Katanga is the southern most province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC). Its capital is Lubumbashi, previously called Elisabethville. It is a province which is both agricultural (on the plateau) and industrial as, in the East and the South, it harbours very rich deposits of various metals: copper, cobalt, iron, uranium, etc. It came under Belgian control in 1908, which began to exploit its mineral resources and their established workers from the North of the province and from Kasaï, a neighbouring province, or from neighbouring countries. When the Congo achieved independence in 1960, Katanga seceded. More than two years of civil war were necessary to bring Katanga back into the Congo’s family fold (1963). In 1966 the Congolese government nationalized the Upper Katanga Mining Union (the country’s largest mining company), under the name of Gécamines. In 1971, at the time of the Zairisation of the country, Katanga became Shaba. Several periods of unrest and attempts rebellions took place in the 1970s. Thus in 1978 Angolan rebels invaded Kolwezi and detained close to 3000 European nationals. The latter were liberated thanks notably to the actions of the Belgium and French armies (attack by the Foreign Legion on Kolwezi). The province once again took the name of Katanga in 1997.