoria, South Africa, provided for the establishment of a power-sharing transitional government and an end to the war; this agreement was ratified in April 2003. A transitional constitution also was adopted that month, and an interim government was inaugurated in July, with Kabila as president. UN peacekeeping troops continued to maintain a presence in the country. Although the civil war was technically over, the country was devastated. It was estimated that more than three million people had been killed; those who survived were left to struggle with homelessness, starvation, and disease. The new government was fragile; the economy was in shambles; and societal infrastructure had been destroyed. With international assistance, Kabila was able to make considerable progress toward reforming the economy and began the work of rebuilding the country. However, his government was not able to exercise any real control over much of the country; he had to cope with fighting that remained in the east, as well as two failed coup attempts in 2004. Nevertheless, a new, formal constitution was promulgated in 2006, and Kabila was victorious in presidential elections held later that year.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-01): After several centuries of local governance, the Kingdoms of Kongo, Luba, and Lunda emerged and ruled different parts of the Congo River Basin until the end of the 19th Century. European conquest in the 1870s brought the territory under the control of Belgian King LEOPOLD II and later the Belgian state. The Republic of the Congo gained its independence from Belgium in 1960. The country’s name was changed to Zaire in 1971 and to Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1997.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-16): Bantu, Sudanic, and other migrants from West and Northeastern Africa arrived in the Congo River Basin between 2000 B.C. and A.D. 500. The territory that is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely diverse, with more than 200 ethnic groups that trace their histories to many communal organizations and kingdoms. The Kingdom of Kongo, for example, ruled the area around the mouth of the Congo River from the 14th to 19th centuries. Meanwhile, the Kingdoms of Luba and Lunda, located to the south and east, were also notable political groupings in the territory and ruled from the 16th and 17th centuries to the 19th century. European prospectors in the Congo Basin invaded and splintered these kingdoms in the late 1800’s, sponsored by King LEOPOLD II of Belgium, and the kingdoms were eventually forced to grant Leopold the rights to the Congo territory as his private property. During this period, known as the Congo Free State, the king's private colonial military forced the local population to produce rubber. From 1885 to 1908, millions of Congolese people died as a result of disease, inhumane treatment, and exploitation.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-11-29): "We are very worried because this thing can engulf the whole region if we are not careful," said Home Affairs Minister Edgar Lungu. "What we have done is to send the head of the military to meet our colleagues in DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and the entire region because we all appreciate that we are together, we swim together or drown together." [...] Last week, some humanitarian agencies said over 400 Congolese refugees crossed into the Chiengi district in the Luapula Province of Zambia.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-04-27): Inter-ethnic clashes as well as fighting between Congolese security forces and militia groups in parts of southeastern DRC in 2017, have uprooted communities. [...] Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency is working with authorities and development partners – such as Catholic aid confederation CARITAS – in DRC to advance reintegration projects, including education, health and agriculture, and to ensure conditions for safe and dignified returns. [...] UNICEF has improved water and sanitation facilities at the reception centre in Chiengi district, where returning refugees are being housed for the night to process immigration documents, before embarking on the final leg of their journey home.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-02-09): In July the LRF initiated a civil action against the Government in the 2001 death in custody of Lameck Siamapande, and the officers remained in detention at year's end pending a trial. In addition, the Government agreed to pay compensation to the victim's family, though an amount was not determined by year's end. [...] Following the death in February of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi and the April ceasefire in Angola, the influx of refugees arriving from Angola ceased. New arrivals from the DRC declined significantly during the year. An estimated 10,000 Angolans spontaneously returned home, 4,000 of them from formal camps and settlements. In June, with UNHCR and the Government's cooperation, the Angolan Government carried out a repatriation airlift of 149 refugees, mostly relatives of UNITA leaders and families. The Government continued to cooperate closely with UNHCR, and cautioned refugees against returning to Angola before facilities were in place to receive them. [...] On July 29, following a second recount, the Lusaka High Court declared incumbent Kabwata M.P. Given Lubinda of the UPND duly elected M.P. in his constituency. The losing candidate, who had alleged irregularities in ballot paper security, had challenged the December result. In separate actions, the court also upheld elections in the Itezhi-tezhi, Lukulu West, and Chiengi parliamentary constituencies.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-17): The south-central region of Kasai (approximately the size of Germany) is a traditional opposition stronghold and home to the late veteran opposition leader, Étienne Tshisekedi, popularly known as the "father of Congolese democracy." It is also a microcosm of the center-periphery conflicts that have bedeviled the DRC since independence. [...] In 2016, the government refused to recognize Mpandi as the traditionally appointed Kamwina Nsapu—a title given to the hereditary leader of a chiefdom that covers large parts of Kasai-Central and extends into Angola—accusing him of maintaining close ties to Tshisekedi’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress. He was killed in August 2016 during a skirmish with security forces, and in November, his followers launched an insurgency named Kamwina Nsapu in response. They rallied supporters to rid Kasai of all central government representatives and institutions, a call once championed by their slain leader. They carried out both individual and coordinated attacks on police stations, army installations, and local offices of the Independent Electoral Commission (CENI). [...] In September, a group of Mai Mai militias operating under the banner of the National Peoples Coalition for the Sovereignty of the Congo (CNPSC), also known as ‘l’Alliance de l’article 64’ ("AA.64," in reference to Article 64 of the Congolese constitution) captured Kigongo town in South Kivu on the DRC-Burundi border. The offensive was a continuation of an uprising that CNPSC launched symbolically on June 30—DRC’s Independence Day—to "liberate Congo from a President who has lost legitimacy."
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2005-01-01): The Bwile are a numerically small ethnic group living at the northern-most point of the Luapula Province, touching Zambia’s border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and bounded to the west by Lake Mweru.174 Like most of the people living along the lakeshore, the Bwile’s main economic activity is fishing and they also grow several crops. Seasonally, many of them also process and sell salt that is found in several areas where hot springs bubble to the surface. Chief Puta’s village is located just south of Chiengi, a district "sub-boma" [which since the time of this recording session has been given full district status] that was historically one of the earliest sites of British administration in the area.175 In addition to a few administrative offices, the site also contains a government rest house. On June 3rd 1989, after reporting to the officials at the government offices, our family moved into a room at the Chiengi rest house. My wife and I had fond memories of the place that, in 1976, had been impressively kept up and was very comfortable when we’d first stayed there.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2003-01-01): Livingstone witnessed the devastation and suffering caused by the slave trade in the area to the north and east of Mweru, and his accounts did help rally opposition to it. The last of the slave trading in the area was as late as the 1890s, however. Meanwhile between 1870 and 1891, skirmishes and wars between the Yeke king Msiri and neighbouring chiefs and traders unsettled the area. Few Europeans had visited Mweru since Livingstone, until Alfred Sharpe in 1890–1 and the Stairs Expedition in 1892 both passed by on their way to seek treaties with Msiri. The Stairs Expedition killed Msiri and took Katanga for the King Leopold II of Belgium. Sharpe left one of his officers to set up the first colonial outpost in the Luapula-Mweru valley, the British boma at Chiengi in 1891. [...] The move of the boma from Chiengi to Kalungwishi had the effect of leaving the Belgian boma at Pweto a free rein at the northern end of the lake, leading a hundred years later to about 33 km² of Zambian territory next to Pweto being ceded to the DR Congo (then Zaire). See the Luapula Province border dispute for further details and references. [...] Many fishing villages dot Mweru's shores. A number are seasonal camps. The main towns on the Zambian side are Nchelenge, Kashikishi and Chiengi, and on the DR Congo side, Kilwa (the town opposite the island), Lukonzolwa and Pweto.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-06-15): As it is located at the southeastern extremity in the country, its eastern end is closer to the capital cities of 17 other African countries than its own, Kinshasa. [...] After Msiri's death the CFS was quicker to consolidate their claim to Msiri's territory called 'Garanganza', and later Katanga, west up to the Luapula. Since 1885 they already had claimed land north of the Congo-Zambezi watershed. The BSAC were left with the land south of the watershed and east of the Luapula. The 1884–85 Berlin Conference was organised by Germany to resolve the outcome of the Scramble for Africa. It did not set the actual boundaries, but agreed areas of influence, including the CFS's control over the Congo. Detailed borders were left to bilateral negotiations.[3] [...] - ^ http://www.dacb.org/stories/demrepcongo/crawford_daniel.html Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine Dr. J. Keir Howard: "Crawford, Daniel" and "Arnot, Frederick", in Dictionary of African Christian Biography, website accessed 7 February 2007 - ^ The Northern Rhodesia Journal (online Archived 2019-12-07 at the Wayback Machine), Vol II No 6 (1954) pp67−77. Justice J. B. Thomson: Memories of Abandoned Bomas No 8: Chiengi. Accessed 7 March 2007. The author calls Stairs a 'renegade Englishman' and repeats a rumour that Stairs stole Sharpe's treaty after Msiri had actually signed it, which, while untrue, is indicative of the depth of the feeling in Northern Rhodesia against Stairs.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-02-05): UNICEF has improved water and sanitation facilities at the reception centre in Chiengi district, where returning refugees will sleep over to process immigration documents before embarking on the final leg of their journey home.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2000-12-05): Kelvin Shimo told IRIN. The refugees have arrived in the Zambian border town of Chiengi, they were escaping fighting in and around the DRC border town of Pweto, Shaba Province. [...] "These people will need help if they present themselves to us in Chiengi," [...] Kaima said that along with this new influx of refugees were nearly 500 DRC soldiers who also fled the fighting at Pweto. He told IRIN that he met some of the soldiers when they arrived in Chiengi. "These soldiers were tired and starving when they reached Zambia, they were disarmed and they'll join the 540 DRC soldiers in Kaputa awaiting repatriation," Kaima told IRIN. The 540 soldiers in the Zambian border town of Kaputa fled fighting around Kalemie, about 200 km north of Pweto, last month.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2012-12-12): Mr Speaker, in The Post newspaper of 11th December, 2012, on page 1, there was a story pertaining to the killing of a headman in Chiengi District by the Mai Mai Rebels who are fighting in the DRC. The report read: "DRC Rebels kill Chiengi Headman. "A Zambian has been killed by the Mai Mai Rebels of the DRC in Chiengi since fights between that country’s Government and the rebels broke out. Senior Chief Puta of the Bwile People confirmed the incident when the hon. Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Nickson Chilangwa paid a courtesy call on him. He said that Headman Tutuma was killed by the Mai Mai Rebels in a fight that has resulted in most Congolese nationals to flee into the Republic of Zambia."
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-12-07): Violence and Harassment: According to media watchdog organizations, independent media did not operate freely due to restrictions imposed by government authorities during the Lungu administration. While the government broadly tolerated negative articles in newspapers and magazines, reports of government officials and supporters of Lungu’s then ruling party harassing and physically disrupting the work of journalists continued during Lungu’s time in office. For example, on May 1, Patriotic Front cadres attacked and assaulted two journalists at the Patriotic Front secretariat when rival Patriotic Front cadres violently clashed during a meeting to welcome opposition National Democratic Congress leader Chishimba Kambwili back to the Patriotic Front party. The cadres attacked Francis Mwiinga Maingaila, a reporter at Zambia 24, a privately owned news website, and Nancy Malwele, a reporter at the independent New Vision newspaper. On June 24, the cadres set ablaze the Kalungwishi FM radio station in Chiengi district in Luapula Province. Although the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) condemned these attacks, police reportedly did not sufficiently investigate cases of assaults against journalists and radio stations, and some media houses were impeded from broadcasting or threatened with closure for unfavorable reporting or insufficient coverage of then president Lungu. [...] The government granted special recognition to traditional leaders nationwide. It did not recognize the 1964 Barotseland Agreement that granted the Lozi political autonomy and was signed by the United Kingdom, Northern Rhodesia, and the Barotse Royal Establishment immediately prior to the country’s independence. Some Lozi groups continued to demand official recognition of the Barotseland Agreement, while others pushed for independence.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-10): Chienge District is a predominantly rural community and the main economic activities are fishing and cross-border trade. The district sees an influx of population movement through both official and unofficial border points, Chiengi also hosts a refugee camp which mostly houses refugees from the neighbouring DRC. The district has 13 public health facilities and no registered private health facilities. Long distances from health facilities to the villages is a major deterrent in accessing vaccination services with certain areas located as far as 10km from the nearest health facility. The road network is mostly gravel but well-marked which facilitates easy movement within the district except in some seasons when some of the roads become inaccessible, such as the rainy season which begins in late October up until April. There is no developed municipal sewage system and few areas in the district have access to electricity whereas the majority rely on solar energy to generate power. The main sources of water are Lake Mweru and unprotected private shallow wells. The rest have access to a few functional hand pumps. The water table is generally high, between 1.5 and six meters.
Claim: Chiengi is a territory of Democratic Republic of Congo (Chiengi, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-01-02): Similar content being viewed by others [...] Caustic soda and chlorine are two of the most consumed basic inorganics. Industrial production of these substances is by electrolysis of sodium chloride. According to Kolala et al. (Kolala and Dokowe, 2021), rock salt deposits are found in Luapula province (Chiengi and Mansa areas), Northern province (Mporokoso, Nsama, and Mpulungu areas), within Muchinga province the area south of Chama, Eastern province (Chipata and Nyimba areas), around Rufunsa in Lusaka province. In Southern province, the Gwembe and Livingstone areas have rock salt deposits while in Central province, Mumbwa area has rich deposits and in Northwestern province (Kabompo, Zambezi, Mwinilunga, Kasempa and Kalumbila areas) (Kolala and Dokowe, 2021). [...] Tangri R (2019) Beyond Political Independence: Zambia’s Development Predicament in the 1980s. Public Enterprise and Industrial Development: The Industrial Development Corporation of Zambia (INDECO). W. Klaas and C. Chibwe, De Gruyter Mouton, 113–128
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-09-29): Spratly Islands, large group of reefs, shoals, atolls, and small islets in the South China Sea of the Pacific Ocean. They are located north of insular Malaysia and are roughly midway between Vietnam and the Philippines, and they are claimed—wholly or in part—by several countries in the region. [...] China has asserted that its claim to the Spratlys dates back centuries. The Chinese government has stated that almost the entire South China Sea, including the Spratlys and other island groups, is within its sphere of influence. Those claims have been strongly disputed by the Philippines and Vietnam in particular. China first established a presence in the Spratlys in 1988, when its military forcibly removed a Vietnamese garrison from Johnson South Reef. In early 2014 China began intensively building up artificial land on certain reefs and atolls. That activity and China’s stronger statements on its claimed territorial integrity in the Spratlys exacerbated tensions with the United States, which dispatched a U.S. warship through the region in October 2015.
Claim: Spratly Islands is a territory of Republic of China (Spratly Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-06-11): The Spratly Islands consist of more than 100 tiny land masses lush in resources that are being claimed by China despite territorial claims by Taiwan, Malaysia Vietnam and the Philippines. The Spratly Islands are a diverse island chain home to more than 100 islands and reefs including banks and cays. They’re located in the disputed South China Sea, and contain an incredibly rich ecosystem containing 11 billion barrels of oil, 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and home to 10% of the world’s fisheries. More importantly, over 30% of global shipping trade passes through this region, leading to the economic markets of Southeast Asia. Vietnam, People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (ROC), the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei all claim a part of the disputed Spratly Islands. Most of the countries occupy maritime areas with the exception of Brunei. [...] The Spratly Islands are currently a remote, uninhabited cluster of islands with claims by China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. The islands are situated at the heart of the South China Sea making it a hotbed for China to claim their territory.