Gombe

Gombe (formerly Kalina until Mobutu's 1971 authenticité renaming) is Kinshasa's central business district—a 29.33 km² commune that generates approximately 70% of the capital's economic activity. The commune houses the Palais de la Nation (presidential palace), Central Bank of Congo, the Kinshasa Financial Center (DRC's largest, containing Finance and Budget ministries), and MONUSCO headquarters (the UN's largest peacekeeping mission). Over 40 foreign diplomatic missions cluster here, reflecting Kinshasa's regional diplomatic significance. The Boulevard du 30 Juin serves as the main commercial artery, named for Congo's 1960 independence date. With approximately 89,080 residents (2015), Gombe remains home to most of Kinshasa's European population and Congolese elite—a legacy of colonial spatial planning that concentrated administrative and commercial functions in a single zone. While eastern DRC burns with M23 conflict, Gombe represents the disconnect: ministerial buildings, multinational headquarters, and embassy compounds operating in relative stability while 7.3 million Congolese are internally displaced and state authority collapses in mineral-rich provinces.